- Vice Chairman James A. Marcum Named Acting President and CEO - - Director Allen B. King Elected Chairman of the Board - - Company Provides Update on Second Quarter 2008 Results -
RICHMOND, Va., Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Circuit City Stores, Inc. (NYSE:CC) today announced that Philip J. Schoonover, chairman, president and chief executive officer, has agreed to step down from those positions, effective immediately. Schoonover has also resigned as a director of the company. Schoonover, 48, joined the company in 2004 and had served as its president and a director since 2005 and as its chairman of the board and chief executive officer since 2006.
The board of directors has appointed James A. Marcum, 49, to serve as acting president and chief executive officer. Marcum was elected as a director at the company's annual meeting of shareholders in June 2008. Since August 18, 2008, he has served in the executive officer position of vice chairman and is playing a key role in leading the efforts to accelerate the company's turnaround.
Marcum has more than 20 years of experience in specialty retail. From 2004 to August 2008, he was an operating partner and operating executive of Tri-Artisan Capital Partners, LLC, a merchant banking firm. Prior to this Marcum held senior executive roles in retail turnarounds such as those with Ultimate Electronics, Inc., a consumer electronics retailer specializing in home and car entertainment, and Hollywood Entertainment Corporation, a video home entertainment specialty retailer. In addition, he held senior positions with Stage Stores, Inc., a specialty retailer of branded apparel, and Melville Corporation, a conglomerate of specialty retail chains in the apparel, footwear, drug, health and beauty aids, furniture and accessories sectors. He is a director of Iconix Brand Group, Inc.
The board of directors has elected Allen B. King, 62, as chairman of the company's board of directors. King retired as chairman of Universal Corporation, a company with operations in leaf tobacco, in August 2008. He had served as Universal Corporation's and Universal Leaf Tobacco Company's chairman and chief executive officer from 2003 to March 2008. King has been a member of the company's board of directors since 2003 and its independent lead director since June 2008.
King stated, "The board of directors is committed to accelerating the pace of the company's turnaround. Since he joined the board in June, Jim has been very effective in partnering with senior management and in helping identify opportunities to deliver increased value for our shareholders, customers, vendors and associates over the long term. We look forward to his continued contributions in this new important role." "A change in leadership at the chief executive officer level is always a difficult decision, and Circuit City appreciates Phil's efforts over the past four years," continued King. "It is important to note that Phil has made many significant contributions during his tenure, including expanding our multi- channel capabilities, enhancing our services offering and developing the firedog(SM) brand. We thank him for his leadership and we wish him well with his future endeavors." "Circuit City has a long history of being a leader in the consumer electronics industry," said Marcum. "We believe that by fine-tuning our focus and strategies we will be able to leverage this history and build a stronger future for the company. Since joining the team, I have been impressed by the passion and energy of our associates and their desire to return the brand and business to a place of strength and leadership. It is my mission to direct that energy towards improving our operations and strengthening our market position in order to accelerate our turnaround and deliver improved results for all of our key stakeholders." Update on Second Quarter Results The company also announced that it expects to deliver second quarter results that are slightly better than the previously provided range of a loss from continuing operations before income taxes of $170 million to $185 million, excluding any unusual/non-cash charges. As previously announced, the company will report results for the quarter ended August 31, 2008, on Monday, September 29, 2008.
About Circuit City Stores, Inc.
Circuit City Stores, Inc. (NYSE:CC) is a leading specialty retailer of consumer electronics and related services. At August 31, the domestic segment operated 705 Superstores and 9 outlet stores in 158 U.S. media markets. At August 31, the international segment operated through 772 retail stores and dealer outlets in Canada. Circuit City also operates Web sites at http://www.circuitcity.com/, http://www.thesource.ca/ and http://www.firedog.com/.
Forward-Looking Statements Statements made in this release, other than those concerning historical financial information, may be considered forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks and uncertainties, including without limitation: (1) the impact of pricing and promotional activities of the company's competitors and the company's response to those actions, (2) the pace of commoditization of consumer electronics, (3) the ability of vendors to fulfill merchandise orders and allocation commitments, (4) the impact of a significant change in the relationships with key vendors, (5) the company's ability to control and leverage expenses as a percentage of sales, (6) general economic conditions, including, without limitation, changes in interest rates, consumer sentiment and commodity pricing, (7) the company's ability to generate sales and margin growth through expanded service offerings, (8) the company's ability to continue to generate strong sales growth in key product categories and through its direct sales channel, (9) the impact of initiatives related to transforming retail processes and upgrading merchandising, point-of-sale and information systems on revenue and margin and the costs associated with these investments, (10) the availability of real estate that meets the company's criteria for new and relocating stores, (11) regulatory and litigation matters, (12) the availability of sources of liquidity to fund capital expenditures and working capital, (13) the company's strategic evaluation of the international segment, including the impact of changes in credit markets, (14) the company's ability to recover its deferred tax assets through future profitability and (15) the impact of any strategic alternatives that the company may pursue. Discussion of additional factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from management's projections, forecasts, estimates and expectations is set forth under Management's Discussion and Analysis of Results of Operations and Financial Condition in the Circuit City Stores, Inc. annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended February 29, 2008, the quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended May 31, 2008, and in the company's other SEC filings. A copy of the annual report is available on the company's investor information Web site at http://investor.circuitcity.com/.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010709/CCLOGO ) http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010709/CCLOGO http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Circuit City Stores, Inc.
CONTACT: Bill Cimino, Director of Corporate Communications, +1-804-418-8163, or Jessica Clarke, Investor Relations, +1-804-527-4038, or Jackie Foreman, Investor Relations, +1-804-527-4033, all of Circuit City Stores, Inc.
Web site: http://www.circuitcity.com/
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