Circuit City to close 20% of its stores by year's end.
DailyTech reported in late October that Circuit City was on the brink of closing 150 stores and slashing more jobs. Circuit City's stock price has dropped over 90% since the start of the year and this past Thursday, the company was warned that it could be booted from the New York Stock Exchange.
It appears that that closing time is finally arriving for what's left of Circuit City's nationwide chain. The Consumerist reported today that Circuit City plans to close 155 of its 711 stores nationwide.
According to sources close to the company, employees of the affected stores were told this morning about the closings. The store closings will be effective 12/31/2008 and according to at least one report, Firedog and car installation employees will likely be fired within 48 hours.
As for what will happen to the closing stores, The Consumerist provided this commentary from an insider:
A team of liquidators will be coming in and taking control of the store. They will set prices as they see fit, and price match guarantee, employee discounts, CC circulars, and the new one price guarantee are all out the window. The price you see is the price you will pay, although it ought to be at a bit of a discount. Firedog services as well as car audio installation are gone immediately. Returns and warranties have to be taken to a CC that's not closing. No new stock will be delivered, we just gotta crank away and sell off everything, and when it's sold, we hit the road.
For more information about the layoffs including a letter sent to affected Circuit City store, you can head over to The Consumerist.
Updated 11/3/2008
Circuit City today officially announced its plans to close 155 stores which are located in 55 markets across the United States. The 155 stores being closed accounted for $1.4 billion USD in sales for fiscal 2008 according to a statement released by the company.
You can view the full corporate press release here along with a full list of all 155 closing stores here [PDF].
DailyTech - Update: Circuit City Announces Plans to Close 155 Stores
