Circuit City (1949–2009 company)
The Circuit City logo in its final eight years of operation
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Formerly called
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Wards Company (1949-1984) Circuit City Stores (1984–2009) |
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| Private | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Fate | Original: Bankruptcy Relaunched: Merged into TigerDirect.com |
| Successor | TigerDirect (2012-2016) |
| Founded | 1949 (as Wards Company) Richmond, Virginia, U.S. 1984 (as Circuit City) |
| Founder | Samuel S. Wurtzel |
| Defunct | March 8, 2009 |
| Headquarters | Richmond, Virginia, United States |
| Products | Consumer electronics |
| Owner | Ronny Shmoel |
| Website | www |
Circuit City was an American multinational consumer electronics company that existed in a big-box store format from 1984 until 2009, then in an online only format from 2009 until 2012 following a bankruptcy. It was founded in 1949 by Samuel Wurtzel as the Wards Company and pioneered the electronics superstore format in the 1970s. After multiple purchases and a successful run on the NYSE, it changed its name to Circuit City Stores Inc.
At the time of liquidation in 2009, Circuit City was the second largest U.S. electronics retailer, after Best Buy. There were 567 Circuit City Superstores nationwide, ranging in size from 15,000 to 45,000 square feet (1,400 to 4,200 m2). The brand was then bought by Systemax, Inc., which used the brand to sell electronics and media as an online retailer until late December 2012, when the website was merged with another Systemax brand TigerDirect.
In early 1949 Wurtzel was on vacation in Richmond, Virginia when, while at a local barber shop, he was witness to the start of television in the South. Imagining the opportunities, in late 1949, he moved his family to Richmond and opened the first Wards Company retail store. Later, Abraham L. Hecht joined him as a partner in the business.
By 1959, Wards Company operated four television and home appliance stores in Richmond. The company continued to grow and acquired stores in other locations including Albany, New York, Mobile, Alabama, Washington, D.C. and Costa Mesa, California. During the 1970s and early 1980s, it also sold mail-order under the name "Dixie Hi Fi", advertising in hi-fi magazines. Wards experimented with several retail formats in Richmond, including smaller mall outlets branded "Sight-n-Sound" and "Circuit City".
Wards Company officially changed its name to Circuit City and became listed on the in 1984. One of the company's early slogans was "Circuit City — Where the Streets are Paved with Bargains". The company, which had leased floor space from the Zody's department stores as well as other department stores, began acquiring retail stores and turning them into Circuit City Superstores. The first of these replacements occurred in Knoxville, Tennessee, Charleston, South Carolina and Hampton, Virginia.
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Wikipedia