Circuit City's Website Re-Opens For Business
It's baaaaaack! Barely two months after Circuit City, a long standing icon in the world of consumer electronics, shut its doors for goods, the doors are back open...online, anyway. After the bankrupt company was forced to liquidate everything, Systemax -- the same company responsible for sites such as TigerDirect.com and the revival of CompUSA -- managed to purchase Circuit City's Internet domain names and trademarks for around $6.5 million.
Since making the purchase, it has re-created a Circuit City website that will see the brand name live on. From a business standpoint, it's a brilliant move. The Circuit City brand has been around for 60 years, and it obviously has a great deal of recognition amongst consumers. The re-opening of the website doesn't signal a re-opening of any brick & mortar stores, but it does mean that folks can continue to buy from CC (albeit one under different management) should they so choose.
Still, we have to wonder how successful this revitalization will be. Consumers have been pummeled with news of the giant's downfall, and we have to believe that much of the brand trust has been lost. Will consumers still flock to CircuitCity.com even after the demise of its retail segment? So far as we can tell, the site looks largely unchanged from before, with the layout tweaked ever so slightly and prominent buttons placed to advertise via social networks. Oh, and that whole "Order Online, Pick Up In Store" option is understandably missing -- darn.
Since making the purchase, it has re-created a Circuit City website that will see the brand name live on. From a business standpoint, it's a brilliant move. The Circuit City brand has been around for 60 years, and it obviously has a great deal of recognition amongst consumers. The re-opening of the website doesn't signal a re-opening of any brick & mortar stores, but it does mean that folks can continue to buy from CC (albeit one under different management) should they so choose.
Still, we have to wonder how successful this revitalization will be. Consumers have been pummeled with news of the giant's downfall, and we have to believe that much of the brand trust has been lost. Will consumers still flock to CircuitCity.com even after the demise of its retail segment? So far as we can tell, the site looks largely unchanged from before, with the layout tweaked ever so slightly and prominent buttons placed to advertise via social networks. Oh, and that whole "Order Online, Pick Up In Store" option is understandably missing -- darn.
