Circuit City
Circuit City
Circuit City Stores, Inc. (former NYSE ticker symbol CC) was an American multinational consumer electronics corporation. It was founded in 1949 and pioneered the electronics superstore format in the 1970s.
By 2000, many Circuit City stores were out of date and in bad locations, unable to compete with the competition from newer Best Buy stores. In 2000, Circuit City abandoned the large appliance business and introduced a more self-serve format called "Horizon". This was controversial because in the previous year Circuit City was the number two appliance retailer in the United States, behind only Sears. The company had earned nearly US$1.6 billion in sales revenue from large appliances in 1999.
Every Superstore was retrofitted after the exit from the large appliance business, using the space for an expanded self-serve computer accessory and software selection. Stores at the time only sold PlayStation games under an exclusive agreement with Sony. The new space allowed them to sell Nintendo, Sega, and eventually Xbox games after the agreement ended. Music and movie sales had been added to most stores years before, but the extra space allowed the selection to be added to smaller stores. The retrofitting project alone cost the company US$1.5 billion
The new "Horizon" stores abandoned the original showroom experience for a brighter, more open sales floor format with open ceilings, low fixtures, and wood floor aisles to allow customers to browse the merchandise easily.
In 2003, Circuit City converted to a single hourly pay structure in all stores, eliminating commissioned sales. Many previously commissioned sales associates were offered new positions as hourly product specialists, while 3,900 salespeople were laid off, saving the company about $130 million per year.
In April 2004, Circuit City announced its purchase of Canadian retailer InterTAN. Circuit City paid approximately US$284 million for InterTAN 's 980 stores, which operated in
Circuit City Stores, Inc. (former NYSE ticker symbol CC) was an American multinational consumer electronics corporation. It was founded in 1949 and pioneered the electronics superstore format in the 1970s.
By 2000, many Circuit City stores were out of date and in bad locations, unable to compete with the competition from newer Best Buy stores. In 2000, Circuit City abandoned the large appliance business and introduced a more self-serve format called "Horizon". This was controversial because in the previous year Circuit City was the number two appliance retailer in the United States, behind only Sears. The company had earned nearly US$1.6 billion in sales revenue from large appliances in 1999.
Every Superstore was retrofitted after the exit from the large appliance business, using the space for an expanded self-serve computer accessory and software selection. Stores at the time only sold PlayStation games under an exclusive agreement with Sony. The new space allowed them to sell Nintendo, Sega, and eventually Xbox games after the agreement ended. Music and movie sales had been added to most stores years before, but the extra space allowed the selection to be added to smaller stores. The retrofitting project alone cost the company US$1.5 billion
The new "Horizon" stores abandoned the original showroom experience for a brighter, more open sales floor format with open ceilings, low fixtures, and wood floor aisles to allow customers to browse the merchandise easily.
In 2003, Circuit City converted to a single hourly pay structure in all stores, eliminating commissioned sales. Many previously commissioned sales associates were offered new positions as hourly product specialists, while 3,900 salespeople were laid off, saving the company about $130 million per year.
In April 2004, Circuit City announced its purchase of Canadian retailer InterTAN. Circuit City paid approximately US$284 million for InterTAN 's 980 stores, which operated in
References: 1. "Circuit City Stores, Inc. - Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on Circuit City Stores, Inc.". 2. "Circuit City buys InterTAN, MusicNow: PL program benefits most". findarticles.com. 3. "Circuit City plans to close dozens of stores - Los Angeles Times". Latimes.com. 4. Press, Associated (2007-02-09). "Circuit City to shut stores, realign top ranks - The Boston Globe". Boston.com 5. Michael Felberbaum AP Business Writer. "Circuit City files for bankruptcy protection." The Courier [Houma, La.] 10 November 2008, orange.mync.com (2008-11-10). "Circuit City Files for Bankruptcy Protection". 6. "Systemax Announces Definitive Agreement to Acquire Selected Assets and Retail Stores From CompUSA". RedOrbit.com.