| 1949 | Samuel S. Wurtzel opens first Wards Company retail store in Richmond, Va.
Abraham L. Hecht joins company as partner.
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| 1959 | Wards operates four television and home appliance stores in Richmond, Va.
Annual sales volume is approximately $1 million.
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| 1960 | Expands operations via licensed departments in mass merchandising discount stores around the country, including G.E.M., G.E.S. and G.E.X. stores.
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| 1961 | Makes first public offering with Stein Brothers & Boyce Company, Baltimore, Md. Offers 110,000 shares at $5.375 per share (split adjusted, 2 cents per share).
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| 1962 | Offers new service plan to customers. Wards loans customers a television if their set can not be repaired in the home.
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| 1963 | President John F. Kennedy appoints Sam Wurtzel to the U.S. Foreign Trade Mission to Switzerland and Austria.
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| 1964 | Opens fifth conventional television and appliance store in the Southside Plaza Shopping Center in Richmond, Va.
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| 1965 | Purchases the Richmond Carousel Corporation, a subsidiary of T.G. Stores, operating one mass merchandising discount store in Richmond, Va. The Carousel offers customers automotive and household supplies, appliances, children's toys, clothing and gasoline.
Acquires Murmic of Delaware, Inc., operating six hardware-houseware departments in mass merchandising stores in the Southeast.
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| 1966 | Alan Wurtzel joins the company as vice president for legal affairs.
Opens sixth conventional television and appliance store in the Walnut Mall Shopping Center in Petersburg, Va.
Sales reach $23 million for the fiscal year.
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| 1968 | Moves from the over-the-counter market to the American Stock Exchange. Offers 1,700 shares at $19.75 per share (split adjusted, 55 cents per share).
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| 1969 | Acquires Custom Electronics, Inc., a retailer of audio and hi-fidelity equipment. Custom operates four conventional stores in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area; nine licensed audio departments in mass merchandising stores from Albany, N.Y., to Mobile, Ala.; and the Dixie Hi-Fi mail-order business.
Acquires The Mart, operating four television, appliance and furniture stores in Indianapolis.
Acquires Certified TV, operating three stores in the Tidewater, Va., area.
Begins operating licensed departments in Zodys Department Stores in Los Angeles.
Opens second Carousel store in Richmond, Va.
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| 1970 | Acquires Woodville Appliances, Inc., operating five conventional television and appliance stores in Toledo, Ohio.
Acquires Frank Dry Goods Company, operating one television, appliance
and furniture store in Fort Wayne, Ind.
Sam Wurtzel steps down as president, remains chairman of the board.
Alan Wurtzel is named president.
Abraham Hecht retires.
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| 1971 | Opens two specialty audio stores in Richmond, Va., under the name of Sight 'N Sound.
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| 1972 | Alan Wurtzel is named chief executive officer.
Closes Franks of Fort Wayne and three Certified stores in Norfolk, Va.
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| 1973 | Opens five audio stores in Washington, D.C.; Richmond, Va.; Charlotte, N.C.; Costa Mesa, Calif.; and City of Commerce, Calif.
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| 1974 | Begins closing all licensed departments, except those in Zodys.
Opens nine Dixie Hi-Fi discount audio stores.
Closes two of the original Wards stores in Richmond and opens The Wards Loading Dock, a 40,000-square-foot, retail warehouse-showroom displaying a vast selection of audio, video and major appliance products. The Loading Dock is the precursor to today's Circuit City Superstore.
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| 1975 | Sells the four Woodville television and appliance stores in Toledo.
Closes four of the five Mart stores in Indianapolis.
Sells the two Carousel stores in Richmond, Va.
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| 1977 | Begins replacing the Dixie Hi-Fi and Custom Hi-Fi discount stores with new-concept "Circuit City" stores. The first six stores open in the Washington, D.C. market. The 6,000-square-foot to 7,000-square-foot Circuit City stores feature top brand names in audio and video products, an in-store service department, convenient pick-up area and knowledgeable sales personnel.
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| 1978 | Discontinues the Dixie mail-order business.
Closes the four Richmond, Va., Sight 'N Sound stores.
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| 1979 | Opens a second Wards Loading Dock in Richmond, Va.
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| 1981 | Merges with Lafayette Radio Electronics Corporation, operating eight consumer electronics stores in metropolitan New York.
Begins expanding the Loading Dock concept to new markets under the name Circuit City Superstores. First Superstores open in Raleigh, Greensboro, Durham and Winston-Salem, N.C.
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| 1982 | Richard L. Sharp joins Circuit City as executive vice president.
Changes the name of the Richmond Loading Docks to Circuit City Superstores.
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| 1983 | Sales reach $246 million for the fiscal year.
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| 1984 | Company name changes to Circuit City Stores, Inc.
Stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Sam Wurtzel steps down as chairman of the board, succeeded by Alan Wurtzel.
Richard L. Sharp is named president.
Begins replacing Circuit City stores with Circuit City Superstores. First replacements in Knoxville, Tenn.; Charleston, S.C.; and Hampton, Va.
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| 1985 | Abraham Hecht dies on July 5 at the age of 87.
Sam Wurtzel dies on December 5 at the age of 78.
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| 1986 | Alan Wurtzel steps down as chief executive officer, remains chairman of the board.
Richard L. Sharp adds the title of chief executive officer.
All remaining non-Circuit City operations, including Lafayette and Zodys licensed departments, are closed and resources are put into building Circuit City Superstores.
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| 1987 | Sales hit the $1 billion mark for the fiscal year ending February 28, 1987.
Acquires the custom electronics design and manufacturing company, Patapsco Design, Inc. of Maryland, to serve as an in-house engineering firm.
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| 1988 | Opens the first Impulse stores in Baltimore, Md., Richmond, Va., and McLean, Va.
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| 1989 | First personal computers hit Circuit City store shelves.
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| 1990 | Sam Wurtzel is inducted posthumously into Richmond Business Hall of Fame.
Sales hit the $2 billion mark for the fiscal year ending February 28, 1990.
Establishes First North American National Bank to operate Circuit City's private-label credit card program.
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| 1993 | Begins testing CarMax, an innovative retailing venture selling used vehicles.
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| 1994 | Richard L. Sharp adds the title of chairman of the Circuit City board of directors.
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| 1995 | All mall-based Impulse stores are renamed Circuit City Express.
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| 1996 | CarMax adds its first new-car franchise at the Norcross,. Ga., location and announces plans for national expansion of the CarMax concept.
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| 1997 | Shareholders approve the creation of two common stock series. The Company's existing common stock is subsequently redesignated as Circuit City Stores, Inc.-Circuit City Group Common Stock. In an initial public offering, the Company sells 21.86 million shares of Circuit City Stores, Inc.-CarMax Group Common Stock. The Circuit City Group Common Stock is intended to track the performance of the Circuit City store-related operations and a retained interest in the CarMax Group. The CarMax Group Common Stock is intended to track separately the performance of the CarMax operations.
W. Alan McCollough is named president and chief operating officer of Circuit City.
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| 1999 | Circuit City Stores, Inc. launches its E-Superstore, www.circuitcity.com, offers customers a wide selection of competitively priced consumer electronics and personal computers.
Annual sales for Circuit City store businesses exceed $10 billion.
Annual sales for the CarMax superstores exceed $2 billion.
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| 2000 | W. Alan McCollough succeeds Richard L. Sharp as chief executive officer. Sharp remains chairman.
Circuit City exits the appliance business. The space once occupied by appliances creates room for new products, including DVD movies, video games and digital cameras.
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| 2001 | With a $3 million donation, the Circuit City Foundation becomes the official sponsor of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America National Photography Contest, ImageMakers.
Circuit City teams with Sony and CBS to introduce a public service campaign, Message From America. The program is designed to provide recorded video holiday greetings and messages of support for active duty U.S. military personnel. The service is free and open to the public.
In a secondary offering of CarMax Group Common Stock, Circuit City sells 9.5 million CarMax Group shares.
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| 2002 | Circuit City becomes the first national consumer electronics retailer to offer consumers a co-branded Visa credit card, accepted not only at the more than 600 Circuit City Superstores nationwide and circuitcity.com, but also at the more than 21 million locations worldwide where Visa credit cards are accepted.
W. Alan McCollough adds the title of chairman of the Circuit City board of directors.
Circuit City Stores, Inc. completes the separation of CarMax. The separation eliminates the company's tracking stock structure and two common stock series - Circuit City Group Common Stock and CarMax Group Common Stock. Effective October 1, 2002, the Circuit City Group Common Stock is renamed Circuit City common stock and represents an ownership interest only in the Circuit City business, and CarMax, Inc. becomes an independent, separately traded public company.
The video department in 301 stores is remodeled; lighting upgraded in 311 stores.
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| 2003 |
Circuit City's Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to $200 million of the company's common stock. Based on the market value of the common stock at the time of the announcement, the authorization would allow Circuit City to repurchase up to approximately 13 percent of the 210.5 million shares outstanding.
The company converts to a single hourly pay structure in all stores, eliminating commissioned sales.
Circuit City completes the sale of its bankcard portfolio, which included Visa and MasterCard credit card receivables, to FleetBoston Financial.
The company remodels 222 stores, fitting them with more flexible fixtures, which will facilitate the introduction of new products, as well as other assortment adjustments in its merchandise displays.
Given the strong sales lift and internal rate of return seen with relocated stores after their first six months, Circuit City accelerates its relocation program. In fiscal 2004, Circuit City relocates 18 stores and opens eight new stores.
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| 2004 |
Circuit City announces the closing of 19 underperforming Superstores.
InterTAN, Inc., a leading consumer electronics retailer of both private-label and internationally branded products with headquarters in Barrie, Ontario, becomes a subsidiary of Circuit City following a tender offer in which Circuit City acquired the outstanding shares of InterTAN, Inc. InterTAN's Canadian operations become the company's international segment.
Circuit City completes the sale of its private-label credit card operation, including both its private-label Circuit City credit card accounts and its co-branded Circuit City Plus Visa credit card accounts, to Bank One Corporation. Circuit City and Bank One enter into an ongoing arrangement under which Bank One will offer private-label and co-branded credit cards to both new and existing customers. (Bank One later merged with JPMorgan Chase)
The company's Board of Directors authorizes a $200 million increase in the company's stock repurchase authorization, raising the total repurchase capacity to $400 million.
Circuit City and IBM announce the launch of a technology transformation, designed to update the company's point-of-sale systems and other in-store technology.
Circuit City and Verizon Wireless expand relationship and launch new store-within-a-store concept, including the same features available in a Verizon Wireless store.
Philip J. Schoonover is named executive vice president and chief merchandising officer. Schoonover joined the company with more than 20 years of experience in the consumer electronics industry, including time spent at TOPS Appliance City, Sony Corporation of America and Best Buy Co., Inc.
Circuit City and Chase launch Circuit City Rewards Visa credit card, giving customers an opportunity to earn rewards towards Circuit City purchases.
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| 2005 |
Philip J. Schoonover adds the title of president, with W. Alan McCollough continuing to serve as chairman and chief executive officer.
Circuit City announces the closing of 19 underperforming Superstores.
The company's Board of Directors receives and rejects acquisition proposal of $17.00 in cash per share from Highfields Capital Management.
Circuit City's Board of Directors authorizes a $400 million increase in the company's stock repurchase authorization, raising the total repurchase capacity to $800 million.
International segment rebrands more than 900 stores in Canada to THE SOURCE BY CIRCUIT CITY.
Circuit City adopts majority vote standard for director elections.
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| 2006 |
W. Alan McCollough retires as chief executive officer.
Philip J. Schoonover named chief executive officer.
Philip J. Schoonover is elected chairman of the board of directors, succeeding W. Alan McCollough, who retired following the annual meeting of shareholders.
The company's Board of Directors authorizes a $400 million increase in the company's stock repurchase authorization, raising the total repurchase capacity to $1.2 billion.
Circuit City launches the firedogSM services brand in October, initially offering PC services and home theater installation.
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| 2007 |
Circuit City announces plans to explore strategic alternatives for InterTAN, Inc.
In the company's domestic segment Superstores, a new store operating platform is implemented, including a streamlined store management model, updated store operating procedures and a new store staffing model.
Circuit City launches a new store prototype, the cityTM, that delivers a differentiated and improved customer experience.
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| 2008 |
The company's board of directors authorizes the exploration of strategic alternatives to enhance shareholder value.
Circuit City and Wattles Capital Management, LLC (WCM) reached an agreement to avoid a proxy contest regarding shareholder proposals submitted by WCM. Three of WCM's director nominees are elected to the board of directors.
James A. Marcum named vice chairman and acting president and chief executive officer and Allen B. King elected chairman of the board of directors, succeeding Philip J. Schoonover who previously served as chairman, president and chief executive officer.
Circuit City files a voluntary petition for reorganization relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code and under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act in Canada. The company plans to continue operating the business without interruption as management focuses on developing and executing a comprehensive restructuring plan.
NYSE suspends the company's common stock. Shares trade over the counter and are quoted under the ticker symbol CCTYQ.
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