Circuit City Falls Victim to Recession, Begins Liquidation

Circuit City has become the latest victim of the economic downturn wreaking havoc on the electronics and music industries. The company issued a press release today announcing it will seek the approval of the Bankruptcy Court to begin liquidating all its assets.

"We are extremely disappointed by this outcome. The company had been in continuous negotiations regarding a going concern transaction," Circuit City vice chairman James Marcum said. "Regrettably for the more than 30,000 employees of Circuit City and our loyal customers, we were unable to reach an agreement with our creditors and lenders to structure a going-concern transaction in the limited timeframe available, and so this is the only possible path for our company."

Circuit City filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November 2008, closing 155 stores before the end of '08 while it sought a buyout; an attempt to merge with Blockbuster fell through in July. With the retail giant closing its doors, music fans are left with one less place to buy CDs, as well as stereos and the other audiophile gadgets — just last week, thousands of newly developed electronics debuted at Las Vegas' Consumer Electronics Show (CES) (click here for our rundown on the best).

As Rolling Stone has reported, the flagship Times Square Virgin Megastore is closing, and Best Buy is devoting less floor space to CDs. Yesterday industry blog Coolfer pointed out a blog post by echo's Mark Montgomery, who attended Billboard's Digital Music Conference and heard that "the CD might have two more years in Walmart." Walmart is currently the nation's second-largest music vendor, behind iTunes. As of now, the outlook for physical album sales is certainly bleak.

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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