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(Even though it isn't Linux related..it is electronics related...so it should be good to post here)

Circuit City going down fast, closing 155 stores within days

http://tech.blorge.com/Structure:%20/20 ... thin-days/



Circuit City has been struggling for quite some time now, but things are getting serious. Among other cutbacks, the retailers has vowed to close down 155 stores within days.

Circuit City has become a victim of the recent credit crunch, meaning vendors that supply the chain with merchandise aren’t extending as much credit as they once were. According to CNet, the end result is that Circuit City can’t offer the same pricing as it once could, and in a tight economy, it may end in disaster. Add in the fact that Circuit City’s stock price has been below the one dollar mark for a long time, and the threat of the NYSE completing de-listing the company for poor performance, and things look extra bleak.

The biggest surprise is that the chain will cut so many stores this close to the holiday shopping season. The lack of credit means shorter supplies, so I guess to fill the shelves of more important stores, they had to act quickly. The cut-back in overhead, employee pay, and other factors combined with the shopping season might give the retailer the boost it needs to get back on track.

The store by my office is on the closings list. Not surprising really. Every time I've been in that store everyone is usually sitting around doing nothing. It's kinda out of the way and there's a Best Buy down the road in a more visible location. I'll stop in there to see if there's any clearances.

CC has filed for Chapter 11 protection:
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081110/circuit_ ... .html?.v=2

They didn't effectively change with the times. I guess that is what happens when you stop trying. You file for chapter 11. Bummer, for them.

Early last year, Circuit City laid off 3,400 employees "because they made too much." This is usually a sign of trouble so mass store closings is not surprising.

It's odd, though, that they couldn't hold off and see if they could make it through the Christmas shopping season. Things must have been bad.

Brian wrote:It's odd, though, that they couldn't hold off and see if they could make it through the Christmas shopping season. Things must have been bad.

Yup. Their credit was so bad that vendors wouldn't give them product so that they could stock the shelves. If it wasn't for the global financial meltdown they would have made it through a while longer. But in this climate there was just no possibility for them to get a loan to keep their shelves stocked.

I hate to say it (actually I don't) but why did it take so long for them to perish? Best Buy kicked their fanny a long time ago.

There has been a lot of talk in the media about why they sank and there are several good reasons. I think that folks are pointing at management and I they are an excellent target. Some of the snafu's management have made betray a dazzling lack of intelligence. It is a shame that investors can't purge these poison leaders before they do irreparable damage to the company.