Cicruit City reports first quarter loss; What's the future for consumer electronics stores?
Posted by: in General NewsThings don’t look good for Circuit City:
The Richmond, Va., company reported a loss of $164.8 million, or $1 per share, in the three months ended May 31 compared with a loss of $54.6 million, or 33 cents per share, a year ago. The company said revenue fell 7 percent to $2.30 billion from $2.49 billion. Same-store sales — stores open at least a year — dropped 11.3 percent.
…
For the second quarter, the company anticipates a loss of $170 million to $185 million. Analysts anticipate a loss of $143.4 million.
Some of the retailer’s problems seem self-inflicted: the selection and prices at CC stores always seem poor to me whenever I go in (although it’s been a long time since I stepped foot in one).
And competitor Ideal Buy certainly seems to be doing okay.
But I wonder how much longer the traditional brick-and-mortar electronics retailers will thrive.
I never buy gadgets in a store anymore without first at least pricing them on the web.
Generally, the online price is much lower than the store price. I even purchased my television from Amazon.

I do enjoy walking through electronics stores, such as my local Fry’s Electronics, just to window shop and play with the display units.
But I’m more apt to walk out with a bag of gummi bears than with a new printer or video card.
Do you folks still shop for your gadgets in stores, or you do pretty much do all your electronics shopping online now?
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