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Circuit City history
Circuit City company history timeline
1984: After numerous acquisitions to build a national footprint, Wards Company changes its names to Circuit City Stores Inc. and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker symbol “CC.”
In 1984 the company planned a large expansion around Atlanta and opened 15 new stores in Florida.
The company continued to expand and, in 1984 Circuit City was established as the company name.
1984: Company changes its name to Circuit City Stores, Inc.; firm begins replacing regular Circuit City stores with Circuit City Superstores.
1987: Revenues reach $1 billion for the first time.
Merwin, John, “Execution,” Forbes, April 18, 1988.
1989: “Circuit City Express“ was introduced in a mall based format in over 55 locations.
By 1989 Circuit City’s profits had tripled in just three years to reach $69.5 million, despite a general recession in the consumer electronics retailing industry.
1989: First personal computers hit Circuit City store shelves.
Although salespeople remained on commission--a practice abandoned by Best Buy in 1989--they took a less aggressive approach than before.
1989: Company's superstores begin selling personal computers.
1990: Sales reach the $2 billion mark for the fiscal year ending Feb.
Over the years the company has introduced many key products such as the IBM PS/1 computer in 1991, making Circuit City the first superstore to sell it.
In 1991 the company entered the Texas market and opened superstores in Dallas, Houston, and Austin.
In late 1993, Circuit City announced it would cut prices in markets it shared with Best Buy, sparking a grueling price war.
The company went in a new direction in 1993, opening the first of what became a chain of used car lots.
1993: Circuit City launches its new CarMax chain, a retailer of used cars.
Expansion to the Northwest started in 1994 with Circuit City opening its first stores in Portland, Oregon.
christman, ed. "best buy, circuit city a potent combo; 2 chains change entertainment retailing." billboard, 17 june 1995.
Despite the competition, Circuit City had sales of about $7 billion by 1995, and sales and earnings were rising by 20 percent annually.
In 1995 Circuit City opened stores in Connecticut, Denver, Buffalo, Rochester, and Salt Lake City.
"best buy, circuit city downsize." television digest, 23 september 1996.
In 1996 the company entered two new markets, Pittsburgh and Detroit, expanding more high-price items like personal computers and home theater systems.
In 1996 the company downsized, opening smaller stores in response to a lapse in sales.
Plans for 1997 included opening 8 to 10 more stores and 15 to 20 after that.
Both these technologies were struggling for consumers’ attention, with each format offering only a few hundred titles as they rolled out in the fall of 1998.
"circuit city stores inc." the corporate directory of u.s. public companies. san mateo, ca: walker's, 1998.
In June 2000 W. Alan McCollough was promoted from president and COO of Circuit City to president and CEO. Sharp remained chairman for two more years, whereupon McCollough took on that post as well.
Circuit City predicts that sales will reach $104.3 billion by the year 2000.
2000: Circuit City stores stop selling appliances.
CarMax lost $23.5 million in 1998, on sales of $1.5 billion. It also took a $114 million after-tax charge for the first quarter of fiscal 2000.
Circuit City intends to have 80 to 90 CarMax units by 2001.
Circuit City has considerable expansion opportunities and plans to operate 800 stores by 2001.
The company took this opportunity to once again focus solely on consumer electronics, spinning off the used-car retailer in October 2002 as a separately traded, independent entity called CarMax, Inc.
Continuing to shed noncore operations, Circuit City sold its bank-card finance operation to FleetBoston Financial Corporation in November 2003 for $1.3 billion.
2003: Company eliminates its commissioned sales force.
Not done with its wheeling and dealing, Circuit City sold its private-label credit card operation to Bank One Corporation in May 2004 for approximately $400 million.
In 2004 Circuit City worked to open 65 to 70 new stores—its most aggressive plan of expansion in a decade.
2005: Company rejects unsolicited $3.25 billion cash buyout offer from Boston investment firm Highfields Capital Management LP
2007: Circuit City announces plans to explore strategic alternatives for InterTAN Inc.; lays off about 3,400 retail employees and replaces them with lower-paid workers; launches new store prototype "The City."
April 2008: Dallas-based movie-rental chain Blockbuster Inc. makes public a more than $1 billion takeover bid for Circuit City with dreams of creating a huge chain that would sell electronic gadgets and rent movies and games.
August 2008: Marcum named vice chairman.
29, 2008: Circuit City withdraws its outlook for the full year and posts a wider second-quarter loss as sales fell 10 percent; Shares fall more than 20 percent.
10, 2008: Circuit City files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
March 2, 2009: Circuit City announces sale of 750 The Source electronics stores across Canada operated by Circuit City's InterTAN subsidiary to telecommunications company Bell Canada.
2009: Systemax (Sym) acquired the Circuit City brand name, trademarks, and e-commerce website.
16, 2009: Circuit City announces plans to liquidate.
2016: Circuit City Corporation, Inc. acquires trademarks and e-commerce rights
Circuit City to Announce Official Company Relaunch at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show on January 8th
"Circuit City Stores, Inc. ." International Directory of Company Histories. . Encyclopedia.com. (June 22, 2022). https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/circuit-city-stores-inc-1
Father's day cookout turns deadly in Harlem River ParkA local rapper’s Father’s Day cookout turned into a tragedy when a shooting broke out after midnight early Monday, June 20, 2022.
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Circuit City competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fry's Electronics | 1985 | $2.4B | 14,000 | - |
| Men's Wearhouse | 1973 | $1.5B | 10,001 | - |
| Sports Authority | 1928 | $1.9B | 15,250 | - |
| Wawa | 1964 | $13.0B | 37,000 | 457 |
| The Good Guys | 1952 | $2.0B | 25 | 1 |
| Neiman Marcus Group | 1907 | $4.9B | 13,500 | 11 |
| CompUSA | 1999 | $99.1M | 10,000 | - |
| P.C. Richard & Son | 1909 | $1.5B | 3,000 | - |
| Camping World | 1966 | $5.4B | 11,835 | 937 |
| Roomful Express Furniture | 1958 | $7.0M | 46 | - |
Circuit City history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Circuit City, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Circuit City. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Circuit City. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Circuit City. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Circuit City and its employees or that of Zippia.
Circuit City may also be known as or be related to Circuit City and Circuit City Corporation, Inc.