Circuit City Stores Inc., the nation’s second-biggest consumer electronics retailer, said Friday it failed to find a buyer and will liquidate its 567 U.S. stores. The closures could send another 30,000 people into the ranks of the unemployed.
“This is the only possible path for our company,” James A. Marcum, acting chief executive, said in a statement. “We are extremely disappointed by this outcome.”

The company had been seeking a buyer or a deal to refinance its debt, but the hobbled credit market and consumer worries proved insurmountable.

The liquidation of Circuit City is the latest fallout from the worst holiday shopping season in four decades. People have slashed their spending since the financial meltdown in September as they worry about their job security and declining retirement funds.

(Source: Associated Press)