Systemax Buys Circuit City Name, Web Site

No retail locations planned but name will survive online

By Mark Huffman
ConsumerAffairs.com

May 26, 2009

Circuit City • Firedog • "No-Interest" plan • Rebates • Returns, Exchanges • Warranties • Cameras • Computers • Home Electronics --- News • Taxpayers Assume Circuit City Retirement Plan • Systemax Buys Circuit City Name, Web Site • Circuit City Reassures Service Contract Holders • Circuit City Will Liquidate, Putting 30,000 Out of Work • Time Running Out for Circuit City • Circuit City Seeks Bankruptcy • Circuit City Closing 155 Stores • Chase Trashes Tapes Containing Circuit City Customers' Data • Circuit City Settles Advertising Complaints with New Jersey

Circuit City is back, sort of. The bankrupt consumer electronics retailer has sold its name and Web site to Systemax, a company that sells consumer electronics online.

Circuit City liquidated and closed all of its stores earlier this year, a victim of the recession that fatally worsened its already weakened competitive position.

Systemax may not be a household name among consumers, but it has a following among online electronics consumers, who are familiar with its TigerDirect brand. The company sells computers and other gear through its Web site and catalogs.

It also has a history of trying to breathe new life into dead brands. It acquired CompUSA two years ago after it declared bankruptcy and now sells products using the well-known brand.

Systemax relaunched CircuitCity.com May 23, designing the front page to look similar to the old Circuit City Web site. However, some visitors to the site report that once you navigate past the home page, the other pages look more like Tigerdirect.com and CompUSA.com pages.

Consumers who had accounts at Circuit City, or did business with the retailer, can expect to be the recipient of marketing by the newly reconstituted brand. As part of the deal with Circuit City’s liquidators, Systemax also received the former company’s mailing lists.

There have been no announced plans to open actual retail locations, and the Web site notes that the new Circuit City does not honor warranties issued by the old Circuit City.

Systemax is by no means a newcomer to the consumer electronics business. It was founded in 1949 and reported sales in excess of $3 billion last year. Shares of the company are traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

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