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<div><tt><font color="#000000">As the business and consumer maxim
says: you get what you pay for.</font></tt></div>
<div><tt><font color="#000000"><br></font></tt></div>
<div><tt><font color="#000000">m.</font></tt></div>
<div><tt><font color="#000000">*******</font></tt></div>
<div><tt><font color="#000000">Circuit City to Cut More Than 3, 500
Jobs</font></tt></div>
<div><tt><font color="#000000"><br></font></tt></div>
<div><tt><font color="#000000">By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS<br>
Published: March 28, 2007<br>
<br>
Filed at 10:28 a.m. ET<br>
<br>
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Circuit City Stores Inc. said Wednesday it plans
to cut costs by laying off about 3,400 store workers and hiring
lower-paid employees to replace them, and by trimming about 130
corporate jobs.<br>
<br>
Its shares rose 3 percent in morning trading.<br>
<br>
Circuit City, the nation's No. 2 consumer electronics retailer behind
Best Buy Co. Inc., the store workers being laid off were earning
''well above the market-based salary range for their role.'' They will
be replaced with employees who will be paid at the current market
range, the company said in a news release.<br>
<br>
''We are taking a number of aggressive actions to improve our cost and
expense structure, which will better position us for improved and
sustainable returns in today's marketplace,'' Philip J. Schoonover,
Circuit City's chief executive, said in a statement.<br>
<br>
The Richmond-based company also plans to outsource its
information-technology infrastructure operations to International
Business Machines Corp., a move that is expected to cut IT expenses by
more than 16 percent. About 50 of Circuit City's IT workers will move
to jobs with IBM and remain on the Circuit City contract. The other 80
corporate positions will be cut.<br>
<br>
The changes follow the company's announcement this winter of planned
cost-cutting measures and management moves to improve sales and cut
expenses.<br>
<br>
In February, Circuit City terminated its lease on a previously closed
distribution center in Columbus, Ohio, at a loss of $4.8 million, but
the move is expected to cut costs associated with the lease by about
$6 million. It also finished a previously announced closing of a
Louisville, Ky., distribution center that was used primarily for store
fixtures and signs.<br>
<br>
In Circuit City's international operations, the company has hired
Goldman Sachs to advise the company on strategic options for its
InterTAN Inc. unit, which could include selling the business.<br>
<br>
Circuit City closed about 55 stores in Canada in February as
previously announced, and expects to close about 10 more stores in the
first half of fiscal 2008.</font></tt><br>
<tt><font color="#000000"></font></tt></div>
<div><tt><font color="#000000">Its shares rose 59 cents to $19.47 in
morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.</font></tt></div>
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