Circuit City's coming back!
01-28-16 | 07:38 PM
#1
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Hero
Circuit City's coming back!
[story]
I wonder if they'll let me return something on opening day...
For those who don’t recall, Circuit City was exactly like Best Buy, except it was all red and white instead of blue and yellow, and also a lot of the stores had a weird smell that was impossible to place. It was this sort of dry, irritating stink that just made you want to shop for DVDs and PlayStation 2 games somewhere else. Anyway, the company shuttered all of its stores in 2008, possibly because of a persistent rumor about how they smelled really weird.
The Circuit City brand is now owned by some rich guys named Ronny Shmoel and Albert Liniado, and Twice says they have an “ambitious, multi-tiered game plan” to get the chain back on top.
The Circuit City brand is now owned by some rich guys named Ronny Shmoel and Albert Liniado, and Twice says they have an “ambitious, multi-tiered game plan” to get the chain back on top.
I wonder if they'll let me return something on opening day...
01-28-16 | 07:49 PM
#2
Banned
Re: Circuit City's coming back!
I thought TargetDirect/CompUSA had bought them after bankruptcy. Well, I don't mind more competitors like this to go against Amazon, Target, Wal-Mart and Best Buy
01-28-16 | 08:19 PM
#4
DVD Talk Special Edition
Re: Circuit City's coming back!
The Circuit City by me that closed down years ago is still there and still empty...the sign has never been taken down...should make it easy for them to move right back in.
01-28-16 | 08:59 PM
#5
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: Circuit City's coming back!
I remember walking up to the DVD section in Circuit City one time and realizing that my friend's personal DVD collection was bigger than Circuit City's. This was in 2005.
01-28-16 | 09:10 PM
#6
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Circuit City's coming back!
Okay, so I'm not the only one who thought Circuit City stores stunk.
And I mean, they smelled bad. Glad I'm not the only who noticed it.
So what the hell was it? Carpeting? Fixtures? Some noxious crap they hosed down the stores with before they opened them in the morning?
And I mean, they smelled bad. Glad I'm not the only who noticed it.
So what the hell was it? Carpeting? Fixtures? Some noxious crap they hosed down the stores with before they opened them in the morning?
01-28-16 | 10:01 PM
#7
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Circuit City's coming back!
I miss Circuit City. Perhaps it's just a feeling of nostalgia as I recall browsing the aisles. And yes, dealing with a particular smell. Though I never felt it smelled bad, just that it was a little peculiar.
01-29-16 | 01:38 AM
#8
DVD Talk Reviewer & TOAT Winner
Re: Circuit City's coming back!
They should've brought back Tower Records instead. But if they still carry media (and no DIVX!) I'll check it out. I wonder if they will still require people to be completely clueless about electronics as a condition of hiring.
01-29-16 | 08:24 AM
#9
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Circuit City's coming back!
Granted 15-20 years ago CIrcuity City wasnt bad. But now...yeah good luck.
Just like dfmaverick2 said, the building here is still sitting there.
01-29-16 | 09:50 AM
#12
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: Circuit City's coming back!
PC Richards moved into the Circuit City building here a few years back. I shopped more in Circuit City back in the day than I do at PC Richards now. That store really sucks. And out Circuit City never had a weird smell to it.
01-29-16 | 12:42 PM
#13
DVD Talk Legend
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From: Detroit, formerly known as Obi-Wanma
Re: Circuit City's coming back!
I think that all of the old Circuit City buildings I used to frequent are occupied. One is a Best Buy (and for the longest time, it was the strangest Best Buy ever, in that it still resembled a Circuit City in almost every way, including checking out at customer service), one is a Jo-Ann Fabric, one is a Field and Stream, and one is an Art Van Furniture Store. The one that is a Jo-Ann sat unoccupied the longest, and Jo-Ann just moved from a different building in the same shopping center, and I think their old building is still unoccupied.
01-29-16 | 01:01 PM
#14
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Circuit City's coming back!
Circuit City had that low-pile carpet which I suspect was the source of its distinctive odor. Most big stores are completely done with tile.
Circuity City as a brand would have been better off going bankrupt much sooner than it actually did. The store was the model for Best Buy's expansion and was a great competitor in the 90s. Most younger Millennials likely don't have positive associations with the brand, remembering the rotten chain it had become in the early 2000s before dying.
Circuity City as a brand would have been better off going bankrupt much sooner than it actually did. The store was the model for Best Buy's expansion and was a great competitor in the 90s. Most younger Millennials likely don't have positive associations with the brand, remembering the rotten chain it had become in the early 2000s before dying.
01-29-16 | 06:12 PM
#15
DVD Talk God
Re: Circuit City's coming back!
I miss Circuit City's Black Friday sales...their checkout lines were the worst, but they had a really good mix of stuff on sale during BF. BF to me has not been the same since they went out of business.
01-29-16 | 06:27 PM
#16
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Circuit City's coming back!
I remember looking at some Sony HDTV TVs back in 2006 at Circuit City and buying the new U2 album there in 2004.
They were probably one of the anchor tenants when Pacific Commons was being built in Fremont.
They were probably one of the anchor tenants when Pacific Commons was being built in Fremont.
01-29-16 | 10:24 PM
#17
Re: Circuit City's coming back!
Circuit City always reminded me of Radio Shack. They always took forever to ring you up and had to enter an absurd amount of information about you and alway tried to upsell overpriced batteries. If all I wanted to buy was a dvd or vhs tape, I don't see the need in having to give them my telephoned number, address, etc. Just scan the stupid thing and take my cash. Always took them 20 minutes just to ring up a simple item.
01-29-16 | 11:14 PM
#18
Re: Circuit City's coming back!
I remember buying my first non-PC DVD player at Circuit City. It was an open box special Sony. I paid $200. It lasted about 2 months. The building is now a Fresh Market.
01-30-16 | 01:10 AM
#19
DVD Talk Reviewer & TOAT Winner
Re: Circuit City's coming back!
I once got asked if I wanted to buy a "protection plan" for some DVDs I was buying there, in case they ended up getting scratched. I laughed and told them they were asking the WRONG person about that since that never happens to my stuff!
Still wondering how this'll turn out, and if they'll remember why it went under the first time.
Still wondering how this'll turn out, and if they'll remember why it went under the first time.
01-31-16 | 10:24 AM
#21
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Circuit City's coming back!
Was Circuit City the place where you picked out what you wanted, and then the back-of-store people sent the product out on a rolling conveyor belt?
01-31-16 | 10:03 PM
#23
02-01-16 | 09:05 AM
#24
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Circuit City's coming back!
I once got asked if I wanted to buy a "protection plan" for some DVDs I was buying there, in case they ended up getting scratched. I laughed and told them they were asking the WRONG person about that since that never happens to my stuff!
Still wondering how this'll turn out, and if they'll remember why it went under the first time.
Still wondering how this'll turn out, and if they'll remember why it went under the first time.
02-01-16 | 09:14 AM
#25
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: Circuit City's coming back!
Circuit City always reminded me of Radio Shack. They always took forever to ring you up and had to enter an absurd amount of information about you and alway tried to upsell overpriced batteries. If all I wanted to buy was a dvd or vhs tape, I don't see the need in having to give them my telephoned number, address, etc. Just scan the stupid thing and take my cash. Always took them 20 minutes just to ring up a simple item.
I remember the Wiz used to do this. When I got my first home theater receiver back in the day, it took forever to make its way up.
Last edited by jjcool; 02-01-16 at 03:29 PM.