Circuit City plans ‘affordable’ home theatre installs
April 17th, 2006Circuit City today announced plans to offer home theater installations at a price that won’t break the bank.
If they follow through on this, it’s good news for folks who need help switching to digital TV.
[CEO Phil] Schoonover said that offering “high quality installation at affordable prices” is especially important as consumers move to DTV in advance of the analog cutoff.
Schoonover jumped ship from Best Buy in 2004, and the increased emphasis on services is a page borrowed from Best Buy’s playbook.
Circuit City reported a 65 percent increase in quarterly profits last week:
Sales growth was led by a triple-digit comparable-store sales increase for advanced technology televisions, the company said.
Industrywide, LCD and plasma TV sales are up 159 percent this year, says The NPD Group. But from a consumer standpoint, the news is not all good:
“The end-consumer demand is really so strong you really don’t have to discount and promote the product as much as you might think,” said Scot Ciccarelli, analyst at RBC Capital Markets.