Best Buy vs Circuit City: Difference and Comparison

Best Buy and Circuit City are two of the very American stores popular for their electronic appliances and goods from the last century.

Although Best Buy is a still-running company, Circuit City closed after being bankrupt terribly in the year 2008. This was caused due to their non-innovativeness and also the spree of expanding the number of stores.

Key Takeaways

1. Best Buy is a successful electronics retailer, while Circuit City filed for bankruptcy in 2008 and closed its retail stores.
2. Circuit City has transitioned to an online-only platform, whereas Best Buy operates brick-and-mortar stores and an online presence.
3. Best Buy has a broader product offering, including appliances and services, while Circuit City focuses primarily on electronics.

Best Buy vs Circuit City

The difference between the two American Electronic appliances companies, Best Buy and Circuit City, is that Best Buy is still in the game and flourishing, and Circuit City has diminished. Due to wrong decisions, America’s number 2 electronic goods company went through Bankruptcy and finally diminished.

Best Buy was founded by Richard Schulze in the year 1966. The company is Canada’s largest electronic retailer. The company provides to its customers a wide range of services and appliances to its customers.

The company provides computer and other device repair services through the Geek Squad Brand.

Circuit City was founded by Samuel S. Wurtzel in the year 1949, that is, before Best Buy. It was also a company that sold all sorts of electronic goods, starting from TV sets initially.

Due to the sudden Bankruptcy, the company had a huge fall in the year 2008. Although it came back in 2018, it could not survive the market.

Comparison Table

Parameters Of Comparison	Best Buy	Circuit City
Founder	Richard Schulze is the founder of Best Buy.	Samuel S. Wurtzel is the founder of Circuit City.
Headquarters	The Headquarters is in Richfield, Minnesota.	The Headquarters is in Richmond, Virginia.
Number of stores	Best Buy has a total of 1,159 stores.	Circuit City has more than 600 stores.
Former Name of the company	Best Buy was formerly known as “Sound of Music.”	Circuit City was formerly known as “Wards.”
Year of establishment	Best Buy was established in the year 1966.	Circuit City was established in the year 1949.
Bankruptcy	To date, Best Buy has not faced any bankruptcy.	To date, Circuit City has faced severe Bankruptcy.
Current Situation	The company still runs.	The company has been closed after shifting hands quite a few times.

What is Best Buy?

Best Buy is an America-based multinational consumer electronics retailer company with its headquarters in Richfield, Minnesota.

This electronic goods company was founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in the year 1966 but was named as “Sound of Music” back then when it was popular as an audio specialty store.

It was later renamed in the year 1983. Best Buy operates in several countries and internationally in Canada. Previously till February 2011, it was operated in China, and till December 2020, it was operated in Mexico.

It also operated in Europe till the year 2012.

The Forbes Magazine titled “Best Buy” as the “Company of the Year” in 2004, and in 2005 it ranked among the 10 companies of America as the “America’s Most Generous Corporations.”

Best Buy sells a number of consumer electronics and some related goods, which include music, video games, software, video, and stereo cameras.

Other than these, the company also sells home appliances like dryers, washing machines, and refrigerators. Best Buy also offers to its customers accidental service plans, computer repair, and other warranty services.

The company also comes with an online platform where the customers are free to discuss any product, their experiences, and other issues.

What is Circuit City?

Circuit City is also an America-based consumer electronics retailer company established in 1949 by Samuel S. Wurtzel. Originally it was known as the Wards Company, which had its stores across the United States.

The Headquarters of Circuit City is located in Richmond, Virginia. The company started by selling TV sets; noticing its potential, Samuel extended it to home appliances.

Later on, his son, Alan, also refined the business by opening a specialized area in audio stores called “Sight and Sound.”

By mid 70″s the interest was shifted to opening the first electronic superstore, which was called the “Ward’s loading Dock,” which had a wide range of video and audio appliances.

Although in the year 2008, on November 4, Circuit City made the announcement of the closing of a total of 155 stores and also that it would lay off 17% of its total workforce.

That year nearly 500-800 employees were laid off from the Headquarters of that company. Many employees also lost their job in 2009 due to the liquidation that took place on January 16th of the same year.

But it made a comeback in the year 2018 due to the initiative of the new owner Ronny Shmuel, but it could never get back the aura of the last century.

Main Differences Between Best Buy and Circuit City

1. The founder of Best Buy is Richard Schulze, and that of Circuit City is Samuel S. Wurtzel.
2. Best Buy has a total of 1,159 stores worldwide, and Circuit City has 600 plus stores in America.
3. Best Buy was previously known as “Sound of Music,” and Circuit City was known as the “Wards Company.”
4. Best Buy was established in the year 1966, and Circuit City was established in the year 1949.
5. The Headquarters of Best Buy is in Richfield, Minnesota, while that of Circuit City is in Richmond, Virginia.

References

1. https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/63337726/MBA503_Business_Policy_Strategic_Management20200517-128592-1pdj91b-with-cover-page-v2.pdf?Expires=1639940598&Signature=BYqknm40-f27IGgGjoIocajQ-oY38MIvK7img2SdCiqAaP~Qd0HrtGN5s~i9ssYYNulgRgAnysJsD2xX~vbOf5w8HrPFIjf~aX6WSwmYzKUswDxrVH6NrrsoNpCmuV6hItXRKcT2SG1LWVE8WNlAW60LbH~jBW2OxQUojqWqb6HnMkjNhquljyjonRe8jjTz0cnQUK2FjWC3e8EvDUhKo0Aglb-psVB6hgkJET039cZxN-dypkMTqWHZrInV6hKbYIsmSPIDYfWq2i9PmoDqqZJyK21FNi85s7isPvSPgkepio~3xCKKiQygKuDLplQ0QddU35KrG6lKec3rtAh6IA__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA#page=723
2. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=805166

Last Updated : 13 July, 2023