The Circuit City name is slowly fading away. Parent company Systemax announced that Circuit City will merge with TigerDirect.com by Dec. 31 and become part of the latter’s ecommerce website.
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Computer manufacturer/marketer Systemax acquired Circuit City’s intellectual property assets in 2009. Last month, Systemax’s board of directors decided that Circuit City’s future could be optimized by consolidating the websites.
Circuit City filed for bankruptcy in November 2008 and closed its last stores in March 2009. Systemax also acquired electronics retailer CompUSA’s intellectual property when it closed in 2008. It manufactures and sells consumer electronics online, by direct mail and in retail stores.
Systemax included information regarding its decision to merge Circuit City with TigerDirect.com in its third-quarter financial press release.
Early in the fourth quarter, Systemax management evaluated of its multi-brand U.S. consumer strategy and on Oct. 31 its board of directors opted to consolidate its U.S. consumer operations under TigerDirect.com. As a result, Systemax will record one-time, non-cash impairment charges related to the intangible assets of CompUSA and Circuit City of about $34 million (pre-tax) in the fourth quarter of 2012.
Systemax CEO Richard Leeds said in the press release that the company “harvested significant value from the CompUSA and Circuit City acquisitions” and is moving forward with a “single and unified consumer platform in the United States that will drive efficiencies in advertising and customer acquisition.”
Jim Tierney ([email protected]) is a senior writer for Multichannel Merchant. You can connect with him on Twitter (TierneyMCM) and LinkedIn, or call him at 203-358-4265.