Posted 05/25/09 at 08:47:03 AM by Paul Lilly

Circuit City has risen from the dead, at least in online form, and as is most often the case when an entity emerges from the grave, decomposition rears its ugly head. In this case, it's the new CircuitCity.com's return policy that has been withered, but more on that in a minute.

Last Tuesday, Systemax -- the same company that owns TigerDirect and purchased electronics retailer CompUSA's intellectual property last year -- closed its agreement to acquire trademarks, domain names, and customer list of email addresses and "other basic customer information" of Circuit City's online business for $14 million plus a share of future revenue over 30 months, CNBC reports. 

The online portal relaunches today and it looks just like the Circuit City of old, except for the return policy. Not even a full day under its belt, CircuitCity.com is already catching flak over how returns are processed. Under new ownership, non-defective returns "will be for store credit or refund at CircuitCity.com's sole discretion." But even worse than potentially getting stuck with store credit, some items are just plain nonreturnable.

"Products from manufacturers such as Compaq, IBM, Hewlett Packard, Toshiba, Epson, and others are not returnable to CircuitCity.com FOR ANY REASON," states the return policy.

In other words, welcome back, and buyer beware.

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Posted 02/10/09 at 04:10:18 PM by Paul Lilly

Someone cue up Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" and don't stop playing until the memory chip market has been fully weeded out. It was only a week ago that Germany-based chip maker Qimonda became the first major memory chip maker to file for bankruptcy, and now Spansion Japan appears to be on the chopping block as well.

Originally spun off by AMD in 2005 to create flash memory, Spansion now owes just shy of $810 million, making it the biggest bankruptcy filing in Japan's manufacturing sector this year. However, the company maintains that its operations will continue on as normal.

"Spansion Inc. does not expect the filing in Japan to materially affect its global operations," the company said Monday. "Spansion Japan Ltd. will continue its operations and intends to pay, in a timely manner, for all goods and services that it obtains after the date of filing."

How the bankruptcy court decides to proceed remains to be seen, but it would have a number of options available, from letting Spansion continue to operate as it restructures, to full-scale liquidation.

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Posted 01/18/09 at 07:07:24 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Circuit City announced on Friday that it will close all of its remaining 567 US stores. As a direct result of the retail chain's closure 34,000 people have been rendered jobless.The company had been in talks with a few potential buyers for quite sometime. In fact, the parleys reportedly  went beyond midnight Thursday. However, as the discussions bore no fruits Circuit City was left with no other choice but to liquidate itself. Circuit City is currently offering discounts of up to 30% - which might be revised later - as part of its liquidation sale. Cnet’s Brooke Crothers’ described the situation inside the Circuit City store he visited as chaotic.

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Posted 01/12/09 at 06:18:05 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Blighted electronic retail chain Circuit City is in discussions with several interested buyers, the company’s CEO Jim Marcum revealed to its employees in a letter. He also informed them about the likely course of action for Circuit City, which has filed a motion with the Bankruptcy Court seeking permission “for a process that formally puts the company up for sale.”

Marcum wrote that parleys with interested buyers have been focused on a “going concern” transaction, whereby the buyer will not dismantle Circuit City’s business, but just reorganize it. If the company fails to secure a sales agreement by the 16th, it will have to be liquidated. He asked employees to stay focused on the job at hand and work hard.

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Posted 11/12/08 at 10:07:15 AM by Paul Lilly

Down but not yet out, Circuit City has secured a whopping $1.1 billion in financing that will help keep the chain operational, at least for the immediate future. The loan, which comes from the same banks that backed Circuit City's $1.3 billion credit line, will be used to pay salaries and continue buying merchandise as the company restructures.

The loan gives the chain "another lease on life," Chris Horvers, an analyst with J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., wrote in a note to clients yesterday.

And a new lease is exactly what Circuit City needs. Debt has piled up as the electronics retailer owes $119 million to Hewlett-Packard and $116 million to Samsung Electronics Co. In its Chapter 11 petition, Circuit City indicated $3.4 billion in assets and $2.32 billion in debt.

Circuit City already announced plans to close 155 stores while also cutting up to 20 percent of its 43,000-employee workforce. Despite the new loan, that could be just the beginning. According to what Circuit City's lawyers told the judge, the company will likely shut down even more locations and attempt to find a buyer for a slimmed-down version of the chain.

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