Circuit City (nyse: CC) is an American dealer and retailer in brand-name consumer electronics, personal computers, and entertainment software.

Circuit City is a Fortune 500 company.Circuit City operates over 670 Superstores and 13 other locations in USA and Puerto Rico. Circuit City Superstores range in size from 15,000 to 45,000 square feet (1400 to 4000 m²) and offer a large selection of brand-name consumer electronics, personal computers and entertainment software.

Circuit City also has over 850 retail stores and dealer outlets in Canada. Circuit City's locations in Canada are operated by InterTAN Canada Ltd which Circuit City acquired on May 19, 2004. InterTAN runs The Source by Circuit City (formerly RadioShack) chain in Canada (some of them now called La Source in Quebec).

Former president, CEO and chairman of the board of directors Richard Sharp will be inducted into the Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame in October, 2008.

History

In 1949, Samuel S. Wurtzel opened the first Wards Company retail store in Richmond, Virginia, at 705 West Broad Street. By 1959 Wards operated four television and home appliance stores in Richmond. The company continued to grow and acquire more stores in other locations including Albany, New York; Mobile, Alabama; Washington, DC; and Costa Mesa, California. During the 1970s and early 1980s it also sold mail-order under the name Dixie Hifi, advertising in the hifi magazines of the day.

Wards Company officially changed its name to Circuit City and became listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1984. One of the company's early slogans was "Circuit City - Where the Streets are Paved with Bargains." The company, which leased floor space from the Zody's department stores as well as other department stores, began obtaining retail stores and turning them into Circuit City Superstores. The first of these replacements occurred in Knoxville, Tennessee; Charleston, South Carolina; and Hampton, Virginia.

Circuit City established the First North American National Bank to operate its private-label credit card. In 2002, Circuit City began offering a co-branded Visa credit card. It sold both of these operations in 2004 to Bank One (now called Chase Bank). Other companies owned by Circuit City included CarMAX, which seceded from Circuit City in 1999, and Patapsco Designs in 2001.

In 2003, Circuit City converted to a single hourly pay structure in all stores, eliminating commissioned sales. Many previously commissioned sales associates were offered new positions as hourly "product specialists", while 3900 salespeople were laid off, saving the company about $130 million a year.

A hedge fund headquartered in Boston, Highfields Capital, offered to take over Circuit City for $17 a share on February 11, 2005, arguing that existing management had failed to maximize shareholder value. The offer was rejected by Circuit City's board on March 7, but doubled its own share buyback program. As of February 28, 2005, Circuit City held cash, cash equivalents, and short term investments of 1 billion USD.