Circuit City Stores Shut Doors

WOODLAND HILLS, CA.: The once second largest consumer electronics retailer in the nation will no longer exist next week. The liquidators selling off Circuit City’s assets announced today that all stores would close permanently on Sunday, March 8. Some have already been shut down because the shelves are empty.

The electronic chain filed for Chapter 11 last November, having already closed 155 of its 721 U.S. stores. At the time, CC had $3.4 billion in assets, $2.32 billion in liabilities, owing HP $119 million and Samsung $116 million.

Great American Group launched the going-out-of-business sales at the remaining 567 stores in January, liquidating around $1.7 billion in retail inventory. The sales are winding up earlier than expected after shoppers descended on the stores like flies. A reporter at a SoCal branch described the first day of the liquidation at that store as being “close to pandemonium.”

“Consumers swarming everywhere; every one of them with at least a few breathless questions and scant employees to provide answers,” wrote Brooke Crothers at cnet.com. “…and consumers seemingly snapping up anything that wasn’t nailed down.”

“Thanks to record shopper turnout at many of the store locations and the attractive discounts offered on all merchandise, the sales actually went quicker than we expected,” said Scott Carpenter, executive vice president and director of operations for the liquidator whose acronym is “GAG.”

That doesn’t necessarily mean everyone was happy with the attractive discounts. One shopper in El Paso, Texas was sent home with an empty box, and because it was a no-returned liquidation sale, she was arguably abused when she tried to get the situation rectified, according to this report at KFOXtv.com.

Great American Group is part of a joint venture consortium involved in the CC liquidation. Other participants include SB Capital Group, Tiger Capital Group and Hudson Capital Partners.