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Circuit City Pulls the Plug on All 567 US Stores
Photo: Xurble/Flickr
Photo: Xurble/Flickr
In early November of last year, electronics retailer Circuit City announced they were filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and would be closing down some of their stores and launching sales to help bring in much-needed revenue. But yesterday the struggling chain revealed they were pulling the plug altogether, and shutting down all 567 of their US stores.Shoppers hoping to peruse their website are now greeted with information about the shut-down, which explains what's going on and the procedure for liquidation. Circuit City says they "were left with no other choice but to liquidate," and blame it on "challenges to [their] business and the continued bleak economic environment," according to their website.
"Liquidators will start arriving in our 567 stores across the U.S. over the weekend, and closing sales will start as early as Saturday, January 17. Closing sales will run as long as it takes to sell existing inventory, but are expected to wrap up by the end of March. When the liquidation sales are completed, the stores will be closed." Because liquidators are running the sales, however, don't be surprised if the discounts don't run as deeply as you were expecting; oftentimes professional liquidators hike the "original" price in order to make the "discounted" offering more appealing.
Some employees at the corporate level in Virginia will have their jobs through the sales, but they won't know what's up until the new work week starts, since they "will be asked to come back on Monday, January 19, to find out more about their status and to retrieve their personal belongings." Those who work in the stores can either stay on for the liquidation or accept their 60-day severance packages. They employ 34,000 people in the US, and have several locations in Southern California.
Folks in Long Beach headed to check out the sales told the Long Beach Press-Telegram that the closedown of yet another national retail chain has given them pause when thinking about the economy and the state of business these days:
Craig Kain said he heard about the liquidation and decided to stop by the Long Beach store.
"I was in the mall, so I thought I'd go look and see if there was anything that I wanted to get before you can't get it anymore," he said. He lamented the closure of the Long Beach Circuit City, not far from the space that used to be Comp USA.
"How is this strip mall going to stay in business? It's just pretty wild to see this whole half of the mall gone," Kain said.
"Makes you wonder how long something like Sears or some other stores will stay open. It's pretty scary."
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