Roughly seven years after filing for bankruptcy, electronics retailer Circuit City will be opening a brand-new store in Dallas this June.
The chain—once the leading big-box tech retailer in the country—is being resurrected by retail vets Ronny Shmoel and Albert Liniado, who plan to rebuild the Circuit Chain empire with stores, web sales and branded and private-label products, according to Twice.
The new stores will be smaller—between 2k and 4k SF—and will be in "affordable yet densely populated real estate markets," Liniado says.
The resurrected Circuit City will appeal to a new generation of Millennial techies, with clear, minimal aesthetics and innovative products such as 3D printers and drones, in addition to regular smartphones, tablets and laptops.
The design is a clear shift from the big-box model of the old Circuit City. The chain succumbed to the rise of Best Buy and Walmart, and closed more than 700 stores between 2008 and 2009. It later returned as an online-only retailer as part of TigerDirect, before that site shut down in 2012.
The obvious question is: Why bring Circuit City back now? Less than a year ago, electronics giant RadioShack filed for bankruptcy, and iconic department stores across the country are being squeezed by Amazon and other online retailers.
But that doesn't stop the new Circuit City owners from dreaming big. The goal, Shmoel says, is to open 50 to 100 corporate-owned locations by next year and, eventually, up to 200 franchised spaces.
Major brands—including Intel, Sony and Canon—have endorsed the idea, and Shmoel says the name and logo of Circuit City— with its "tremendous traction and brand awareness”—will be enough to attract consumers. [Twice]
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