Saturday, January 17, 2009

Circuit City Liquidation Sale

circuit city logoYesterday it was announced that Circuit City would close their remaining 567 stores nation wide, this following November announcement that the failing electronics retailer would be closing 155 stores across the country. As part of the closure Circuit City will liquidate all of its remaining stores.

In many areas the liquidation sale off began this morning, many more stores are expected to begin selling off their remaining merchandise later this month. These sales will last as long as it takes to sell through the merchandise at each of the stores, something that Circuit City and its liquidators expect to wrap up by the end of March 2009.

Here in the Sacramento area Circuit City has 5 stores which will be liquidated. Those stores include 7980 Arcadia Boulevard, Citrus Heights, 205 Serpa Way, Folsom, 8211 Laguna Boulevard, Elk Grove, 10251 Fairway Dr, Roseville Folsom and 2121 Arden Way, Sacramento.

Citrus Heights being my local store I decided to run down there today and do some bargain hunting.

The store was pretty busy, with lots of people trying to hunt down a hot deal. The liquidation prices are nowhere near what they should be. TVs, computers and most high end equipment was marked at only 10% off, with some accessories, DVDs, CDs and furniture at 30% off. Despite the minimal percentages off the store looked picked over in some spots, yet hardly touched in others.

Being a computer geek I hit that section first. Laptops, PCs and LCDs are only 10% off, so there were no real bargains there. There was a limited number of employees, with only one or two in each section,and getting help was nearly impossible. So I didn't get to check the prices or inquire about sale prices on some of the components I was looking at. For the most part however everything was still overly priced.

From my observation there seemed to be more people leaving empty handed than there were people actually buying anything. I did see some rather poor decision making and some very bad purchases. I saw two laptops and a desktop that was extremely overpriced being bought. I didn't get model numbers, but I know one of the laptops had been on sale not long ago for far less than the gentleman was paying.

Overall I'd say it was about what I expected. A bunch of uneducated impulse buyers (for lack of a better term) thinking they are getting a great deal buying up overly priced items.

Tips for bargain hunters

From my perspective right now there aren't any hot deals to be had at Circuit City. That doesn't mean there aren't deals just that I didn't see anything that was priced in my target range. But here are some tips for those of you wanting to check it.
  1. Research your prices ahead of time and go with a plan: If you are looking for a laptop then check prices at other local stores and get a feel for what the price range should be. If you've got an iPhone or other smartphone don't be afraid to use it to check prices elsewhere, heck call someone and ask them to look. But don't buy something just because you "think" it's a good price.
  2. Know what you need and don't expect alot of answers: There were only a few CSRs on the floor and they were overwhelemed with questions. So don't expect them to help you find out if a part is going to be compatible with your system.
  3. Plan for and expect a crowd: I saw several people in the parking lot getting frustrated with other drivers. I also so people complaining while standing in line to checkout. You should know ahead of time there is going to be a wait, it is a sale after all!
  4. All sales are final: This is a liquidation sale which means once you leave the store with it it is yours. If there is a problem then you won't be able to take it back to the store. So make sure you know what you've got and that it will work before you but it.
*Update*
Shortly after posting this post I was contacted by an anonymous Circuit City employee that has provided us with a few details concerning liquidation prices, empty shelves and more. To read that post click here. It is also thanks to that employee that we added number 4 to the list.

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:36 AM

    I'm not sure if you noticed but the elk grove store had signs on everything " Not For Sale, Sold " yet everything must go... The staff doesn't bother to dress up for work, could careless about helping you find something. Does not seem like a liquidation sale to me, mostly everything would be sold, display cases, even display items such as radio decks, amps, floor model speakers. Well overall i was not very impressed should bring your own marker to make your own liquidated pricing.

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  2. I haven't been back since I posted this. I didn't really need anything and they didn't have deals that I was excited about. The last email I got from a friend said the store was pretty picked over and most the items he looked at still weren't priced very well.

    I've received several emails updating their closeout prices. I think they are up to 40-45% off most things now. Even at that I'm not going to rush down there. If I'm in the neighborhood I might stop by but I'm not going to make an effort to do so.

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