Circuit City

Bankrupt Circuit City Stores Inc. said yesterday that it is going out of business and will shut down its 567 stores in the United States, including 15 in Maryland, after a plan to sell the company failed. The country's second-largest consumer electronics chain employs more than 30,000 people who will now be out of work. A bankruptcy judge approved the company's liquidation plan yesterday, and sales could begin as soon as today. The company's demise was just one of many layoff announcements yesterday from companies in various industries and highlighted how the weak economy is affecting different sectors.

NATIONAL Showdown in Congress With the Senate preparing to vote this week to curb President Bush's ability to conduct the war in Iraq, the White House and Congress are careening toward their biggest policy confrontation in more than a decade. pg 3a WORLD Britain halts contacts with Iran Britain froze all government contacts yesterday with Iran as the Islamic republic came under intense international and domestic pressure to release 15 British sailors captured in the northern Persian Gulf.

RICHMOND, Va. -- Circuit City Group, the No. 2 U.S. consumer-electronics retailer, said yesterday that it will pull the plug on its unprofitable Divx digital videodisc venture, resulting in a $114 million fiscal first-quarter charge.The retailer also said it will split its stock 2 for 1, and it reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings before the Divx charge. Its shares yesterday rose $8.375 to $90.375.Circuit City invested about $200 million in Divx, hoping to capitalize on the growth of digital videodiscs.

For two hours during tonight's Black College All-Star Game at the Baltimore Arena, Tyrone Thomas will gain a measure of recognition he never got while at Overlea High School."

A preview of the new fall TV season:"Everybody Wants to Smack Dwayne" (NBC):A dumb guy (Tony Danza) moves cluelessly through life while his beautiful, efficient wife (Laura Dern) works, runs the house, raises the kids, pays the bills, initiates their sex life and changes the oil in the cars every 3,000 miles.Tonight: Dwayne's wife shows him how to obtain a library card."The Dope of Brooklyn" (ABC): A fat dumb guy (Tom Arnold) sits around watching sports on TV and lusting after Harley- Davidsons and half-price Budweiser sales while his beautiful, efficient wife (Terri Garr)

Further expanding its new-car retailing business, CarMax Auto Superstores Inc. said yesterday that it has agreed to acquire for an undisclosed sum the Toyota franchise rights owned by Laurel Automotive Group Inc.Richmond, Va.-based CarMax said it plans to operate the franchise at its current location on Fort Meade Road in Laurel. The acquisition is subject to approval by Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc.CarMax, a Circuit City Stores Inc. subsidiary that pioneered the used-car superstore concept, is in discussions with Toyota to establish a framework agreement to cover this acquisition and any in the future, said Val Brown, a CarMax spokesman.

RICHMOND, Va. -- Circuit City Stores Inc. said April sales at its electronics stores exceeded expectations, though sales at its CarMax Group auto retailing stores open at least a year fell 9 percent.Separately, CarMax said it signed an agreement to own and operate Nissan Motor Corp. franchises throughout the United States, further expanding its new-car retailing business. CarMax is 77 percent-owned by Circuit City, the leading U.S. appliance and electronics retailer.Circuit City said sales at stores open at least a year in April rose 1 percent, reflecting strong sales of digital satellite systems, cellular phones and pagers, video-cassette recorders, camcorders, music software and major appliances.

Westview Cinemas -- a movie haven on U.S. 40 where images from the Beatles to Darth Vader have filled the screens over the past three decades -- will close this month to make way for a Circuit City superstore expected to be built on the site this summer.The 10-theater cinema complex, regarded by some as a cultural landmark in Catonsville, will show its last movie May 29."It was a difficult decision to make," said Bertram Potemken, an attorney who represents the Westview's owners, a private group of Maryland residents.

Here lies Highland Superstores, Crazy Eddie, Silo and Fretter, the Incredible Universe and Luskin's.The electronics industry graveyard is filled with companies that have ridden waves of profits on the backs of hot, new products, then crashed during a slowdown.And so during the latest industry decline, analysts are watching carefully as the nation's two largest home appliance and electronics retailers -- Best Buy and Circuit City -- fight for scarce dollars.Best Buy Co. Inc. and Circuit City Stores Inc. have a lot in common.

RICHMOND, Va. -- Circuit City Stores Inc. said yesterday that fiscal fourth-quarter profit fell 17 percent because of weakening electronics sales and tough competition.The company, which owns the Circuit City electronics chain, said net income fell to $68.3 million, or 68 cents a share, from $82.1 million, or 83 cents, in the year-earlier quarter.Sales for the quarter ended Feb. 28 rose 7.3 percent to $2.42 billion from $2.25 billion. Same-store sales fell 10 percent during the quarter.Pub Date: 4/05/97

State gets $44 million for affordable housing Maryland will get more than $44 million in federal funds to spur development of affordable housing projects throughout the state that have been stalled because of the economic downturn, the U.S. Treasury Department announced today. Maryland is one of 12 states or territories selected to receive a total of $486 million this week in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding. The federal grants will be awarded to Maryland's Department of Housing and Community Development, which in turn will "subaward" the money as cash grants to help develop or preserve affordable rental projects that meet federal requirements for funding assistance.

Comcast 4Q profit falls with write-down PHILADELPHIA : Comcast Corp., the nation's largest cable TV provider, said yesterday that its fourth-quarter earnings fell 32 percent, hampered by a $600 million write-down of its investment in wireless technology provider Clearwire Corp. Comcast's revenue and adjusted earnings beat Wall Street estimates, and the company raised its dividend 8 percent. However, the Philadelphia-based company showed markedly slower growth in its video, high-speed Internet and phone businesses.

Bankrupt Circuit City Stores Inc. said yesterday that it is going out of business and will shut down its 567 stores in the United States, including 15 in Maryland, after a plan to sell the company failed. The country's second-largest consumer electronics chain employs more than 30,000 people who will now be out of work. A bankruptcy judge approved the company's liquidation plan yesterday, and sales could begin as soon as today. The company's demise was just one of many layoff announcements yesterday from companies in various industries and highlighted how the weak economy is affecting different sectors.

Health coverage is said to eat up jobless aid A report issued yesterday by the consumer health group Families USA finds that the average cost for family health insurance coverage eats up almost 84 percent of monthly unemployment benefits. The study looked at Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) coverage, which allows a laid-off worker to retain employer-sponsored insurance but without the business contributions. That makes coverage much more expensive for individuals.

Circuit City gets OK on $1.1 billion financing RICHMOND, Va.: Circuit City Stores Inc. received final approval yesterday for $1.1 billion in financing to keep operating while the nation's second-biggest electronics retailer is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Huennekens approved the debtor-in-possession loans at a hearing in Richmond. The financing, which replaces a $1.3 billion asset-backed loan that the company had been using, will be used to stock merchandise and pay employees.

When the housing market was booming and credit was readily available, shoppers dropped thousands of dollars on big-screen televisions, stereo systems and the latest computer technology. But splurging on big-ticket items stopped with the turbulent economy. And now consumer electronics stores are feeling the pain. Circuit City announced yesterday it will close 20 percent of its more than 700 stores - including three in Maryland - and lay off 17 percent of its work force just after Christmas.

THE Q: Whether you love them or hate them, swear by them or avoid them like the plague, we still manage to spend a whopping $15 billion on extended-service warranties every year in this country. While there has been much debate about how much value such warranties really offer to consumers, Donna Beth Shapiro of Bolton Hill had a more specific concern, not about the product she purchased but about the company responsible for maintaining the warranty sold to her. "I just purchased an HP notebook and paid $429 for a four-year extended warranty from a company whose future I doubt - Circuit City," Shapiro said.

NATIONAL Showdown in Congress With the Senate preparing to vote this week to curb President Bush's ability to conduct the war in Iraq, the White House and Congress are careening toward their biggest policy confrontation in more than a decade. pg 3a WORLD Britain halts contacts with Iran Britain froze all government contacts yesterday with Iran as the Islamic republic came under intense international and domestic pressure to release 15 British sailors captured in the northern Persian Gulf.

Working the sales floor at a retailer won't make you rich, but thousands of people manage to make a living doing it. Yet the announcement yesterday by Circuit City that it terminated 7 percent of its better-paid hourly employees and will replace them with inexperienced workers who earn less is the latest example of how difficult it is becoming to make retail sales a career, some industry consultants said. The growth in retail employment has lagged behind overall job growth in recent years in part because Internet shopping has cut into the demand for sales associates.

They began arriving at 3 p.m. Monday with tents, lawn chairs and the conviction they would be among the first to own an Xbox 360. By midnight, the line at the Timonium Best Buy snaked around the building. Not everyone would go home happy. The store, like so many others, did not have nearly enough Xboxes to meet demand on their first day on the market. The early arrivals were allowed in at 8 a.m. yesterday - an hour before official opening time. By 9, all the Xboxes were gone. "It was like seeing little kids on Christmas," said store manager Jim Miller, who didn't know when he'd get more.