Blockbuster Bids for Circuit City

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The Associated Press is reporting that Blockbuster is making an unsolicited $1 billion-plus bid for Circuit City Stores directly to shareholders. Apparently Circuit City has been “dragging its feet” on previous offers from Blockbuster.

Dallas-based Blockbuster Inc. said early Monday said it has been in talks with Richmond, Va.-based Circuit City Stores Inc. for months regarding a potential acquisition, and on Feb. 17th sent a letter to Circuit City Chairman and Chief Executive Philip Schoonover offering at least $6 per share in cash for the company.
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Ummm, wasn't it just a few months back that Blockbuster was closing stores to avoid bankruptcy, now they have $1 billion to buy Circuit City?
 
That's pretty funny. It's a sinking ship pulling up to save another sinking ship. Like the saying goes, "It's better to drown with others"... or something like that. :)
 
Isn't this kinda what KMart and Sears did. I guess they figure, don't go down alone.
 
It's the times. These companies must do everything they can to stay a float in the world of e-commerce.
 
It is scary thinking the geniuses that got Blockbuster in a jam will now be heading up CC too. . . nice, real nice.
 
Steve said:
Ummm, wasn't it just a few months back that Blockbuster was closing stores to avoid bankruptcy, now they have $1 billion to buy Circuit City?
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Isn't it convenient how these companies have money when they want it?
 
The_Law said:
That's pretty funny. It's a sinking ship pulling up to save another sinking ship. Like the saying goes, "It's better to drown with others"... or something like that. :)
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too bad they aren't buying best buy ;)
 
^^Ditto. CC stores (at least the newer ones) seem to have a better layout and easier to find what you're looking for. Also, they seem to have better prices most of the time when compared to BB. BB has been impressing me lately however and it seems as though they may be righting the ship. We'll see and time will tell.

Either way, it is strange that a company like Blockbuster who can't compete anymore with Netflix and Redbox is trying to enter the consumer electronics market where competition IMO, is even more fierce than video rental.
 
LOL gotta love an obsolite company buying another obsolite company
 
derek533 said:
^^Ditto. CC stores (at least the newer ones) seem to have a better layout and easier to find what you're looking for. Also, they seem to have better prices most of the time when compared to BB. BB has been impressing me lately however and it seems as though they may be righting the ship. We'll see and time will tell.

Either way, it is strange that a company like Blockbuster who can't compete anymore with Netflix and Redbox is trying to enter the consumer electronics market where competition IMO, is even more fierce than video rental.
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But the same ridiculous mark ups and brain dead employees. Still I prefer CC over BB, that is unless CC screws me over too. :(
 
That should read previous instead of pervious. Unless Blockbuster's offer involved sheep and extra-large wading boots. :)
 
Steve said:
Ummm, wasn't it just a few months back that Blockbuster was closing stores to avoid bankruptcy, now they have $1 billion to buy Circuit City?
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Yeah, that pretty much crossed my mind. I never thought that CC was in that bad of a position or BB in such a good one. :confused: :confused: :confused:
 
SPARTAN VI said:
But the same ridiculous mark ups and brain dead employees. Still I prefer CC over BB, that is unless CC screws me over too. :(
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hey now i work at CC, im [H], and know what i am talking about when i speak to customers :D. anyways, from a computer enthusiast point of view the same can be said about 90% of the customers that come in to buy a computer:p
 
Overvolt said:
hey now i work at CC, im [H], and know what i am talking about when i speak to customers :D. anyways, from a computer enthusiast point of view the same can be said about 90% of the customers that come in to buy a computer:p
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And I bet you want to back hand some of the ladies and gents that work the floor huh? :D

Come out and work for the CC in City of Industry, CA. :)
 
Wow, I just looked at Circuit City's financial statements, and they are doing horrible compared to Best Buy. I didn't realize how bad they were doing until I actually stopped and looked.
 
Well at least this won't be a Tigerdirect and CompUSA alliance of evil.
 
EQTakeOffense said:
Wow, I just looked at Circuit City's financial statements, and they are doing horrible compared to Best Buy. I didn't realize how bad they were doing until I actually stopped and looked.
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I was just reading an article last week about this. They said how CC was thinking of opening a few speciality stores and calling them "The City". Although some of their more vocal shareholders were wanting to remove the entire board and have all new people come in and sell off the company before they are completely dead.

Of all the people to buy out CC I never thought Blockbuster would be one of them. That would be like Disney buying Ford. They are nowhere near the same area.

If I was hurting for money I'm not sure I would try to buy out some other company that is hurting that is in a completely different market than you are use to dealing with. Considering the state that Circuit City is in now I don't see their board being much help to blockbuster to help them turn things around.
 
Exavior said:
I was just reading an article last week about this. They said how CC was thinking of opening a few speciality stores and calling them "The City". Although some of their more vocal shareholders were wanting to remove the entire board and have all new people come in and sell off the company before they are completely dead.

Of all the people to buy out CC I never thought Blockbuster would be one of them. That would be like Disney buying Ford. They are nowhere near the same area.

If I was hurting for money I'm not sure I would try to buy out some other company that is hurting that is in a completely different market than you are use to dealing with. Considering the state that Circuit City is in now I don't see their board being much help to blockbuster to help them turn things around.
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What I find interesting, is how lack of focus Circuit City has. I mean, look from a marketing perspective, the types of advertisements you see from Best Buy clearly position it to be better then Circuit City from a product stand point. But, it doesn't stop there, Circuit City has no focus what-so-ever. The only thing "The City" could offer is customer service in terms of sales reps. but this wont work when most of their workers don't know what they're talking about. I like the concept of "The City" I have a feeling that it's going to tank. Circuit City has issues that run much deeper then anything that can be fixed over night. To be honest, I could see Blockbuster acquiring Circuit City to be a good thing, for the sole reason it will provide Circuit City with a focused direction.
 
This is funny. Acording to Forbe's (http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/04/14/ap4887767.html)

Blockbuster is only currently worth $620 million and are offering $1.35 Billion to buy Circuit City.

Blockbuster is trying to spend over twice their own value to buy Circuit City. With the current market status I'm surprised they could get a loan for that much without anything to offer other than 2 dead companies if this fails.
 
I always liked circuit city a little more than bestbuy, the lines aren't as long, and the stores aren't as crowded.
 
Fonix said:
I always liked circuit city a little more than bestbuy, the lines aren't as long, and the stores aren't as crowded.
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Heh, there's so little business at our CC that they've closed down the registers and have everyone check out through customer service. The result is one register and one long line for all 12 people that visited the store that day. :D

Still, don't want to give BB another penny.
 
Actually, I know over in the computer and TV area, they'll typically check the customer out at those registers if you catch a guy in a red shirt. The guys in green shirts (Firedog) will help check out, but usually only begrudgingly as they (and by they I mean we, as I've worked there since June of 07) typically have other work to do, and get aggravated at the red shirts standing around with their thumbs up their asses.

But, seeing Blockbuster take over CC, I honestly don't care. I hate the job from a managerial standpoint, and damned near had an argument with my manager today because of a mistake that was made that would have cost the store about $250, but was the right thing to do for a customer (they mistagged a computer, much to the customer's benefit), as he'd already purchased it based on the specs for the posted price.

I'm [H]. In my previous various accounts, I've accrued over 16,000 posts, and have stood for what was right, or at least I believed to be the right thing to do. I'm the guy that anyone reading these boards would want to talk to if they were to come in to CC. I'm just there as a steady job to pay the rent while I finish college up. But, most of the guys there are ignorant jackasses...but I've found them to still be better than the guys at Best Buy. Not saying that from a company standpoint, as I'd tell anyone to go buy from Newegg instead if my personal opinion were to be put into play.
 
See, all of us [H] CC employees just need to multiply and take over all of the stores!! that is how WE will save the company. some of you guys seem like your in some bad CC's. I work in computers and always check people out but for the most part we dont have more than 5 or so people at one time up front.
 
I'd read on one of the tech-type sites about a month ago? that CC was basically hanging on by their fingernails and were going to try "the city" boutique-type stores to try to bring in more customers.

Not having a CC anywhere near me, and the closest BB being about 8 miles away (and I don't drive), I can't compare the stores. I can say that I have been to the BB and it was not a pleasant experience.

Just found these articles on the proposed merger. Blockbuster selling electronics? CC renting movies? The mind boggles. If there are any vendors who have any type of deal to sell in either CC or Blockbuster, I suggest they get themselves out while the getting's good.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g1fYqj5X5RG6UrI6kk9jeJfOg7jwD901SC181
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/IBD-0001-24494355.htm

I'm just trying to picture the Blockbuster in my neighborhood being able to successfully sell small electronics/game consoles without them being robbed/vandalized for giggles. The average customer there can't seem to be able to rent a DVD without returning it covered in fingerprints, scratches and whatever their kids had for dinner - which almost always seems to consist of something sticky or gummy. Obviously I don't rent from there anymore.

As far as
Keyes, former president of the 7-Eleven convenience store chain, has focused on reinventing the Blockbuster store experience since becoming chief executive in July. He has led Blockbuster to experiment with stores focused on kids and video gaming.

Concept stores in the Dallas area have gaming lounges, children's areas that sell books and action figures, and even a Coca-Cola cafe, says Arvind Bhatia, an analyst with Sterne Agee.
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Well, we only have 1 7-11 left in the area and as to the books/action figures type of integration, that worked real well for Suncoast ... not.
 
Steve said:
Ummm, wasn't it just a few months back that Blockbuster was closing stores to avoid bankruptcy, now they have $1 billion to buy Circuit City?
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Humm Compusa tried to buy them so they could take them down in fire with them. Maybe if we are lucky blockbuster will mange to pull off what compusa couldn't.
 
I dont see the move doing much good for CC, but then again what could get worse the what the idiots in charge have already done heh.

They were doing great with the Supernova reform (worked in the test market and the company actually listened to what we said would work) and things got better and the stock hit like $29 - $32 or so a share. Then they got excited and changed over to Gen-C which has taken the company on its slide to the toilet and around $4 a share heh.

I quit in October and while I prefer the store's layout and some prices to BB nothing will ever be perfect, and thats usually the fault of the "smart" people on top.

It could play out better for both, but would be interesting to see the video section turn into a BlockBuster rental :p
 
Kil4Thril said:
Isn't this kinda what KMart and Sears did. I guess they figure, don't go down alone.
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That seems like the next thing to do... Circuit-Buster Merges with Sears-Mart to form the ultimate loser in retail. Then Yahoo will propose a profit sharing agreement with that beast to prevent being gobbled up by Microsoft. ;-)

Honestly I can't see how Blockbuster and Circuit City would be good match... Maybe they'll do the same thing as K-Mart and consolidate the stores, sell half of them if they own the land and make billions on just the sale of the property. The excutives will then sell their stock, then let the remaining company die a slow and tortuous death.
 
Lmao, i just did tha maths and CC is 3 times larger in revenue than Block Buster.... wtf are they thinking?
 
RussianHAXOR said:
Lmao, i just did tha maths and CC is 3 times larger in revenue than Block Buster.... wtf are they thinking?
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Further elaborating on my point from the blockbuster wiki...

Overall, Blockbuster has lost significant amounts of money in recent years: $1.6 billion in 2002, almost $1.0 billion in 2003, and $1.2 billion in 2004.
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bbf said:
That seems like the next thing to do... Circuit-Buster Merges with Sears-Mart to form the ultimate loser in retail. Then Yahoo will propose a profit sharing agreement with that beast to prevent being gobbled up by Microsoft. ;-)

Honestly I can't see how Blockbuster and Circuit City would be good match... Maybe they'll do the same thing as K-Mart and consolidate the stores, sell half of them if they own the land and make billions on just the sale of the property. The excutives will then sell their stock, then let the remaining company die a slow and tortuous death.
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1. Don't forget about TigerUSA! Somehow I got one of their catalogs - touting how impressive the Intel GMA 3100 is at gaming on the cover. These guys REALLY need to go down like the shameless whores they are.

2. Good luck selling any kind of property in this market. Would be sweet though if they get foreclosed out of all those mall units, etc. and NewEgg decides to buy them and open retail stores.
 
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