When Circuit City went out of business this past Spring, there really was not much left in its wake. Competitive retailers like Best Buy, Inc. (NYSE: BBY) and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) really didn't take the billions per quarter of new business that Circuit City was booking right up until the end. Yes, it must have been that bad.CircuitCity posts
FeedBest Buy should be interested in Circuit City's Firedog brand
When Circuit City went out of business this past Spring, there really was not much left in its wake. Competitive retailers like Best Buy, Inc. (NYSE: BBY) and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) really didn't take the billions per quarter of new business that Circuit City was booking right up until the end. Yes, it must have been that bad.Continue reading Best Buy should be interested in Circuit City's Firedog brand
Is Best Buy lonely at the top? Doubtful
Now that Best Buy, Inc. (NYSE: BBY) is the last surviving member of the national specialty consumer electronics retail club, where can it go? Up and up. Sure, mass chains like Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and others have stepped up to the plate and are greatly enhancing their consumer electronics sections, but then again Best Buy has a new CEO who is thinking differently and isn't going to give an inch if he can help it.
Commercial real estate vacancies surge above 12% in Manhattan
This is not an abstraction: buildings large and small are showing gaping vacancies. Storefronts are empty. Entire buildings sit waiting to be occupied. In Manhattan, retail vacancies have reached their highest rates since 2001. For the second quarter of this year, vacancies hit the absurd height of 12.4%, thanks to unemployment trends that won't quit and consumers reluctant to pry open their wallets.
Retailers are being hit just like the residential market.
Continue reading Commercial real estate vacancies surge above 12% in Manhattan
Wal-Mart looks to expand electronics business
Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) is widely assumed to be the biggest beneficiary of the downfall of Circuit City, but Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) is looking to crash that party. "Circuit City's business is up for grabs right now and we expect to get our share," Gary Severson, Wal-Mart's senior vice president of home entertainment, told (subscription required) the Wall Street Journal.
Companies like Nintendo and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) will get their own in-store displays, and Wal-Mart will also be revamping its electronics departments to create a more open and interactive Best Buy-like shopping experience. Wal-Mart has been trying to move upmarket in the consumer electronics business for years, and offering Palm's soon to be released Pre smart phone is another part of that strategy.
Continue reading Wal-Mart looks to expand electronics business
Is Best Buy making a Circuit City mistake?
Best Buy, Inc. (NYSE: BBY) won the war with defunct rival Circuit City. Circuit City's demise was based on so many fundamental pieces of mismanagement it was amazing the company lasted into 2009. Now that it is gone, Best Buy stands alone with the larger discount retail chains and online superstores as the places tens of millions of Americans shop for this consumer electronics.Best Buy increases after several upgrades
Best Buy, Inc. (NYSE: BBY) is expected to take possibly 50% of the business that would have gone to former competitor Circuit City, with the other half being distributed among every other large retailer that sells consumer electronics. Due to that market share capture, the largest consumer electronics retailer in the U.S. saw its stock price upgraded more than a few times in recent weeks.Circuit City sells its Canadian operations
Bankrupt and in the process of liqudation, Circuit City hasn't had any good news in a long time. But the company's Candian operations will live to fight another day.Bell Canada Enterprises has agreed to acquire the company's 750+ Canadian stores. As the largest phone company in Canada, Bell hopes that the stores, known as The Source by Circuit City, will help to increase its struggling market share numbers in mobile phones.
"The Source is a respected leader in consumer electronics retailing right across Canada," Bell Canada CEO George Cope said in a statement. "Its acquisition supports Bell's strategic imperatives."
R.I.P., Circuit City
Ahhh, Circuit City. Where service is state of the art! The chain of electronics retailers -- currently liquidating at a furious rate -- will be all but defunct as of Sunday, March 8. The "bulk" of the stores still left open are targeting this as their last day.Although the chain very nearly ruined one of my favorite songs (The Cars' "Just What I Needed") by employing it as their jingle, I have a soft spot in my heart for the red-themed Big Box location. I frequented it long before Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE: BBY) was in my world, I bought my first laptop there, and it was my CD shopping destination of choice in the late 1990s. Thank you, Circuit City employees, for never laughing at my purchase of the latest from NSYNC, the Backstreet Boys, Mandy Moore, or others.
Circuit City seeks to retain execs as it winds down
Circuit City Stores Inc. needs to entice some workers, managers and executives to stay with the company until it has completely liquidated all of its assets. In fact, the company this week asked a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge to provide incentives to retain those exact folks -- for at least a little while. Would this matter? You decide.Continue reading Circuit City seeks to retain execs as it winds down
Circuit City Elementary School?
With its stock price currently hovering at about 8/10ths of a penny, Circuit City Stores is nearing the day when it will completely cease to exist.DJM Realty announced that it is has been retained to oversee the sale of the company's real estate assets. In a press release, Andy Graiser and Emilio Amendola, DJM Realty's Co-Presidents, commented that "Circuit City's real estate has begun to create interest among national and regional retailers and supermarkets. There are great opportunities for schools and other non-retail uses."
Circuit City impact will be deeply felt
We all know the impact that the current economic slowdown has had on Circuit City, but the question over what ultimate impact Circuit City's collapse will have on the economy will take a little longer to figure out. One thing is for sure, the company's collapse could not have come at a worse time for the overall economy.The first ripple that the market is going to feel is the vacancies that the company is going to leave in its wake after closing its doors. The company was operating 567 stores at the time it announced it was going under, and these stores represented a total square footage of 18.71 million square feet.
My predictions for Obama's first year
Like all good marriages, the union of Barack Obama and the American people will start tomorrow with the best of intentions. The problem is that it won't last, particularly when it comes to the economy.The president-elect already is at odds with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over whether to repeal the Bush tax cuts before they expire in 2010, according to the Wall Street Journal. The economic stimulus package is expected to top $850 billion as part of Obama's pledge to create jobs and reducing taxes. Meanwhile, the housing market continues to stink and the stock market continues to be dreadful.
Improving the economy is going to be a long, painful process. Think turning around a super-tanker and you get the idea. Good news is going to be hard to come by over the next 12 months. Bad news will be plentiful. Here are some predictions of the troubles that lie ahead for the economy no matter despite Obama's best intentions.
- Corporate bankruptcies -- Experts are predicting one of the biggest waves of corporate bankruptcies and restructurings in years. Already, Circuit City Stores Inc. (OTC: CCTYQ) has bitten the dust and the year is just getting started. Loads of retailers who are already operating on the razor's edge of profitability may be pushed over the edge. I doubt that enough credit will be unlocked by government fiat to address this problem.
Circuit City to go out of business and close down permanently
Circuit City Stores Inc. (NYSE: CC) is going away for good. The nation's former second-largest consumer electronics retailer told the investing world this morning that it had not been able to reach any kind of deal with creditors or potential bidders of the company. As such, it will ask the bankruptcy judge presiding over its case to begin liquidating all of its assets as soon as possible.This all started when former Circuit City CEO Phil Schoonover fired over 3,500 sales staffers and tried to replace them with lower-paid workers. The first time you take away your greatest asset -- those who touch customers every day -- due to cost concerns, you're ultimately doomed.
Continue reading Circuit City to go out of business and close down permanently
Circuit City to liquidate U.S. stores
After negotiations to find a buyer failed, Circuit City will liquidate its U.S. stores. According to court papers filed this morning, the Richmond, Virginia-based company has appointed three companies to liquidate its inventory. The company, which filed for bankruptcy in November, had a deadline of today to find a buyer.
Circuit City rushes to find a buyer
Three bidders are involved in negotiations to acquire Circuit City, but the outright liquidation of the company's assets remains the most likely outcome. The bankruptcy court has set a Friday deadline for the company to reach a deal with a buyer and while an extension is possible, nothing has been agreed to so far.According (subscription required) to The Wall Street Journal, Golden Gate Capital is the bidder most likely to gain ownership of the company, but Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego is also in the running. His firm owns more than 1,000 electronics stores in Latin America. Hilco Merchant Resources and Gordon Brothers Retail Partners are also pairing up to make an offer.
The company's results have deteriorated even more than was expected since the bankruptcy filing. Putting aside the short-term macroeconomic problems, Circuit is being squeezed by Best Buy (NASDAQ: BBY) on one side and by Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) on the other. There's really no reason for the company to go anywhere other than liquidation, and that's what is likely to happen.
It's a cruel blow to the company's 30,000 employees, who are likely to lose jobs because of incompetence at the highest levels of the company.
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