Circuit City filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on November 10th and announced layoffs of thousands of workers and closure of over a quarter of its stores.
The 50 largest unsecured claims against Circuit City in court documents include those by Hewlett-Packard ($118.797 million USD in trade or ￡80 million GBP), Samsung Electronics, Sony (including Sony Computer Entertainment and Sony Electronics) and divisions of Toshiba as the larger claims.
Retail stores often count the last two months for about half the revenue for the year. A tough economy in the USA now spreading to the rest of the world isn't one that has people filling shopping carts with electronic merchandise. The outlook for Best Buy, its chief rival, is also worsening as Circuit City liquidates some of its inventory,
Best Buy told CNNMoney.com the economy is to blame for cutting its 2009 forecast, which is now predicted to decline up to 8 percent from the prior fiscal year. Best Buy's stock prices slipped from the upper 40's USD (￡27 GBP) in June 2008 to the low 20's (￡13.3) by mid-November. Full-year earnings per share have been likewise trimmed.
Best Buy, headquartered in a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota, is the largest electronics seller, while Circuit City is second.
Circuit City has 566 operating stores and has announced it will close 155 stores, but keep remaining stores open. Circuit City has announced it will lay off almost 17 percent (6,800) of its 40,000 domestic workers, but other estimates are up to 8,000.
Assets of $3.4 billion (￡2.28 billion) and debts of $2.323 billion USD (￡1.56 billion) are shown in Circuit City's documents for bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of Virginia.
From therecycler.com