Circuit City to Be Liquidated

By Geoff Duncan January 16, 2009

It’s official: Circuit City is going under. The company announced today that it will be seeking bankruptcy court approval to liquidate the company’s assets, including its remaining inventory, retail locations, services, and its online operations like FireDog. The move will mark the end of some 567 retail locations in the the United States and over 760 retail stores and dealer outsets in Canada. The company employes over 30,000 people. The company says it will offer more details about the liquidation plans—which could spell hot deals for consumers—but doesn’t anticipate the liquidation will generate any value for its investors.

“We are extremely disappointed by this outcome,” said Circuit City vice chairman (and acting president and CEO) James A. Marcum, in a statement. “The company had been in continuous negotiations regarding a going concern transaction. Regrettably for the more than 30,000 employees of Circuit City and our loyal customers, we were unable to reach an agreement with our creditors and lenders to structure a going-concern transaction in the limited timeframe available, and so this is the only possible path for our company.”

Circuit City filed for bankruptcy protection in November 2008 and closed 155 retail stores in an effort to focus traffic and inventory at its most successful locations for the 2008 end-of-year holiday season.

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