Monday, Circuit City Stores Incorporated announced it was closing down 155 of their stores in the United States, which translates as about 20 percent of the total number of stores they have throughout the nation. The decision is aimed at rendering the consumer electronics retailer’s sales to turn profit, since the economic crisis the U.S. are currently facing has greatly affected consumer spending, which has been on a downfall lately.

Pulling the plug on the stores also entails that the work force will be cut down by 17 percent, along with the company reducing new store openings and trying to clinch some deals with landlords, in order to negotiate for lower rent or otherwise terminate the leases.

Circuit City has informed that the 155 stores to be closed (out of 700 from 55 U.S. markets) would be shutting down business by December 31, being scheduled to begin closing sales this Wednesday, November 5.

The targeted stores have brought in revenue of approximately $1.4 billion in net sales during the 2008 fiscal year. The latter has not been a profitable one for Circuit City, since this September, sales from stores that had been open at least a year registered a decrease by 13 percent. Furthermore, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has revealed that the company’s shares had had a closing price below $1 over 30 consecutive days, which prompted the NYSE to issue a warning to Circuit City, informing them that the stock price did no longer comply with continued listing terms.