They tried for bit but it wasn’t enough. Circuit City will be closing their doors for good.
Circuit City had filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the hopes that they could restructure and come out a stronger company. But the current economy was too tough and they will now be shutting their doors after 60+ years in business. 567 stores across the US will be closing down. Closing sales started on January 17th and will run until their inventory is sold, which they expect to be sometime in March. (Canadian stores will remain open).
Do you have a Circuit City gift card?
Better find it and start considering how you want to use it! Fortunately stores will continue to accept their gift cards (some companies stop accepting their store’s cards once they declare bankruptcy). Not that you should run out right now to use it but you should remember that as March approaches the store inventory will lessen.
Do you have a product warranty for Circuit City?
No worries here as their warranties are backed by an independent insurer so if you have any problems you will still be covered. In fact they will still be offering warranties on new purchases.
Should I run out and get all the electronics I can get my hands on?
In a word, no. If you were planning to by something soon anyway and you’ve done your research and it’s within your budget then go ahead. But don’t go and buy something just because it’s on sale. Be reasonable. Also, even though you see them advertising a great percentage off it may not be that great a deal. In the beginning they may take a nice percentage off the RETAIL price but many other stores have discounts off retail too. They will try to get rid of whatever they can at the highest price they can. When needed they will give bigger discounts so it could be better to wait as long as possible. The flip side of this is the longer you wait the more likely what you want to by mat not be there. If it’s a great deal and you were going to buy it anyway then go for it!
How about returns?
Only items purchased before January 16th will be eligible for returns for a 14-day period (check with Circuit City for details). Otherwise, all sales are final.
It’s always a bit sad to see a chain go down but someone will come and fill the void.
Circuit City, say hi to Crazy Eddie and the Wiz for me. I miss you guys!
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photo credit: Jef Poskanzer
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I have actually never been to a Circuit City; there has never been a location in my area. But I agree with the advice to not buy things on sale just because they are on sale. I went to a Linens N Things that was closing last summer and I was expecting to find great sales. Stuff was on sale, but most of the stuff (towels, sheets) I could easily find at other stores for much cheaper (and with comparable quality). However, I did stock up when our Sam Goody closed several years ago…I bought many gift bags for only pennies each. It just depends on the store and how good the sale is. I will always be giving gifts for a variety of occasions so it made sense to stock up when the sale was so amazing.
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@ Hannah – I miss Sam Goody. Actually any music store as they are all becoming dinosaurs. In the end you still have to make a smart financial decision.
@ Miranda – Agreed. It could be a good time to stockpile gifts and such but only if you have the budget for it.
@ Eric – That’s a good point about returns. You might get service but it may not be as easy as you’d like.
J&R is big but doesn’t have nearly as many locations. For local it’s PC Richard and Son taking over but Best Buy is still the leader now.
I think we’re going to see a lot of people buying things just because they are “cheap” in the coming months as more companies go bankrupt. But it is important that we keep our heads and make good decisions.
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I think it is especially dangerous to purchase high-value items like TVs or stereo equipment without a return policy. You do get the manufacturer warranty, but the you have to try to find someplace that is an authorized service provider if there is even one in your area or worse yet, have to bring it to them.
I remember both Crazy Eddie and the Wiz from growing up in NYC. The biggest difference being that Crazy Eddie was shutdown after the Antar family was discovered to have been a bunch of crooks and the board of directors lost control of the company. guess it’s all up to J&R to carry the mantle of regional tri-state electronics dealers.
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I would be scared of buying new warranties despite the fact that they are using private insurers. I hate going through insurance’s problems.
@ Dalirin – I’m sure it can be a pain at times but it sounds like this is the same insurer they have always been using so if you had a problem in the past it would have gone to the same company.
@FBB: I also remember PC Richard & Sons. Never had one in Staten Island, just The Wiz and Crazy Eddie. I remember going out to Jersey to Topps or something like that which was huge.
I actually just found out that only the CC stores in the US are affected. They are keeping all of the Canadian stores operating as normal.
Eric J. Nisall’s last blog post..What makes for a good financial professional?
In a way it’s sad to see Circuit City go, but at the same time, I realize I rarely shop there. I prefer to do most of my research online, then pop into stores to get a hand’s on. I usually buy where it’s cheapest…. and that usually isn’t CC.
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I saw that yesterday when I was in Burlington, Vermont, which is about 3 hours from me, the closest Circuit City to us. I couldn’t believe it! I bought my laptop from them a couple of months ago. That is too bad. I hate to see businesses shut their doors.
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@ Dee – It is sad but other businesses will hopefully fill the void. There’s an opportunity for a company with a better business model to come in now.
@ Patrick – I don’t shop there too often either, but then I do like you and do a lot online if needed and find the best price. It would be nice if another company comes along to give some good competition. That’s what helps drive prices down for us.
Competition is one of my main concerns as well. That pretty much leaves Best Buy and Wal-Mart as the main big box electronics retailers. I prefer Best Buy to Circuit City because the stores are brighter and more open. But I like the competition that they give each other. I have a feeling someone will step up, but who knows how it will pan out?
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@ Patrick – We have a large local chain in PC Richard and Son so there are still some choices. It seems someone new always comes to fill the void with electronics stores. I’ve actually done some electronics purchases at BJ’s as well so there’s another source.
We have an HH Gregg, which mostly does close outs, but doesn’t always carry top of the line (not a problem for me). There are a few other places like Sam’s, Costco, and Sears, but they don’t specialize in electronics. The US has plenty of local and regional chains but not too many national chains. The volume makes a big difference when waging price wars.
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@ Patrick – True. But as long as Best Buy has WalMart to compete with they’ll have to still give good deals.
I didn’t realize that Circuit City was still honoring gift cards. That is good to know – although I don’t have any. My wife and I had several clothing items to return this year from Christmas for our young boys (clothes didn’t fit). We were debating if we should take store credit (4 different stores) or exchange the clothing for other clothes that we may not really want. The economy has changed our way of thinking. It is almost like waiting to hear which retailer is goind out of business next.
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pfincome – I know, it is a bit crazy. But not THAT many stores have been going out of business. Maybe you can exchange the clothes for something they’ll fit into in a few months?
Have you seen any deals yet? I was at CC a few days ago and really saw nothing. I have to believe there are some, could use some ipod speakers, but not going to rush out to buy just because they are going out of business. If you want good deals regardless, check out frys.com, I bought a TV off of there and love it, and got a great deal.
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@ Craig – I haven’t been there in a while. Haven’t really needed anything. At first I can imagine the deals not being too great. Give it a couple of weeks and I bet the prices will be better (though the selections will be less).
@pfincome: ffb is right, there really aren’t that many stores going out of business, and those that have didn’t just fail over night. Stores like Circuit City and Linens ‘N Things have had poor business models for years, and compared to their competitors (Best Buy and Bed Bath And Beyond, respectively) were very inferior. Even stores like Ethan Allen and The Sharper Image struggled for a few years, and those were cases of niche establishments that concentrated on higher-end products which started getting hit hard when the economy soured.
Regarding your clothing situation, can re-gift them? Or perhaps, if they are from national retailers, you can get the gift cards and go to one of the swap sites and trade them for stores that you will shop at in the near future or even generic gift cards (ie: Visa or AMEX).
Eric J. Nisall’s last blog post..What makes for a good financial professional?
@ Eric – Nice suggestion with the re-gifting and the gift card swaps! I always forget that there are sites where you can swap your cards with others.
It is sad to see Circuit City close its doors, I cannot believe that it is happening. Most of my electronics has been bought from this chain and now it is going to close the doors once and for all. Hope that some other chain takes over, at least, we will still need a place to go to shop for our electronic needs, won’t we?
@ KC – We do, but there are other places out there. Amazon for one. Another competitor will fill the void I’m sure.
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