Last week we told you of rumors that electronics retailer Circuit City might be closing 155 stores in the coming weeks.
The poor state of the store chain was confirmed when I drove past our local location last week. Its windows were plastered with "everything on sale" signs. The parking lot was packed with vehicles, which is not a typical sight for this location. Inside, the store had been picked over, with very little in the way of quality stock left. Many items were marked down, some as high as 20 percent. Televisions, audio equipment, and computers were flying off shelves.
In the midst of this excitement, I decided to check out the gaming section. Unfortunately, I saw that games were discounted a mere 5 percent, and accessories only 10 percent. What's worse is that some of the normal priced games at Best Buy were cheaper than these "discounted" ones at Circuit City were. No wonder they're going out of business!
Today Bloomberg tells us that Circuit City has filed for bankruptcy. Vendors servicing Circuit City were concerned that the retailer could not pay for the merchandise they sell. The company is entering court protection as it owes HP $119 million and Samsung $116 million. In all, they owe $650 million to suppliers, including Sony. Ouch.
Bloomberg points to stiff competition from Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Amazon.com, as well as the on-going global financial crisis, as reasons why the company is nearing its end.
Contest:
11:33 AM on 11.10.2008
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That's actualyl why I haven't bought many used games this console generation. There's barely any discount anymore, so I'm just buying new stuff and renting from gamefly (Which discounts a bit more for used games, though you're still paying for the rental service)
Sir we a pretty much screwed and have no reserves left. Well, by dammit, we are going to place the largest fucking order of PC's and TV's the world has EVAR SEEN!
Thanks to CAG, though, I see great deals pop up everywhere. You just have to exercise patience. I pricematched CC's price for The Orange Box over at Best Buy earlier in the year. woot!
I played the demo, and I loves me some Valkyria Chronicles
I know of three reasons. 1 - some prefer instant gratification and want the product they pay for immediately. 2 - some prefer to pay a slight premium to avoid the hassle of shipping back and forth in case of RMAs. 3 - some people have a lot of cash income they want to hide from the IRS, and buying small things with cash helps them spend their cash income while saving their reported income for more visible things like rent and car payments.
Anyway, normally I wouldn't care about CC closing stores, except they are closing the 3 closest CC stores to me out here in Long Island. That leaves Best Buy as the only major electronics store to shop at. The only other option I have is to drive 40 minutes to Microcenter. I really wish Fry's Electronics would open a store out here.