Blockbuster To Prevent A Circuit City Short Circuit?

Richmond-based Circuit City, whose headquarters are right here in Short Pump, has been flirting with financial disaster for some time now. In the last fiscal quarter, however, after some cost-cutting initiatives, the electronic retailer’s numbers are back in the black. Still, things aren’t where the company would like them to be. Blockbuster, however, has made a $1.3 billion bid to buy out Circuit City.

The movie rental giant has been in financial trouble itself over the past several years, but company executives claim they have the resources to finance the deal. If they don’t, Blockbuster’s largest stockholder, Carl Icahn, said, via a letter to Circuit City executives, that he is prepared to buy the company himself if Blockbuster can’t afford to.

A Blockbuster buyout would better position the company to compete with other national “big box” retailers by streamlining electronics and products together. For example, a larger selection of DVD players and DVDs themselves would be housed under one roof. This is much like the Apple Store retail model, in which the company sells equipment and end user content in the same store under one brand.

No decision has been made on whether Blockbuster will buy out the company or if and how jobs at the corporate headqarters, located off Deep Rock Road near Innsbrook, would be affected as a result.