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Circuit City Group (fka CCTYQ) RSS Feed

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CCTYQ — Circuit City Stores, Inc.
Common Stock
Par Value: 0.40

              ONLINE STORE OPEN!!!~>            http://www.thesource.ca

                   SHOP BY PHONE~>>>                   1 (866) 454 4426

 

  

 Investor Information & Newsroom

>>>        http://investor.circuitcity.com        <<<

*******************************************************************

Social and Economic Impact

It was during Alan Wurtzel’s involvement with Circuit City that he began to realize the problems with the education system in the United States, and especially with the local education system. Wurtzel and his staff were frustrated with trying to hire young people who could “read, write, and interact” on a level that made them capable of working in Circuit City stores. A 1995 article in Buffalo News from Buffalo, New York, reported that according to Wurtzel, managers in the chain had to interview 20 young people before they found one with sufficient skills. Wurtzel felt that the education system was not training young people to keep up with the needs of the work force. In a 1991 article for the Virginia Forum, Wurtzel outlined a strategy for improving productivity and wages in Virginia. One of the problems that he identified was that “Virginia schools have not adequately prepared graduates, and certainly not dropouts, to hold the more challenging jobs of a fast-changing, high-productivity workplace.” Wurtzel emphasized the importance of education within his own company. New employees must train for at least two weeks before starting to work, and they continue to receive training as they continue to work in the company.

Wurtzel’s concern led him to become involved in numerous educational endeavors. Wurtzel has continued to lobby for reform in education and has been able to influence educational policies in Virginia as a member of the state board of education and the Commission on the Future of Public Education in Virginia. He emphasized the importance of connecting education to work, suggesting students who do not go to college should be offered programs in which they are trained and supported in a variety of ways, including through apprenticeships. His other suggestions have included the establishment of increasingly high, measurable standards for Virginia schools and punishing schools that do not reach the gradually phased-in standards. Both Alan and his father had always been involved in issues that affected local business and their communities.

The Wurtzels have helped revolutionize the consumer and appliance retail business. Pioneering the electronics superstore concept, Circuit City Stores, Inc. helped change the way consumers shop for televisions, stereos, and personal electronics equipment. By emphasizing customer service, Circuit City has been able to combine the concept of the electronics and appliance supermarket with the personal service of smaller stores. The formula of variety and low prices has proven to be an unbeatable combination that has fueled the company’s growth from a local Richmond, Virginia, appliance store to a nationwide chain. In such a volatile business as consumer electronics and appliances that Circuit City has persisted and flourished for half a century is testimony to the leadership and vision of the company’s founder Samuel S. Wurtzel and his son Alan L. Wurtzel.

(source)http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/6407/Wurtzel-Samuel-Wurtzel-Alan-L.html

  *******************************************************************

Circuit City Stores, Inc. Company Timeline

1949 Samuel S. Wurtzel opens first Wards Company retail store in Richmond, Va.

Abraham L. Hecht joins company as partner.
 
1959 Wards operates four television and home appliance stores in Richmond, Va.

Annual sales volume is approximately $1 million.
 
1960 Expands operations via licensed departments in mass merchandising discount stores around the country, including G.E.M., G.E.S. and G.E.X. stores.
 
1961 Makes first public offering with Stein Brothers & Boyce Company, Baltimore, Md. Offers 110,000 shares at $5.375 per share (split adjusted, 2 cents per share).
 
1962 Offers new service plan to customers. Wards loans customers a television if their set can not be repaired in the home.
 
1963 President John F. Kennedy appoints Sam Wurtzel to the U.S. Foreign Trade Mission to Switzerland and Austria.
 
1964 Opens fifth conventional television and appliance store in the Southside Plaza Shopping Center in Richmond, Va.
 
1965 Purchases the Richmond Carousel Corporation, a subsidiary of T.G. Stores, operating one mass merchandising discount store in Richmond, Va. The Carousel offers customers automotive and household supplies, appliances, children's toys, clothing and gasoline.

Acquires Murmic of Delaware, Inc., operating six hardware-houseware departments in mass merchandising stores in the Southeast.
 
1966 Alan Wurtzel joins the company as vice president for legal affairs.

Opens sixth conventional television and appliance store in the Walnut Mall Shopping Center in Petersburg, Va.

Sales reach $23 million for the fiscal year.
 
1968 Moves from the over-the-counter market to the American Stock Exchange. Offers 1,700 shares at $19.75 per share (split adjusted, 55 cents per share).
 
1969 Acquires Custom Electronics, Inc., a retailer of audio and hi-fidelity equipment. Custom operates four conventional stores in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area; nine licensed audio departments in mass merchandising stores from Albany, N.Y., to Mobile, Ala.; and the Dixie Hi-Fi mail-order business.

Acquires The Mart, operating four television, appliance and furniture stores in Indianapolis.

Acquires Certified TV, operating three stores in the Tidewater, Va., area.

Begins operating licensed departments in Zodys Department Stores in Los Angeles.

Opens second Carousel store in Richmond, Va.
 
1970 Acquires Woodville Appliances, Inc., operating five conventional television and appliance stores in Toledo, Ohio.

Acquires Frank Dry Goods Company, operating one television, appliance and furniture store in Fort Wayne, Ind.

Sam Wurtzel steps down as president, remains chairman of the board.

Alan Wurtzel is named president.

Abraham Hecht retires.
 
1971 Opens two specialty audio stores in Richmond, Va., under the name of Sight 'N Sound.
 
1972 Alan Wurtzel is named chief executive officer.

Closes Franks of Fort Wayne and three Certified stores in Norfolk, Va.
 
1973 Opens five audio stores in Washington, D.C.; Richmond, Va.; Charlotte, N.C.; Costa Mesa, Calif.; and City of Commerce, Calif.
 
1974 Begins closing all licensed departments, except those in Zodys.

Opens nine Dixie Hi-Fi discount audio stores.

Closes two of the original Wards stores in Richmond and opens The Wards Loading Dock, a 40,000-square-foot, retail warehouse-showroom displaying a vast selection of audio, video and major appliance products. The Loading Dock is the precursor to today's Circuit City Superstore.
 
1975 Sells the four Woodville television and appliance stores in Toledo.

Closes four of the five Mart stores in Indianapolis.

Sells the two Carousel stores in Richmond, Va.
 
1977 Begins replacing the Dixie Hi-Fi and Custom Hi-Fi discount stores with new-concept "Circuit City" stores. The first six stores open in the Washington, D.C. market. The 6,000-square-foot to 7,000-square-foot Circuit City stores feature top brand names in audio and video products, an in-store service department, convenient pick-up area and knowledgeable sales personnel.
 
1978 Discontinues the Dixie mail-order business.

Closes the four Richmond, Va., Sight 'N Sound stores.
 
1979 Opens a second Wards Loading Dock in Richmond, Va.
 
1981 Merges with Lafayette Radio Electronics Corporation, operating eight consumer electronics stores in metropolitan New York. Begins expanding the Loading Dock concept to new markets under the name Circuit City Superstores. First Superstores open in Raleigh, Greensboro, Durham and Winston-Salem, N.C.
 
1982 Richard L. Sharp joins Circuit City as executive vice president.

Changes the name of the Richmond Loading Docks to Circuit City Superstores.
 
1983 Sales reach $246 million for the fiscal year.
 
1984 Company name changes to Circuit City Stores, Inc.

Stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Sam Wurtzel steps down as chairman of the board, succeeded by Alan Wurtzel.

Richard L. Sharp is named president.

Begins replacing Circuit City stores with Circuit City Superstores. First replacements in Knoxville, Tenn.; Charleston, S.C.; and Hampton, Va.
 
1985 Abraham Hecht dies on July 5 at the age of 87.

Sam Wurtzel dies on December 5 at the age of 78.
 
1986 Alan Wurtzel steps down as chief executive officer, remains chairman of the board.

Richard L. Sharp adds the title of chief executive officer.

All remaining non-Circuit City operations, including Lafayette and Zodys licensed departments, are closed and resources are put into building Circuit City Superstores.
 
1987 Sales hit the $1 billion mark for the fiscal year ending February 28, 1987.

Acquires the custom electronics design and manufacturing company, Patapsco Design, Inc. of Maryland, to serve as an in-house engineering firm.
 
1988 Opens the first Impulse stores in Baltimore, Md., Richmond, Va., and McLean, Va.
 
1989 First personal computers hit Circuit City store shelves.
 
1990 Sam Wurtzel is inducted posthumously into Richmond Business Hall of Fame.

Sales hit the $2 billion mark for the fiscal year ending February 28, 1990.

Establishes First North American National Bank to operate Circuit City's private-label credit card program.
 
1993 Begins testing CarMax, an innovative retailing venture selling used vehicles.
 
1994 Richard L. Sharp adds the title of chairman of the Circuit City board of directors.
 
1995 All mall-based Impulse stores are renamed Circuit City Express.
 
1996 CarMax adds its first new-car franchise at the Norcross,. Ga., location and announces plans for national expansion of the CarMax concept.
 
1997 Shareholders approve the creation of two common stock series. The Company's existing common stock is subsequently redesignated as Circuit City Stores, Inc.-Circuit City Group Common Stock. In an initial public offering, the Company sells 21.86 million shares of Circuit City Stores, Inc.-CarMax Group Common Stock. The Circuit City Group Common Stock is intended to track the performance of the Circuit City store-related operations and a retained interest in the CarMax Group. The CarMax Group Common Stock is intended to track separately the performance of the CarMax operations.

W. Alan McCollough is named president and chief operating officer of Circuit City.
 
1999 Circuit City Stores, Inc. launches its E-Superstore, www.circuitcity.com, offers customers a wide selection of competitively priced consumer electronics and personal computers.

Annual sales for Circuit City store businesses exceed $10 billion.

Annual sales for the CarMax superstores exceed $2 billion.
 
2000 W. Alan McCollough succeeds Richard L. Sharp as chief executive officer. Sharp remains chairman.

Circuit City exits the appliance business. The space once occupied by appliances creates room for new products, including DVD movies, video games and digital cameras.
 
2001 With a $3 million donation, the Circuit City Foundation becomes the official sponsor of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America National Photography Contest, ImageMakers.

Circuit City teams with Sony and CBS to introduce a public service campaign, Message From America. The program is designed to provide recorded video holiday greetings and messages of support for active duty U.S. military personnel. The service is free and open to the public.

In a secondary offering of CarMax Group Common Stock, Circuit City sells 9.5 million CarMax Group shares.
 
2002 Circuit City becomes the first national consumer electronics retailer to offer consumers a co-branded Visa credit card, accepted not only at the more than 600 Circuit City Superstores nationwide and circuitcity.com, but also at the more than 21 million locations worldwide where Visa credit cards are accepted.

W. Alan McCollough adds the title of chairman of the Circuit City board of directors.

Circuit City Stores, Inc. completes the separation of CarMax. The separation eliminates the company's tracking stock structure and two common stock series - Circuit City Group Common Stock and CarMax Group Common Stock. Effective October 1, 2002, the Circuit City Group Common Stock is renamed Circuit City common stock and represents an ownership interest only in the Circuit City business, and CarMax, Inc. becomes an independent, separately traded public company.

The video department in 301 stores is remodeled; lighting upgraded in 311 stores.
 
2003 Circuit City's Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to $200 million of the company's common stock. Based on the market value of the common stock at the time of the announcement, the authorization would allow Circuit City to repurchase up to approximately 13 percent of the 210.5 million shares outstanding.

The company converts to a single hourly pay structure in all stores, eliminating commissioned sales.

Circuit City completes the sale of its bankcard portfolio, which included Visa and MasterCard credit card receivables, to FleetBoston Financial.

The company remodels 222 stores, fitting them with more flexible fixtures, which will facilitate the introduction of new products, as well as other assortment adjustments in its merchandise displays.

Given the strong sales lift and internal rate of return seen with relocated stores after their first six months, Circuit City accelerates its relocation program. In fiscal 2004, Circuit City relocates 18 stores and opens eight new stores.
2004 Circuit City announces the closing of 19 underperforming Superstores.

InterTAN, Inc., a leading consumer electronics retailer of both private-label and internationally branded products with headquarters in Barrie, Ontario, becomes a subsidiary of Circuit City following a tender offer in which Circuit City acquired the outstanding shares of InterTAN, Inc. InterTAN's Canadian operations become the company's international segment.

Circuit City completes the sale of its private-label credit card operation, including both its private-label Circuit City credit card accounts and its co-branded Circuit City Plus Visa credit card accounts, to Bank One Corporation. Circuit City and Bank One enter into an ongoing arrangement under which Bank One will offer private-label and co-branded credit cards to both new and existing customers. (Bank One later merged with JPMorgan Chase)

The company's Board of Directors authorizes a $200 million increase in the company's stock repurchase authorization, raising the total repurchase capacity to $400 million.

Circuit City and IBM announce the launch of a technology transformation, designed to update the company's point-of-sale systems and other in-store technology.

Circuit City and Verizon Wireless expand relationship and launch new store-within-a-store concept, including the same features available in a Verizon Wireless store.

Philip J. Schoonover is named executive vice president and chief merchandising officer. Schoonover joined the company with more than 20 years of experience in the consumer electronics industry, including time spent at TOPS Appliance City, Sony Corporation of America and Best Buy Co., Inc.

Circuit City and Chase launch Circuit City Rewards Visa credit card, giving customers an opportunity to earn rewards towards Circuit City purchases.
2005 Philip J. Schoonover adds the title of president, with W. Alan McCollough continuing to serve as chairman and chief executive officer.

Circuit City announces the closing of 19 underperforming Superstores.

The company's Board of Directors receives and rejects acquisition proposal of $17.00 in cash per share from Highfields Capital Management.

Circuit City's Board of Directors authorizes a $400 million increase in the company's stock repurchase authorization, raising the total repurchase capacity to $800 million.

International segment rebrands more than 900 stores in Canada to THE SOURCE BY CIRCUIT CITY.

Circuit City adopts majority vote standard for director elections.
2006 W. Alan McCollough retires as chief executive officer.

Philip J. Schoonover named chief executive officer.

Philip J. Schoonover is elected chairman of the board of directors, succeeding W. Alan McCollough, who retired following the annual meeting of shareholders.

The company's Board of Directors authorizes a $400 million increase in the company's stock repurchase authorization, raising the total repurchase capacity to $1.2 billion.

Circuit City launches the firedogSM services brand in October, initially offering PC services and home theater installation.
2007 Circuit City announces plans to explore strategic alternatives for InterTAN, Inc.

In the company's domestic segment Superstores, a new store operating platform is implemented, including a streamlined store management model, updated store operating procedures and a new store staffing model.

Circuit City launches a new store prototype, the cityTM, that delivers a differentiated and improved customer experience.
2008 The company's board of directors authorizes the exploration of strategic alternatives to enhance shareholder value.

Circuit City and Wattles Capital Management, LLC (WCM) reached an agreement to avoid a proxy contest regarding shareholder proposals submitted by WCM. Three of WCM's director nominees are elected to the board of directors.

James A. Marcum named vice chairman and acting president and chief executive officer and Allen B. King elected chairman of the board of directors, succeeding Philip J. Schoonover who previously served as chairman, president and chief executive officer.

Circuit City files a voluntary petition for reorganization relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code and under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act in Canada. The company plans to continue operating the business without interruption as management focuses on developing and executing a comprehensive restructuring plan.

NYSE suspends the company's common stock. Shares trade over the counter and are quoted under the ticker symbol CCTYQ.

 

********************************************************************
 
***Circuit City Stores, Inc. to Reorganize Under Chapter 11***

     - Company Intends to Build on Recent Efforts to Streamline the Company and Create a Stronger, More Competitive Business -


RICHMOND, Va., Nov. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Circuit City Stores, Inc. (NYSE: CC) today announced that it has filed a voluntary petition for reorganization relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ("Bankruptcy Court") in Richmond, Va. The company plans to continue operating the business without interruption as management focuses on developing and executing a comprehensive corporate restructuring plan. Circuit City's Canadian operations also will be seeking protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act in Canada ("CCAA").

In conjunction with the filing, Circuit City is seeking customary authority from the Bankruptcy Court that will enable it to continue operating its business and serving its customers in the ordinary course. The requested approvals include requests for the authority to make wage and salary payments and continue various benefits for employees as well as honor customer programs such as returns, exchanges and gift cards. In addition, Circuit City has negotiated a commitment for a $1.1 billion debtor-in-possession (DIP) revolving credit facility to supplement its working capital. The DIP facility replaces the company's $1.3 billion asset-based credit facility and is being provided by the same lenders. The facility provides additional immediate liquidity while the company works to reorganize the business and will permit the company to pay vendors and other business partners for goods and services received after the filing.

Circuit City recently announced that it was taking certain actions to address the company's financial condition and deteriorating liquidity position. Despite aggressive efforts to secure vendor support, vendor concerns about the company's liquidity and ability to pay for its purchases in this difficult economic climate have escalated considerably since the company provided a liquidity update on November 3, 2008, further impairing the company's ability to conduct business and provide service to its customers. Faced with the need to secure ongoing vendor support and to ensure adequate merchandise flow to stores during the important holiday season, the company has determined that it would be in the best interest of its stakeholders to file for reorganization relief under Chapter 11. Operating under the protection of Chapter 11 will provide the company's vendors with assurances that they will be paid for merchandise the company receives post-filing so the company can be sufficiently stocked for the holiday selling season. Further, the company intends to create a restructuring plan that should allow Circuit City to emerge as a stronger business with an improved national distribution channel for its vendors and a more compelling offering for its customers.

The company recognizes that, to achieve these objectives, there is a critical need to create a more efficient chain with a streamlined cost structure. As previously announced, the company is in the process of closing 155 domestic segment stores. This week, the company took action to realign its regional and district support structure commensurate with the smaller store base, which will include approximately 566 stores when the domestic segment store closings are completed. As a further cost-saving measure, the company reduced its corporate headquarters workforce on November 7, 2008. These corporate, regional and district support reductions totaled approximately 700 positions and are in addition to the reductions resulting from the store closings. The store closings and support workforce reductions will result in a combined domestic workforce and store base reduction of approximately 20 percent.

Under the protection of Chapter 11, the company plans to build on these recent restructuring initiatives. Through the additional flexibility that the bankruptcy process provides the company to restructure its operations, the company will continue its real estate rationalization by taking immediate steps to reject the leases at its previously closed locations. Further, as part of its restructuring efforts, the company will continue to assess the productivity of all assets, review additional cost-cutting initiatives and explore strategic alternatives to maximize the value of the business.

James A. Marcum, vice chairman and acting president and chief executive officer of Circuit City Stores, Inc., said, "We recently have taken intensive measures to overcome our deteriorating liquidity position. The decision to restructure the business through a Chapter 11 filing should provide us with the opportunity to strengthen our balance sheet, create a more efficient expense structure and ultimately position the company to compete more effectively. In the meantime, our stores remain fully operational, and our associates are focused on consistent and successful execution this holiday season and beyond.

"We appreciate the support we have received from our lenders in the midst of such a tight credit market. With this support, we believe we have the opportunity to leverage our market position and the strength of our brand to restore Circuit City to solid financial footing," continued Marcum.

"We understand how difficult the recent announcements have been on everyone at the company, and we recognize the changes personally affect many people. Further, we know there is never a good time for individuals to be impacted by decisions like these, and we deeply regret the effect this has on our associates. I want to thank them for their continued loyalty and dedicated effort as we go forward with the belief that implementing long-term and lasting change to our business will come by satisfying our customers, one at a time," concluded Marcum.
 

 

 

 

 

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