Circuit City's Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Authors

Jeff Smith
Peyton Hairston

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Spring 2013

Abstract

Circuit City Stores, Inc. sold consumer electronics, personal computers, entertainment software, and appliances in the growing consumer electronics market.[1] Circuit City was founded by Samuel S. Wurtzel in 1949 under the name Wards Company. The store named “Wards” was an acronym of Wurtzel’s family name’s: “W” for Wurtzel, “A” for his son Alan, “R” for his wife Ruth, “D” for his son David, and “S” for his own name.[2] Circuit City was the first electronics superstore and was the nation’s second largest retailer of consumer electronics as recently as 2004.[3] Circuit City began the superstore concept for consumer sales, showing that the concept was highly efficient and lucrative. Instead, Circuit City will be remembered as a cautionary tale of bad management and complacency in the fast-evolving retail-electronics industry.[4]

Recommended Citation

Smith, Jeff and Hairston, Peyton, "Circuit City's Chapter 11 Bankruptcy" (2013). Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Case Studies. 7.
https://ir.law.utk.edu/utk_studlawbankruptcy/7