Circuit City Closing OKC Stores

[SoonerDave]

CC employee advises that the liquidation at I-240 and Penn will start tomorrow (Saturday) morning.

As far as BB employees go, yeah, they're not the sharpest knives in the drawer. I got so aggravated listening to one of the laptop salesmen trying to convince me about some aspect of a particular Intel laptop CPU about which he was nearly clueless, I just had to walk away after I told him all the ways he was wrong.

I just make a point of going to BB knowing what I need, because I know they won't.

[Kerry]

Maybe it is time to get some lenses and accessories for the Nikon camera. I also want to get a slingbox.

[oneforone]

I am curiou show bad CC's closing is going to affect Ardmore. They have a large distribution center down there that employees at least a couple hundred.

[bluedogok]

I was YAWNINGLY unimpressed with Conn's. It looked like a warehouse they just threw some TV's and sofas in for good measure....doubt seriously I'll be back unless they have some really vicious sale on something specific, but I'm not holding my breath.

We have bought some appliances and a 32" TV that was 150 less than Costco at Conn's. They aren't meant to be "impressive looking" stores as they tend to be in older, previously abandoned store locations that tend to be cheaper. They do have good sale prices, they are list on most items but like most places you have to catch something there on sale.

They seem to be doing better than some of the other retailers.
MSN Money - Conn's expects 4Q profit above analysts' forecasts

[BB37]

No surprise. Unfortunate, but no surprise.

[fromdust]

I am curiou show bad CC's closing is going to affect Ardmore. They have a large distribution center down there that employees at least a couple hundred.

they just announced they will be closing all the remaining stores in the u.s. 34,000 employees just got their 60 day notice.

Circuit City liquidation sale to start today - San Jose Mercury News

oops, guess everyone knew this already. should have read page 2.

[OKCisOK4me]

Pardon me if this has already been mentioned. I just called this morning to the one on N. Penn and I jokingly asked if they were looking at 15 days & the lady said it's suppose to be about 90 days before they're done and closed for good.

[SoonerDave]

Went to the I-240 store this morning, and there are no outlandish "GOING OUT OF BUSINESS" sale anywhere. The salespeople tell you that prices are now full retail less 10% and, I didn't see *any* actual marked down prices.

There were some pretty interesting prices on large TV's, and that may or may not be in conjunction with the fact that Samsung was petitioning the bankruptcy court for return of something like $70 million in merchandise it believes was bought from them by CC when the company was already insolvent....*sigh*

I figure a week at 10%, then next week will be maybe 15% or 20%....

[MikeOKC]

Remember when CompUSA went out of business? It was a joke! The percentages off "retail prices" sounds good until you realize that street prices are already significantly lower than "retail prices." I hated to see so many people getting ripped off by the liquidator. I saw people paying prices 25% more than what it sells for everyday at Newegg.com.

[bluedogok]

Yep, they had nothing that I couldn't buy anywhere else (local or online) for less.

[sgray]

Went to the I-240 store this morning, and there are no outlandish "GOING OUT OF BUSINESS" sale anywhere. The salespeople tell you that prices are now full retail less 10% and, I didn't see *any* actual marked down prices.

Yeah, I think that was the gist of it a couple of months ago when the other stores went under...I wouldn't expect anything different...

[SoonerDave]

We have bought some appliances and a 32" TV that was 150 less than Costco at Conn's. They aren't meant to be "impressive looking" stores as they tend to be in older, previously abandoned store locations that tend to be cheaper. They do have good sale prices, they are list on most items but like most places you have to catch something there on sale.

They seem to be doing better than some of the other retailers.
MSN Money - Conn's expects 4Q profit above analysts' forecasts

Understand what you're saying, but what you're saying goes against the grain of the new Conn's at I-240 and Penn. They completely leveled an existing portion of a shopping center and rebuilt the thing from the ground up specifically for Conn's. I'm not saying I have to have lavish displays and such, I"m just saying it looked sloppily laid out, that's all. The furniture didn't look the slightest bit organized.

[sgray]

Understand what you're saying, but what you're saying goes against the grain of the new Conn's at I-240 and Penn. They completely leveled an existing portion of a shopping center and rebuilt the thing from the ground up specifically for Conn's. I'm not saying I have to have lavish displays and such, I"m just saying it looked sloppily laid out, that's all. The furniture didn't look the slightest bit organized.

I wouldn't exactly compare that area where they built Conn's on 240 to some of the other areas...even where they put the one on NW EXPWY is a nicer place.

If I owned that lot and a company like Conn's (no matter how cheap they are) wanted it, I'd build that place to suit them in a heartbeat. Some of those lots around there are not what I would call clean.

I would be willing to bet they are doing better with Conn's in there than the previous shops.

[bluedogok]

I agree the stores look a bit "disjointed" in layout, the ones down here do as well. The furniture next to the lawnmowers always seemed to be odd to me, an odd product mix. They do seem to be doing better than some others out there though, with their sale prices I can forgo a fancy store.

[sgray]

I agree the stores look a bit "disjointed" in layout, the ones down here do as well. The furniture next to the lawnmowers always seemed to be odd to me, an odd product mix. They do seem to be doing better than some others out there though, with their sale prices I can forgo a fancy store.

I agree, I certainly don't want to pay a premium for their store to be a taj mahal, you know? If they want that, cool. They can buy it out of their profit.

[oneforone]

There maybe a teeny tiny glimmer of hope for Circuit City.

Three auctions are scheduled next week to attract potential buyers.

The first auction will be for the company as a whole. If this happens it will most like be for roughly 300 of the remaining stores. Chances are more the likely the Oklahoma stores will close.

The second will be for each induvidual store which can be purchased in groups if desired by the buyer(s).

The third is for the all the side companies they own.

If the creditors approve of the sales it might save the company. If not the comapany is done. My money on is on the latter.

[bluedogok]

I wonder if the auction may end up like CompUSA did, they still have some stores open and their online business but shut down stores in various parts of the country. They have 15 stores in Florida, 3 in Illinois, 2 in North Carolina, 1 in Puerto Rico and 3 in Texas (El Paso, McAllen and Plano).

[dismayed]

I hit the Norman Circuit City a few months ago when it went out of business. I found that on most electronics that when compared to Internet prices most of their markups were nearly 100%. Of course Internet companies are always going to be more expensive, but a full 100% markup for your big going out of business sale price is a bit ridiculous. I think that's probably what really drove Circuit City into the ground.

[sgray]

Dismayed,

Keep in mind that if it was after the closing announcement for that store, it is likely that it was in the hands of the liquidation company and not Circuit City. In which case, that sounds about right, cause they start high and work down to sell everything.

I do hear what you are saying on internet pricing--I almost always made my circuit city purchases online and went to pick them up to get the lower pricing. It's kind of silly when they know you can get online with your phone in-store and buy it then pick it up on your way out at the lower price, you know? Although they were counting on most folks not going thru the trouble to do that, I'm sure. A lot of stores (wal-mart) dont allow you to buy from their in-store stock for online purchases, so if you want the better price, you have to wait for your order to arrive at the local store.

[Bunty]

This afternoon, 1/18/09, I was at the Circuit City off Memorial near Target, and wasn't well impressed with what was going on. A number of areas weren't well stocked and only a small portion of the merchandise was going for 10 to 30% off. Didn't buy anything. I was better impressed with the Linen 'n Things going out of business sale. I actually bought a few items.

[oneforone]

Dismayed,

Keep in mind that if it was after the closing announcement for that store, it is likely that it was in the hands of the liquidation company and not Circuit City. In which case, that sounds about right, cause they start high and work down to sell everything.

This is going to be the case for the left over Circuit City stores. According to a corporate press release I read the liquidation company has control of the stores day to day operations until they close. The only connection Circuit City will have is providing employees to run the stores until they close.

[jsibelius]

I wonder if the auction may end up like CompUSA did, they still have some stores open and their online business but shut down stores in various parts of the country. They have 15 stores in Florida, 3 in Illinois, 2 in North Carolina, 1 in Puerto Rico and 3 in Texas (El Paso, McAllen and Plano).

CompUSA really did go under. Tiger Direct bought up the few remaining stores just before they closed and decided to adopt the CompUSA name. That's why CompUSA is presumably still with us. It's actually a morphed Tiger Direct. I got the scoop when some salesman called me from the dead. I was a bit flabbergasted until he explained.

[oneforone]

The Final Moments of Circuit City


DAVID RESS AND LOUIS LLOVIO TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITERS
Published: January 25, 2009

They were playing for the highest stakes in Vegas that day.
Two very private firms, aiming to keep Circuit City Stores Inc. in business, were pitching their plans to the bosses of the big electronics manufacturers that supplied the ailing retail chain.

Far from the dazzling lights of the hotel's casino and far from the hype of the annual Consumer Electronics Show, Mexican magnate Ricardo Salinas' Latin American retail chain and California investment fund Golden Gate Capital promised to sink hundreds of millions of dollars into Henrico County-based Circuit City.

During hours-long meetings on Jan. 7 and 8, each asked the suppliers if they would be willing to ship goods and be paid later, the standard practice in retailing.

Vendors, the two potential buyers and Circuit City executives left the meetings feeling that the money -- in the form of payment terms from vendors and equity investment from the buyers -- was there.

But time was of the essence: A court order unsealed the next day in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond gave them just a week, until Jan. 16, to make a deal.

The meetings in Las Vegas -- and then later the following week in New York City -- were among the last-ditch efforts executives made to sell Circuit City after the nation's No. 2 consumer-electronics retailer filed for bankruptcy protection in early November.

The efforts failed.

On Jan. 16, Bankruptcy Judge Kevin R. Huennekens -- in what he said was one of the hardest decisions he had made in his two years on the bench -- approved the liquidation and shutdown of the Fortune 500 retailer.
The company's demise is one of the largest failures of a U.S. retailer. Nearly 34,000 people across the country will lose their jobs, including about 1,500-plus at the chain's corporate office in western Henrico.

The judge's decision came after Circuit City could not find a buyer or the necessary credit to continue operations. Going-out-of-business sales at the chain's 567 stores are under way and will end on or before March 31.
. . .

It wasn't just the survival of Circuit City at stake, though.
A court-appointed committee of unsecured creditors was watching closely -- and its members wondered whether there was a valid deal, with real money on the table.

For them, the stakes were high: They wanted to recover as much of their money as possible.

The 11-member group included six of Circuit City's biggest suppliers, vendors who were owed a total of $298 million at the time the company filed for bankruptcy.

They saw a company that was bleeding cash -- running through $200 million in the first six months of its fiscal year despite borrowing $215 million during the same time.

"The trade creditors, because of their own situations and because of the massive losses of hundreds of millions of dollars [of unpaid bills] . . . were very cautious in their approach," said Jeffrey N. Pomerantz, an attorney with Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP who is representing the creditors committee.

The longer Circuit City took to find a buyer, the greater the risk to vendors that they would not be paid in full.
. . .
After filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Nov. 10, Circuit City executives knew they had little choice but to put the chain up for sale.

By Thanksgiving, investment bank Rothschild Inc. was circulating a 50-page PowerPoint-like presentation to potential buyers -- what finance executives call a teaser document.

But Circuit City's bankers, a group led by Bank of America, told the creditors committee that they could not fund loans of the size needed to keep a 500-store chain running, Pomerantz said.

Eventually, the banks said the most they could afford was $600 million, said Gregg M. Galardi, a partner in the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, which is representing Circuit City in its bankruptcy case.

That credit line, which would have been secured by inventory, was less than half of what the banks had given Circuit City before its bankruptcy filing.
With a smaller credit line, the chain would have to shrink.
. . .
The Las Vegas meetings show that Circuit City executives wouldn't give up.
The Jan. 7 and 8 meetings at the annual Consumer Electronics Show, where manufacturers meet retailers to show off their latest gadgets and to hammer out multimillion-dollar sales, were key.

Between them, two competing buyers held just less than a dozen meetings with groups of top executives from Circuit City's biggest vendors.

They were very private, very formal meetings. Attending each was up to about a dozen senior executives from the vendors, including the heads of North American operations of giant multinational electronics and computer firms.

Each of the potential buyers started with a sketch of its plans. Vendors fired off questions. The buyers felt them out about payment terms.
"They met with our two buyers and, to the credit of our buyers, at their own expense," Galardi said.

Circuit City walked away from the meetings with letters of support from vendors, "pieces of paper that say 'I will have $400 million of trade vendor support'" -- but "not lawyer letters that say 'I will commit to $100 million of financing,'" Galardi said.

Circuit City thought that was enough.
. . .
Company executives began negotiating in earnest with buyers the week of Jan. 12, taking over conference rooms on four floors in their lawyers' Manhattan offices on Times Square.
Circuit City's top executives shuttled by elevator from floor to floor. On one, they huddled with Salinas' representatives. Salinas, who owns Latin America's largest chain of consumer-electronics stores, was Circuit City's largest shareholder, with about 28 percent of outstanding shares in mid-November.

Liquidation specialists camped on two other floors, in case Circuit City could not arrange a deal. Representatives of the creditors committee were on yet another.

The chain's executives were talking with Golden Gate's executives by phone. The San Francisco-based private equity firm owns or invests in a number of businesses, including holding majority stakes in the Express retail chain and Romano's Macaroni Grill restaurants.

But there was confusion about where things stood.
Harvey Yellen, chairman of the liquidation firm Great American Group, said Circuit City told him Jan. 13 that it would not know if it had a buyer until the next day.

James A. Marcum, the retailer's vice chairman and acting president and CEO, was doing everything he could to nail down a deal that would keep Circuit City alive, Yellen said.
. . .
Early in the week, the creditors committee heard that Salinas was rethinking his strategy.

But Pomerantz, the committee lawyer, said it had only been in contact with Salinas' representatives on Jan. 5 -- before the Las Vegas meetings -- in a five-minute telephone conversation between lawyers.

"Even during the auction, when we were in the same building for virtually three days," Salinas' representatives did not "come and approach us and say 'this is a plan that could work,'" Pomerantz said.

The other buyer, Golden Gate, gave the creditors "an indication of interest that was two pages that, basically, was as vague as could be," Pomerantz said.

He said that in neither case were the buyers offering enough cash to cover the bills that come first in a bankruptcy -- the administrative expenses, such as lawyers' fees -- which are paid ahead of vendors such as those on the creditors committee.

As the New York talks started, an auction to sell the chain to potential buyers was slated to begin Jan. 13. Circuit City postponed it at least three times as executives kept trying to negotiate a deal.

Circuit City executives and Golden Gate went back and forth by phone until the afternoon of Jan 15. The executives worked with Salinas at the same time.

There were options on the table.

One scenario would have created a 350-store chain. The other -- and seemingly more doable -- was one with 180 stores operating from Richmond to Maine.

But Salinas backed out on Jan. 15, sources familiar with the negotiations say.

One put the time at 10:30 p.m. But another said it was in the morning. Salinas saw "it was much more complicated than he expected it to be."
Pricing on some inventory "was just too high," the source said. "The value and the support [from banks and vendors] just wasn't there."
. . .
At 10 p.m. Jan. 15 -- about 12 hours before a scheduled appearance in Bankruptcy Court in Richmond -- came one of the last steps, Yellen said.
At that time, his consortium of liquidation companies was named as the stalking-horse bidder, setting a floor bid to liquidate the company.
The liquidators were putting up $900 million, Yellen said.
There were no other bids.

"Hope springs eternal, but we actually had people that were still interested . . . that sat through the three days that we sat through in those conference rooms, people that said we put $50 million [up] and the committee says 'put it . . . in a nonrefundable account," Galardi, the company's lawyer, said in court. "That's not going to happen when the committee doesn't even want to bet on themselves."

Yellen's representatives and Circuit City signed a liquidation agreement at 12:20 a.m. Jan. 16.

At about 2:45 that afternoon, Huennekens, the bankruptcy judge, approved the liquidation of the company. "It is indeed unfortunate that the debtor finds itself in the situation that it's in today. This is a very sad day for management, for the employees, for the customers and for the community," he said.

Said one source familiar with the negotiations: "I believe in my heart of hearts, and will until the day I die, that there were two motivated buyers -- and one of them was really, really motivated.

"In my view, we could have had a going concern . . . The clock just ticked and time ran out."

[oneforone]

6 Liquidation Sale Tips From A Circuit City Employee
By Meg Marco, 11:40 AM on Thu Jan 22 2009, 49,124 views
Sam, a reader who says he is a current Circuit City employee, writes in to offer his advice on navigating the liquidation.

Sam says:

I have a few tips for people that are planning on shopping there during the "sale:"

1. All of what you have seen is correct, not much is actually on sale. Looking at items I remember from a couple weeks before, most everything is more expensive. Especially things like blank CDs, flash drives, and anything in the computer area. Cables are less expensive than usual, but still way more than online. Game systems are not a bad deal either.

2. You're right: We really don't care about you. I and anybody else will answer any questions about the product or return policy, or show you where something is. But that is it. I really can't do anything else for you under our new policies, and that is honestly fine with me. It is hard to care when you know the job is gone in 2 months anyway. It becomes even harder when you see how busy we are with prices being higher. It kills me to see these people scrambling over terrible prices when we were dead the past year.

3. This goes even more so for management. They have been stripped of all of their power, and are relegated to people that are allowed to have keys. Chances are they needed their job more than the part-timer like me, and they are not very happy about being jobless soon, and they are making it known.

4. Bring a copy of the CC return policy from Consumerist in if you have a valid return. As you have seen already, a lot of the Customer Service and even managers don't know the real return policy for items bought before January 1.

5. No, we cannot change ANY PRICE in the store. Whatever it says in the computer is what we have to sell it at, regardless of what the sign says, or what the associate told you. It is all set by the liquidation company. I wish we could change it, but that is the way it is.

6. (And this is more of a rant Don't act happy that we are going out of business, please. I have had more than a few qualms with my job and the company the past few years, trust me. But I am still sad to see it go. I helped out a lot of very nice people, and I genuinely believe I helped them out and went above and beyond for them. I may be the exception, but I helped as much as I could and didn't sell people things that I didn't think they could use. Part of what is so depressing about working there right now is how smug people seem to be about us closing. You don't think the price on that camera is good? Neither do I, and I am sorry that I and 34,000 other people losing their jobs could not have saved you 12 more dollars on a camera. See how much better it gets in 6 months when Best Buy is the ONLY option for that TV you are looking for.

Poor Sam. We hope you land on your feet, buddy. Thanks for sharing your advice.



READ MORE: CIRCUIT CITY DEATH WATCH, CIRCUIT CITY, LIQUIDATION, ECONOMY, CONFESSIONS, INSIDERS, TOP

I have to feel for the employees that are caught in the middle in all of this. I used to work there. A few of them are my good friends with families to support. The local job market is....... let's just be honest it is **** right now.

For those firms that are hiring, it is an employers market. Thank your lucky stars you have a paycheck coming to your household. You never know what might happen, tomorrow you could be the bitter employee/ex-employee.

Many of these employees have worked retail their whole life. There is no back up career or money for college. Most are cringing at the fact they are going to have to go work/back to work for Wal-Mart just so they can get some form of health insurance. A select few with cc are/were working through college so they will probably find a position waiting tables or delivering pizzas if all else fails.

Let me say this as one former CC employee to all the board members here at Okctalk.com. If you're looking at buying at TV and decide to go to CC do not go in expecting to save $500 off plasma TV. Treat the employees as you want to be treated. Don't take crap off any body but, don't go in looking to roll someone because you cannot find a deal.

Honestly, I would not buy anything from a liquidation sale. I worked 8 years for CC. I can tell you I have never seen a product of any kind be problem free. Every electronic item is subject to poor assembly or design, damage from the transportation process from the factory to the store, damage from stocking or customers mishandling the product in the store.

Bottom-line it is in your best interest to purchase all electronic items from a retailer that will allow you to return it in the event it is defective or if you decide you simply do not like it. The whole "I gotta deal" euphoria comes to a screeching halt when three days after the sale it starts acting up or stops working all together. I have seen it happen time and time again. Televisions our one of the many products that will work great today and two days later turn to crap.

Do yourself a favor, do business with another retailer or a local retailer for that matter. Harry's, Anthony's, or Dick Christman's, Weathers TV or any other local name, would love to have your business. Not to mention your money would go to Oklahomans Instead of companies in Minnesota, Dallas, or Arkansas.

[oneforone]

Today is/yesterday was the last day for the I-240 store. I drove buy tonight and the sign on the door said last day. Chances are more than likely that Memorial is in the same boat.