Circuit City-Death Watch

[Lancer]

Damn. Well, as others have said too bad for the other workers, but screw the management. However I bet the big wheels leave with millions.

[Dinner]

It was just another crappy chain store with not so good prices. Adios mother****ers.

[The Mad Monk]

Originally posted by snoopy369
The problem is that BB&B regularly gives out 20-25% coupons, so the LNT sale really wasn't all that special, and when you factored in the crappy selection (ie, no queen size bed sheets etc.), unless you were lucky or had time to be the first person there, you got squat.

That said, we did replace our sheets, blanket, and duvet cover at around 30% off, but we probably could've done nearly as well at BB&B shopping intelligently, and gotten slightly better stuff.

Heck, I was at (not in) LNT 2 days before store closure, and they weren't even at 50% off on their signage (40% off)... as of when do stores not lower most merchandise to 50% off days before a store closes?????

If your store got cleaned out the way ours did at 30-40%, they probably felt no need.

[The Mad Monk]

Originally posted by Japher
Circuit CIty can hit the street for all I care.

Also, I think it's interesting to finally start seeing a line drawn between Wal*Mart and their competitors. I even heard someone talking about the difference between Costco and Sams. There didn't use to be one, and now BB and Wal*Mart seem to have a line, and around here Meijer and Target have a difference.

Oh, and that difference ain't bad and attracts certain customers. This gives a sig marketing advantage, direction, and ability to compete.

I guess what I am saying, is that CIrcuit City didn't fall because of Walfart, they fell because they suck. Office Max is next.

What is the line?

I've known for years that Costco is aimed at a wealthier segment than Sam's Club, but I'm not sure what you mean beyond that.

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by Japher
Frys

At least at Circuit City, I can get employees to wait on me. I tried to buy my first digital camera at Frys, went in five (5) times and was totally ignored; so I bought it a Circuit City.

I needed a washing machine which Fries sold. So I took a paperback book in, sat on the washer I wanted for about 20 minutes and waited until a salesperson finally showed up.

[Dinner]

Fry's service can be hit or miss but the prices and selection are what keep the hordes coming back. Circuit City is just a garbage chain store with high prices, bad service, and a mediocre selection. I agree that Office Max will be the next one to go because they also don't have any competitive advantage.

BTW Japher. We can really tell you're taking your MBA classes now: "This gives a sig marketing advantage, direction, and ability to compete. ".

[DRoseDARs]

Reno is losing 1 of its 2 stores. I wonder, will they just transfer stock to the open store instead of having a fire sale at the closing one?

[Swissy]

Originally posted by DRoseDARs
Reno is losing 1 of its 2 stores. I wonder, will they just transfer stock to the open store instead of having a fire sale at the closing one?

Depends on the deal they cut with the liquidator. Generally the retailer has zero control over anything related to merchandise once the liquidator signs on and takes control of the merchandise. The retailer gets the best deals when they secure a liquidator before they announce the closings. I've seen liquidator's agents show up the same day as the closings are announced to take control. And most times merchandise get transfered into a liquidation store, clearing out slow and dead stock from the remaining stores.

[Asher]

BAM@!#@@#$

http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/10/news/companies/circuit_city/index.htm?cnn=yes

Circuit City files for bankruptcy
Beleaguered No. 2 electronics retailer and 17 affiliates file for protection after its sales erode in the economic downturn.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Circuit City Stores Inc., the No. 2 electronics seller after Best Buy, filed for bankruptcy protection Monday, thus becoming the latest retailer hurt by a worsening economic downturn.

According to the company's Chapter 11 filing with the U.S. bankruptcy court in Richmond, Va., Circuit City (CC, Fortune 500), which currently has 566 operating stores in the United States, will continue to do business and pay its workers while it restructures debt and its business operations.

Circuit City said it decided to file for bankruptcy at this time to ensure that it would have "adequate merchandise flow to stores during the important holiday season."

The November-December holiday shopping months are crucial to retailers since the two months can account for 50% or more of merchants' annual profits and sales.

Just last week the Richmond-based company announced that it would close another 150 stores and cut about 17% of its domestic workforce as it continues to face eroding sales at its stores.

The company said it has negotiated a commitment for a $1.1 billion "debtor-in-possession" (DIP) revolving credit facility to supplement its working capital. The company said the DIP credit will replace the company's $1.3 billion asset-based credit facility provided by its lenders.

The retailer said the credit facility will give it immediate liquidity while it works to reorganize the business and enable it to pay its vendors and its roughly more than 40,000 employees.

"We recently have taken intensive measures to overcome our deteriorating liquidity position," James Marcum, Circuit City's acting president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

"The decision to restructure the business through a Chapter 11 filing should provide us with the opportunity to strengthen our balance sheet, create a more efficient expense structure and ultimately position the company to compete more effectively," he said.

Circuit City said its warranty and service plans sold by the company, as well as its co-branded credit cards, will not be impacted by the company's Chapter 11 filing.

[Kidlicious]

There can only be one. Wal-mart.

[Japher]

Wal*Mart suchs, shop at Sam's Club

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by Swissy

Depends on the deal they cut with the liquidator. Generally the retailer has zero control over anything related to merchandise once the liquidator signs on and takes control of the merchandise. The retailer gets the best deals when they secure a liquidator before they announce the closings. I've seen liquidator's agents show up the same day as the closings are announced to take control. And most times merchandise get transfered into a liquidation store, clearing out slow and dead stock from the remaining stores.

There is no liquidator. This isn't a Chap. 7 bankruptcy but rather a Chap. 11 reorganization.

[snoopy369]

Most of the time they do hire a liquidator to run the clearance sales, from my admittedly limited experience in the matter ... CompUSA definitely did (when they were at this stage, not at the close-all-stores stage), and I'm fairly sure LnT did. There are companies who specialize in this sort of thing, and it saves the retail company money to hire them to come in and figure this stuff out rather than having to do it themselves while they're already strapped for cash.

[Asher]

Is Linens n' Things only gone in the US?

The stores still operate as usual in Canada, and from what I heard their Canadian operations were "highly profitable".

[snoopy369]

Like circuit city, they're not entirely gone, they just closed a bunch of their stores.