Bankrupt Circuit City Begins Liquidation

The long-rumored end to Circuit City has finally arrived. Beaten down and finally booted by Best Buy over the holidays, the electronics retailer has begun liquidating its assets in stores across the United States.

In November Circuit City revealed that it had entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but no one really knew what that meant for its remaining stores. Most employees appear to have been completely unaware that their stores might be closing, with one Circuit City worker telling CNET's Brooke Crothers that he didn't expect his place of employment to shut down for a long, long time. (Source: cnet.com)

However, Circuit City has hired four liquidators (Great American Group WF LLC, Hudson Capital Partners LLC, SB Capital Group LLC, and Tiger Capital Group LLC), and by all accounts they are the bosses for Circuit City workers as the liquidation sale continues. (Source: realtechnews.com)

And a sale it is. Crothers reported that at his local store the scene resembled pandemonium, with crazed customers snatching up computer monitors and televisions while dumbfounded employees scrambled for their managers.

Despite its second-place position behind Best Buy in the electronics retail hierarchy, Circuit City has been struggling to stay afloat for some time. The evidence can be found in the stores themselves; by comparison to its blue-and-gold competitor, Circuit City displays are messy, its advertising second-rate, and its customers increasingly sparse. Customers haven't been much impressed with the chain for some time, and last year it was forced to close a staggering 155 stores in the United States.

Unfortunately, the recession squashed any hopes the retailer could re-establish itself. Despite some good deals in recent months, Best Buy's ominous presence in the market has only grown. Although Best Buy will have its own problems to deal with as the slumping economy continues through 2009, it won't have its largest competitor to worry about any longer.

Good for Best Buy. Not good for us.

Circuit City's liquidation sale is expected to continue through the end of March.