Last month, Gizmodo informed us that Circuit City was bought out by a firm named Systemax Inc. This firm hoped to reboot the Circuit City brand as CircuitCity.com. Well, according to Gizmodo again, the re-launch may be coming in just a few days. More after zee jump.

It’s no longer there for some reason, and back to the standard “Circuit City is closed” page, but yesterday the site had a full page explaining the Systemax purchase and the plan of action. Also on the site was a video of the CEO of Systemax, Gilbert Fiorentino talking about what to look forward to on the site in just a few days. Since the site is no longer up, you can take a look and read all the goodies over at Gizmodo from their Screen capture. Thankfully I’m a genius and was able to track down the video below.

So whats that mean to you?  Well I doubt your left over gift cards will still work (if you didn’t throw them out back in January), but it looks like they’re going to try shake their technology surplus bums in what Amazon.com, Newegg.com, Buy.com, and Tigerdirect.com to name a few, already have a stranglehold on. The shipping pricing seems amazing for same day ($1.99), and they are regarding their support as World Class Customer Service. I don’t remember Circuit City’s store service ever being World Class, so I’m putting this as a hopeful positive.

The fact that they aren’t forced to have a B&M inventory to deal with means that the “New Wider Selection” will have the chance to be bigger than most assume. Since everything is in warehouses and not on the store shelves, they are able to hold more of the in-between items instead of just the low and top ends of the spectrum.

Also since there’s no B&M, there’s no “Cuz’ You’re Here” tax, as I like to call it.  Basically, many reasons online shops can outdo the prices of retail stores is because they aren’t paying anyone to rent the building/land their stores are on, or the shipping and transportation costs to get the items to the stores. Not to mention franchise fees etc etc. You ever wonder why a CD or DVD are always 2-3 dollars more expensive at a store in the Mall compared to Best Buy? It’s because that store is paying the mall premiums to be at the fingertips of all kinds of shoppers compared to a one-stop technology shop like Best Buy. And that, my friends, is why the only thing you should ever buy at a mall is a soft pretzel.

At the least, their prices to start will most likely be extremely competitive, so pay attention for the re-launch and don’t be afraid to go Christmas shopping early if you seem something outrageous, like if they start selling the transformer flash drive… drool.

Most of you know about the inevitable demise of Circuit City that came to fruition last month and is slowly folding across the country. By March 31st, all US Stores will be completely liquidated and closed down. All told, 34,000 people will lose their jobs, and one of those employees decided to give an inside look of the downfall over at Gizmodo.

This unnamed employee (or rather, ex-employee at this point) paints a picture of the employees, the managers, the liquidators and the worst – us, the customers. I do feel for him, I’m one of the people that realize that even 30% off MRSP can (a lot of times) be more expensive than the deals they had the week before, and that’s why I didn’t waste my time with the liquidation “sales” the past 2 weeks… As the CC employee states:

The biggest let down that I personally experienced was the fact that thousands of people who shopped with us this week could have saved the company by shopping a few weeks ago. The prices are higher than a month ago, yet we are selling much more than ever before just because there is a big “going out of business sign” above our door. People are just stupid…

If you’ve never been a part of a going-out-of-busienss sale, or just don’t understand how much it changes the lives of the people that worked there, I’d suggest you head over and take a gander. It’s a Wall of Text, I know, but it does explain so much more than anyone of us “outsiders” would expect. How it changes their perception on customers, their jobs and their lives.

Thanks Gizmodo

So, you’re thinking about buying that new camcorder, television, Blu-Ray player or computer? And let me guess – you’re planning to go hit your local Circuit City to grab a “deal” on their going out of business sale?

Hang on a second there partner. Don’t run to your nearest Circuit City with a rolled up wad of hundreds or a recently paid off credit card. There’s a slight problem. Circuit City – like any retailer on its way out – needs to recover as much money as possible. So those “deals” might actually turn out to cost more than they did a couple weeks ago.

Consider this example. Last weekend, when the liquidation started with 10% off everything in the store (except Verizon Wireless products – they’re not going away anytime soon), I hopped in a car with my roommate to go look at a new big screen TV for the living room. Something shiny. Something LCD. Something 50” or more.

What we found was a 52” Samsung LCD television – not too gigantic by comparison, considering there’s a 200” projector in the media room – not too pricey either. A great deal by any standards – it was on sale at $1749, and the nice girl at the register wasn’t good enough at math to understand that she was only supposed to give us 10% off or the sale price, not 10% off of the sale price. So for $1575, there’s now a great new television in the house.

Flash-forward to this weekend. Back to the same Circuit City to peruse deals on computers, I happened to go over and look at exactly the same television. You know what? The price had gone up. When we first looked at it, it had a sticker reading “Original Price: $1999. Sale Price: $1749”. This past weekend, the sticker now read “Original Price: $2299. Sale Price: $1999”.

Now admittedly, CC has upped their discounts from 10% off to 30% off, so the final price ends up just about the same as it was two weeks ago. But that doesn’t excuse the fact that either Circuit City employees are so phenomenally bad at math that they can’t grasp the concept of prices going down in a liquidation sale (entirely possible – way to hire the best and brightest Circuit City!), or else the company is trying to recoup as much of their losses as possible, so they’re raising prices as they raise discounts as well to compensate.

Aside from the price switching, the other major problem with liquidations is warranties. We picked up a small component table this past weekend at the 30% off price to hold a surround sound system and cable box below the television itself. On the way out of the store, I asked one of the “cream of the crop” employees still working at this particular store about returns and warranties. Theory being – since I can’t inspect the product (there are “DO NOT OPEN PACKAGES” signs all over the store), how could we be sure that we’re not getting something that’s broken. And if so, since there are no returns, what recourse do we have.

The answer I got? Basically – you’re SOL. Supposedly GE and other companies are buying up the extended warranty coverages, but for products like furniture with no warranty on them, there is no recourse.

Sure enough, after getting home and opening the package, two of the pieces were broken. Both are easily replaced at Home Depot, and for about $5, but we were lucky.

With employees who no longer care about their jobs, and customers who are trampling over products on the floor to find the next great deal, liquidation sales often lead to purchases of damaged goods. And if you’re unlucky enough to buy something major with a flaw (like, say, a television with a bad bulb or a scratched screen), you’re on your own to replace it.

Add the repair costs to the “Deals” that aren’t really deals, and you’re more likely to be left with a headache than a happy ending.

Weekend Recap! And what better time than to start with Black Friday ads from all the sites!

1. Walmart
   • Gizmodo
   • Engadget
2. Office Max
   • CrunchGear
   • Gizmodo
3. Costco
   • CrunchGear
4. Target
   • CrunchGear
   • Gizmodo
5. Best Buy
   • CrunchGear
   • Gizmodo
6. Circuit City
   • CrunchGear
   • Gizmodo
   • Engadget
7. Sam’s Club
   • CrunchGear
   • Gizmodo
8. Radio Shack
   • Gizmodo
9. Dell
   • Gizmodo
   • Engadget
10. Sears
    • CrunchGear
    • Engadget
    • Gizmodo

• BB Storm better than iPhone? – CrunchGear
• Make a Mac Pro Ultra Mini – CrunchGear
• Circuit City to close another 150 stores? – Gizmodo
• And finally to be festive, a 4.5 million LED Winter Light Show – Gizmodo

It’s almost here since Verizon has pumped up the commercials on TV. But the one thing we really haven’t heard yet is the price. This touchscreen marvel rivals Apple/AT&T’s iPhone 3G but for those people who truly want a phone that works with their company’s Enterprise system, look no further.

But again, the price… You can pre-order the Storm from Best Buy for $50 but as to the actual price, it should be anywhere from $199 to $299. Sounds great right? Well it should as RIM and Verizon need to keep up with Apple and AT&T’s competitive prices with the iPhone. But there are other speculations that the phone’s retail value is $549 and that the price would be a bit higher than $299 at worse.

To create a rumor of my own: The price will be $199 with a 2 year contract. They need to keep up with the competition and they need more users. But I don’t think that will be a problem. And as for discounts for people with Verizon’s “Every Two,” if AT&T didn’t do it, I wouldn’t expect Verizon to do the same. With a bad economy, they need to make every buck they can.

And in other news, Circuit City has just filed for Chapter 11 (bankruptcy). We’ll see what happens to the huge franchise. I think they should stay as Best Buy needs competition. And don’t forget, competition means lower prices!

UPDATE (11/11/08): Pricing has come out for the Storm and it is listed at $219 with a 2-year contract. Not a bad deal! Check out the picture below: Thanks to HowardForums via Engadget

GO VOTE TOMORROW!

Intel’s core i7 benchmarked: makes gamers wet – Engadget
Read all 249 pages of the BlackBerry Storm manual here – CrackBerry via Engadget
Speaking of BB Storm, how about a price under $100? – CrunchGear
New MacBook trackpads not clicking well – CrunchGear
iPhone costumes (lol) – CrunchGear
New MacBooks can support 6GB RAM, not just 4GB – CrunchGear
Circuit City to close 155 stores since their stock is under $0.50/share – Gizmodo
Western Digital cheap HD media streamer supports USB – Gizmodo