Circuit City

JayAgostino

JayAgostino

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I don't think Circuit City needs introduction, but for those who weren't aware, it was Best Buy's main competitor. They had a distinct "plug" entrance with a red color palette.

Circuit City went bankrupt in early 2009 and liquidated all of its stores. The company still maintains an online presence through its website: https://www.circuitcity.com/

There's an abandoned Circuit City that's visible from the highway in Somerville, Massachusetts. I usually see it on the way to work.
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We had two. One actually became a Best Buy and the other one is an Ollie's.

I feel like I stole the speakers in my theater from them. It was when they were starting to go down and they had a set of their top of the line Polk tower speakers on sale. So I bought them and was happy with the price.

But they had this policy that if an item goes on sale within 30-45 days, you get the difference back plus 10%. The dropped the price like 3 more times before the time period ran out. Don't remember the actual numbers, but I want to say I ended up getting close to half what I paid back.
 
Is there a point in starting a thread about a company which has been pretty much defunct for a number of years now?
 
The first place I saw a bondi blue iMac in 1998 was at Circuit City’s “Apple store-in-a-store.” I used to work across the street from one. I’d go over sometimes during my lunch break to see the latest Mac stuff.
 
Speaking of dead electronics retail, Fry's Electronics didn't survive the pandemic. Not that they were in great shape before it, they'd been closing stores and having insane problems stocking anything because they couldn't pay distributors or something like that. It's honestly a mystery to me how they didn't go out of business long, long ago.
 
mr_roboto said:
Speaking of dead electronics retail, Fry's Electronics didn't survive the pandemic. Not that they were in great shape before it, they'd been closing stores and having insane problems stocking anything because they couldn't pay distributors or something like that. It's honestly a mystery to me how they didn't go out of business long, long ago.
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I don't think I even realized that, I knew them by name, but they just sort of slipped away (we didn't have one in the greater, local area).

I guess Microcenter is still doing decently well[?]
 
DT said:
I don't think I even realized that, I knew them by name, but they just sort of slipped away (we didn't have one in the greater, local area).

I guess Microcenter is still doing decently well[?]
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I went to a MicroCenter recently. It feels like a trip back in time, but somehow they make it work.
 
mr_roboto said:
Speaking of dead electronics retail, Fry's Electronics didn't survive the pandemic. Not that they were in great shape before it, they'd been closing stores and having insane problems stocking anything because they couldn't pay distributors or something like that. It's honestly a mystery to me how they didn't go out of business long, long ago.
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I was sad at the loss of Fry's, and Circuit City, and will be sad about Sears even though I haven't been in one in many years. Suggestive of why they are gone. For that matter, I miss being able to buy electrical components at Radio Shack.
 
Hrafn said:
I was sad at the loss of Fry's, and Circuit City, and will be sad about Sears even though I haven't been in one in many years. Suggestive of why they are gone. For that matter, I miss being able to buy electrical components at Radio Shack.
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If it helps you get over the loss of Radio Shack, I’m happy to ask you for your phone number for no good reason just like they always did.
 
Cmaier said:
If it helps you get over the loss of Radio Shack, I’m happy to ask you for your phone number for no good reason just like they always did.
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I feel better, thank you. Can I get my one free battery this month?
 
SuperMatt said:
I went to a MicroCenter recently. It feels like a trip back in time, but somehow they make it work.
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I love Microcenter but just across the river for me makes it hard to motivate me to actually go in and not buy on Amazon these days.

I think what may keep them going are their in-store only specials. I'd not be surprised if some of the CPUs and other high-dollar items are loss leaders or if not are sold at close to cost, as you won't find them less expensive anywhere. Once you're in the store, they run enough great specials on stuff that it's really easy to buy far more than you intended.

Still, though, I feel like they're a bit of a shadow their former selves. In store variety/selection doesn't seem where it once was, and the last time I was in one there were some glaring omissions like no Samsung SSD at all.
 
bunnspecial said:
I love Microcenter but just across the river for me makes it hard to motivate me to actually go in and not buy on Amazon these days.

I think what may keep them going are their in-store only specials. I'd not be surprised if some of the CPUs and other high-dollar items are loss leaders or if not are sold at close to cost, as you won't find them less expensive anywhere. Once you're in the store, they run enough great specials on stuff that it's really easy to buy far more than you intended.

Still, though, I feel like they're a bit of a shadow their former selves. In store variety/selection doesn't seem where it once was, and the last time I was in one there were some glaring omissions like no Samsung SSD at all.
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I believe they were giving away low-tier SSDs for free at one point.
 
shadow puppet said:
Is the next thread about Fryes?
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Somebody already created a thread pertaining to Fry's Electronics.
talkedabout.com

The End of an Era: Fry's Electronics Closing

I'm guessing most here are younger than me but I remember when Fry's was the Disneyland for electronics nerds. I mostly went to the one in Redondo Beach, CA. It hasn't been what it once was for well over a decade. Circuit City was another to fall although quite awhile ago. Now we have Best...
talkedabout.com talkedabout.com
 
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