Circuit City Dec. sales down 8.9%

RICHMOND, Va. Circuit City Stores today reported a total sales decrease of 8.9% for the month of December.

Sales for the period ended Dec. 31, 2007 were $1.92 billion compared with $2.10 billion in the month ended Dec. 31, 2006. The company reported consolidated comparable-store sales decrease of 11.4% driven by a 12.2% decrease in domestic segment comparable-store sales.

"Our sales performance, while disappointing, was in line with our expectations. The company saw significantly improved performance over the last two weeks of the month, but the sales improvement was not enough to offset the weakness experienced at the beginning of the month," said Philip J. Schoonover, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Circuit City Stores, Inc. "Based on December trends, we are reaffirming our guidance of a modest loss before taxes for the fourth quarter."