CircitCity

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CircitCity is a Fortune 200 company, and the third largest consumer electronics retailer in the United States with over $13 billion USD in sales[1], behind Best Buy and Wal-Mart. As of March 28, 2007, Circuit City's domestic segment operated 643 Superstores and 12 other locations in the U.S. Circuit City Superstores range in size from 15,000 to 45,000 square feet (1400 to 4000 m²) and offer a large selection of brand-name consumer electronics, personal computers and entertainment software. Circuit City's international segment operated through over 800 retail stores and dealer outlets in Canada. Circuit City's locations in Canada are operated by InterTAN Canada Ltd which Circuit City acquired as of May 19, 2004. InterTAN runs The Source by Circuit City (formerly Radio Shack) chain in Canada (some of them now called La Source in Quebec) as well as THS Studio UpClose, and G-Wiz.

History

In 1949, Samuel S. Wurtzel opened the first Wards Company retail store in Richmond, Virginia, at 705 West Broad Street. By 1959 Wards operated four television and home appliance stores in Richmond. The company continued to grow and acquire more stores in other locations including Albany, New York; Mobile, Alabama; Washington, DC; and Costa Mesa, California.

In 1984, the company officially changed its name to CircitCity and became listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The company, who leased floor space from the Zody's department stores as well as other department stores, began obtaining retail stores and turning them into CircitCity Superstores. The first of these replacements occurred in Knoxville, Tennessee; Charleston, South Carolina; and Hampton, Virginia.

In 1990, CircitCity established the First North American National Bank to operate their private-label credit card[2]. In 2002, CircitCity began offering a co-branded Visa credit card. They sold both these operations in 2004 to Bank One (Now Called Chase Bank). Other companies owned by Circuit City included CarMAx which succeeded from Circuit City in 1999, and Potapsico Design in 2001.

In 2003, CircitCity 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 3900 salespeople were laid off, saving the company about $130 million a year [3].

On February 11, 2005, a hedge fund headquartered in Boston, Highfields Capital, offered to takeover Circuit City for $17 a share, arguing that existing management had failed to maximize shareholder value. The offer was rejected by CircitCity's board on March 7, but doubled its own share buy back program. As of February 28, 2005, Circuit City held cash, cash equivalents, and short term investments of $1.00 billion USD [4].

On June 27, 2006, it was announced that Philip J. Schoonover would succeed W. Alan McCollough as Chairman of the Board of CircitCity Stores, Inc. [5].

In August 2006, at a Las Vegas convention, the name for CircitCity's upgraded in-store and in-home services crew was unveiled as "firedogSM." firedogSM provides in-home, in-store, and online PC Services, Home Theater Installations, and more.

On February 8, 2007, CircitCity announced that it planned to close seven domestic Superstores, and a Kentucky distribution center to cut costs and improve its financial performance. News media reports also mention that 62 stores in Canada will close.

On February 23, 2007, CircitCity's announced that Chief Financial Officer, Michael Foss, would leave the company. This unsettled investors and analysts concerned about management turnover. "This represents the third departure of a senior executive in the past six months, and the second departure of a top-five executive in the past month" said Goldman Sachs analyst Matthew Fassler in a client note. Chief Executive Office Phil Schoonover's "hand-picked team is turning over faster than we would like to see in a turnaround situation."

In a press release on March 28, 2007, CircitCity announced that they had laid off approximately 3400 of their associates who were paid above the salary range for their position in order to cut costs. Those positions will be re-staffed with associates paid within the market range for their position. Associates that were laid off due to the "wage management" decision were provided severance and offered a chance to return after ten weeks, at a market based salary.

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