Circuit City to Close Early

It appears that Circuit City’s liquidation sales have been successful. So successful, in fact, that the stores are running out of inventory sooner than expected. As a result, liquidators have announced that all of the chain’s remaining stores will close this Sunday.

The shutdowns come about a week ahead of schedule, and two weeks earlier than originally planned. Even after the stores close, there’s still a lot to be done, however. The company’s wind-down process is expected to last two years while crews liquidate remaining assets, shut down the final businesses, and reconcile claims against the company. To assist with some of the final items of business, a small staff will remain at the corporate office after Sunday.

The once second-largest U.S. consumer electronics retailer filed for bankruptcy in November. Although the company was hopeful that it would be able to reorganize and reemerge from bankruptcy, in January Circuit City announced it would liquidate its remaining 567 U.S. stores and lay off about 34,000 employees.

Earlier this week, Circuit City announced that Bell Canada, a telecommunications company, has purchased a chain of 750 The Source electronics stores across Canada operated by Circuit City's InterTAN subsidiary. The sale is expected to close in the third quarter. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.

We hate to see Circuit City go. While online shopping certainly has its perks, there’s still something to be said for brick and mortar stores and comparing products in person. For those of you who still want one last bargain-hunting trip, the next couple of days will be your last chance to take advantage of any remaining deals to be had at Circuit City. That is, assuming your store is one of the ones still remaining.