Circuit City

Circuit City Corporation, Inc., formerly Circuit City Stores, Inc., is an American consumer electronics retail company, which was founded in 1949 by Samuel Wurtzel as the Wards Company, operated stores across the United States, and pioneered the electronics superstore format in the 1970s. After multiple purchases and a successful run on the NYSE, it changed its name to Circuit City Stores Inc.

Ronny Shmoel re-established the brand name in 2016 as part of his acquisition of the brand name and trademark rights sold by Systemax. Systemax formerly operated the CircuitCity.com website from 2009 until 2012, when it was consolidated into the TigerDirect brand, which kept the website open until 2023, when TigerDirect shut down.

In early 1949, Wurtzel was on vacation in Richmond, Virginia when, while at a local barber shop, he was witness to the start of television in the South.^{[citation needed]} Imagining the opportunities, in late 1949, he moved his family to Richmond and opened the first Wards Company retail store. Later, Abraham L. Hecht joined him as a partner in the business.

By 1959, Wards Company operated four television and home appliance stores in Richmond. The company continued to grow and acquired stores in other locations including Albany, New York; Mobile, Alabama; Washington, D.C.; and Costa Mesa, California. During the 1970s and early 1980s, it also sold mail-order under "Dixie Hi Fi" and advertised in hi-fi magazines. Wards experimented with several retail formats in Richmond, including smaller mall outlets branded "Sight-n-Sound" and "Circuit City".

Samuel Wurtzel served as president of the company until 1970 and remained the chairman until 1984. Alan Wurtzel, his son, became CEO of Wards in 1972 and initially focused on digesting the acquisitions and shedding unprofitable operations. After developing a long range plan for the company in 1973, construction began on a distribution center and new corporate offices building at 2040 Thalbro Street (named after Thalhimer Bros. Department Store) in Richmond, Virginia and in the extra space, "Wards Loading Dock", its first warehouse showroom opened on May 1, 1975. The large-format store was popular with customers. The company continued to expand with the new format modeled after "Wards Loading Dock" and renamed it Circuit City Superstore in 1978; the first locations called such opened on June 22 of that year in North Carolina.

Wards Company officially changed its name to Circuit City Stores, Inc., and became listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1984. One of the company's early slogans was "Circuit City — Where the Streets are Paved with Bargains". The company, which had leased floor space from the Zodys discount stores as well as other department stores, began acquiring retail stores and turning them into Circuit City Superstores. The first of these replacements occurred in Knoxville, Tennessee; Charleston, South Carolina; and Hampton, Virginia.^{[citation needed]}

In 1981, Circuit City entered the New York City market by acquiring the six remaining stores of the bankrupt Lafayette Radio chain. They operated the stores under the "Lafayette/Circuit City" name and expanded to 15 locations, but the stores were not profitable and were closed in 1986 after spending US$20 million (~$48.4 million in 2024) to enter the market.

In 1985, Circuit City entered the Los Angeles market by opening seven Superstore locations in former The Akron discount stores. The next year, Circuit City opened five more Superstores in the market and closed the licensed electronics and appliance departments it operated in Zodys stores. The new stores featured the "red tower" entrance that ultimately became a trademark of the company. The towers were designed to make the store more identifiable to drivers among the endless stores and shopping centers in Los Angeles.