One of my favorite tech stores, Circuit City, has filed for bankruptcy. While the Christmas season is coming in a breath the industry, like me, was surprised why it took this time to say “I’m out”. A sad note, but I guess it takes the “big pill” to keep the struggling company temporarily floating.
Chapter 11 allows a company to hold off creditors while it attempts to restructure its finances. Circuit City said Monday that it has has negotiated a commitment for a $1.1 billion debtor-in-possession revolving credit facility to supplement its working capital. – from CNet News
The company has said it will begin shutting down about 155 stores and lay-off around 17 percent of its workforce. Circuit City has over 45,000 employees, 17-20 percent laid off is a big 4,500+ sad faces. Is there hope? The company looks forward to its finance restructuring, but no promises are made.
“We appreciate the support we have received from our lenders in the midst of such a tight credit market,” acting CEO and vice chairman James A. Marcum said. “With this support, we believe we have the opportunity to leverage our market position and the strength of our brand to restore Circuit City to solid financial footing.”
Why was Circuit City one of your favorite tech stores? Was it the lousy service, aggressive (until recently) commission sales people, or just the lousy selection?
I have sympathy for Circuit City’s employees, I don’t like seeing anyone lose their job for circumstances out of their control, but lets face it. CC was a lousy store. I have yet to have a pleasant experience there.
Gedvondur
Agreeing with Gedvondur. My mother went there recently to buy a laptop and the sales people were relentless in terms of making sure she got certain add-ons even getting to the point to where they flat out lied to her. When she went back to get the add-ons refunded, they were still pushing and pushing for her to keep them. If you are going to be evil, I have no sympathy for you when you have to close your doors.