Circuit City closes its doors

BY Andrew Miesner / January 18, 2009

Recently announced, Circuit City — one of America’s largest electronic stores will be closing its doors for good and liquidating off their assets to pay off creditors.  A short time ago Circuit City filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and with hopes of coming away from that process a stronger and more vital company but failed to meet its expectations due to the declining economic situation here in the United States.
 
An estimated 34,000 employees will soon lose their jobs from nearly 600 retail stores nationwide. However, retail stores in Canada seem be fairing better as this shutdown process has not reached the stores across the border and operations will continue as normal.  Circuit City’s main headquarters resides in Richmond, Virginia, and has over 1,300 stores that span across the North American continent. It was founded by the Wards Company in 1949.

On a lighter note, the warranties on products purchased through their program: Circuit City Advantage Protection Plans are backed by a third party independent company and even with the liquidation sale going on customers can still use Circuit City gift cards.
 
When asked about how the Circuit City closing has effected this employee’s life, he had this to say:

When I first started at Circuit City I was hired as a normal sales associate. At first I worked in the Computers department and from there, the managers wanted to teach me more areas to work in to be knowledgeable all over the store. During my time working in computers and car audio, I learned no only about different products, but learned how to interact with everyone, and by everyone meaning many different types of people. After being given the opportunity to be promoted to become a firedog PC Technician, I gained valuable knowledge for the future. Circuit City had an atmosphere of family where I have met some of my best friends. The economy hasn’t be nice to us and it would’ve taken a miracle for us to survive. Many have made Circuit City a career and some are looking for a new direction to go. My heart goes out to all the associates that will be unemployed in the near future.

For more information on this issue please visit click here.