Price is not right for many shoppers at Circuit City closeout sale

Many irate Circuit City shoppers discovered the hard way this weekend that going-out-of-business sales don't always mean bargain-basement prices.

Tensions have been running high at many of the chain's 567 U.S. stores after the electronics retailer announced Friday that it was ceasing operations and would begin liquidation sales the next day.

The news that all merchandise would be discounted 10% to 30% drew throngs of customers to stores across the nation over the three-day weekend. But many shoppers left angry and empty-handed.

"What happened to 30%? Lies!" shouted customer Gabriel Ifrah, 52, at the Circuit City on La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles on Monday, where most items were priced at 10% off.

Another customer, Bob McGinness, 48, said he had come to the store three times since Friday but hadn't found any good deals.

"I've been waiting in line for half an hour each day based on employees' promises that prices could come down, but they haven't," said McGinness, a TV commercial producer from Los Angeles. "It's very disappointing."

It is too early to know when prices will fall to jaw-dropping levels at the nation's second-largest consumer electronics chain. Liquidators said discounts would increase each week as inventory levels shrank and some could reach as much as 90% in the final days.

Closeout sales are commonplace in today's weak economy, but liquidation pricing and procedures often leave customers feeling frustrated. Several Times readers wrote in e-mails and blog comments that they were being "scammed."

Some of the confusion stemmed from Circuit City's abrupt collapse, which left liquidators scrambling to begin sales the next day. The Circuit City closeout is one of the biggest retail liquidations ever to take place in the U.S., experts said, with more than $1 billion worth of inventory to move by the end of March.

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