Circuit City short-circuited

By Harrison L. Michelson
for Linglestown Gazette

As you’ve probably heard by now, Circuit City is liquidating its inventory and will shutter all their stores in the near future. The national electronics retailer has two Harrisburg-area locations: Carlisle Pike in Mechanicsburg and Jonestown Road in Lower Paxton Twp. in the Paxton Towne Center.

Word of the store’s demise broke on Friday morning, and the Lower Paxton store was crawling with bargain shoppers Saturday morning. Many items were being sold for 10-percent off the marked price.

So what if you have Circuit City gift cards or protection plans? Do not worry. The gift cards will be accepted until they close. Once they close, unfortunately, the gift cards will be worthless. Also, extended warranties purchased at Circuit City will be unaffected by the shutdown since they are backed by third-party companies.

The Jonestown Road location, which a store employee said is the corporation’s seventh best performing store, does not have a definite closing date. (It depends on what the liquidator does, and how quickly the store sells what's left.) The company's Web site says all stores will be closed sometime in March.

When Circuit City filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November, they were attempting to reorganize the company to survive into the future. However, there were several issues – including the sharp decline in the price of televisions, their delisting from the New York Stock Exchange, and the recession – that forced the company to call it quits.

Circuit City is only one of a number of major retailers that have turned out the lights in Lower Paxton. Linens 'n Things and S&K Menswear shut down in late December, and Tweeter closed in early December.

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