I Visit An Abandoned Store In Calumet City, IL To Talk About The History of Circuit City!

I Visit An Abandoned Store In Calumet City, IL To Talk About The History of Circuit City, enjoy!
Sets, Streets and Eats: A travel and Retro-Archeology Vlog. Traveling thru cities in the USA, searching for artifacts from the 70s, 80's & 90's, listening to Animatronic bands, visiting movie sets and locations and enjoying great food along the way!
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371st Vlog

[@MarkfromKy]

I was a sales counselor for Circuit City from 1993-2003 selling audio and video it was a great job and I had a lot of fun. Customers were always excited to come in and see the new Big Screen TV's and Surround sound systems

[@jamesk9321]

I started at CC Express in 97 and then went to full size store from 99-01.

[@ILLzMattIc]

I used to frequent this Circuit City with my family pretty often as well as the Target that shared the same area which is also now closed. The Citcuit City that was across from Ford City Mall in Chicago is now a Foot Locker.

[@jackmeoff9116]

I also remember Fretters!! They closed in 1996!!

[@tammygouletschrader8785]

Welcome to Circuit City where service is state of the art.

[@savagescotttwines536]

I love seeing videos of people going to abandoned places.

[@doclouis4236]

I remember going to a local Circuit City near me to see the latest movies and games available. It's where I mostly bought PS1 and GBA games. Good times.

[@JoeFpoc]

Pretty cool to see. I grew up in cal city then moved to Lansing around 1990. I did start to notice a lot of stuff closing around Lansing too when i moved out there like 10 years ago. I know one of the reasons was everyone always went to Indiana for everything cause it was cheaper taxes.

[@j.m.7448]

Yes, I saw the LA Fitness is now closed. They had great rates.

[@JoeFpoc]

@@j.m.7448 was that the one that was on Torrence kinda by the highway. I remember when that used to be a Dominick’s before they took over , i went to Omni in Indiana way back when i actually went to a gym. Not sure if it was cheaper just where all my friends were going

[@j.m.7448]

@@JoeFpoc Yes. The parking lot is a giant Quick Trip gas station now. There was a vacant Kmart on the other side of the parking lot.

[@djarum00]

I bought my first portable CD player and Siamese Dream from that very Circuit City.

[@markepperson8482]

Im just over the state border, in Hammond, indaina, last 10 plus years most doors & stores and strip malls have closed in River Oaks, shame, even the fast food resturants are gone.. or almost gone, McDonalds still hanging there. lol

[@wesleybruner2169]

Love your shirt! Filmation was a great company that brought us 80s kids a lot of entertainment and memories!

[@jay-vd6rt]

Ya like he-man

[@Mr6384]

Great video. It brought up a memory of the one time I shopped at Circuit City. The year was 1992 and I had bought a 1982 Chevy Caprice. The stereo was dead, so a friend and I went to the CC in Plantation Florida near my home. As you said, a salesman greeted and took me to the car stereo section. He made suggestions (I was looking at a standard unit with a cassette player) and finally suggested one that seemed to be a good deal. I was a Pioneer unit if memory serves correctly. So I bought it, took it home, and installed it per the factory instructions. Well, the unit was dead. So, I took it back. Having owned a hardware store not far from them, I understood customer care…. They gave me none! First they refused to repair the unit. So I got the salesman involved to ask why. Well, he told me, it was discontinued 1&1/2 years earlier and therefore the warranty time was expired. So I asked for a refund. Nope. So I started to raise my voice and told them a manager must get involved. So this man comes over, tells me he’s (a/the) manager and that he’s sorry but nothing can be done. Really? So I simply asked if there was a pay phone near by, to which he said right out front. I told him I’d be right back in, after I was done telling my credit card company that I needed a reversal of the charges from Circuit City due to a product issue. (Back in those days, the card companies would help one dispute. I don't know about now) Anyway, he angrily refunded my money. We had a local place in south Florida called Sound Advice. I gave them all my electronic business until I left in 1999.

[@chefwolf77]

And I remember as a kid riding my bike to Circuit City buying a cd we were checking out the latest electronics it was a lot of fun.

[@bhenderson4390]

Maybe you can look into the demise of Aronson Furniture as well.

[@jdigitalseven7]

Disney backing Blu-ray and Blockbuster Video was huge for it winning vs HDDVD

[@FireTacoSpartan]

There is a mostly intact location on 28th Street in Grand rapids, it's now a Jakes fireworks store but they left almost everything the same, even the registers and display areas were still there last time I was there.

[@miket7330]

I really like this kind of video, it's very interesting! They are a lot of places like this that we don't know the existence. Thanks for this great video Chris!

[@SetsStreetsEats]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@aaronlubek2301]

Watch yourself by river oaks. Lol

[@djhaloeight]

100%

[@ccsd0601]

Facts. Some clown stole my rear license plate while I was shopping there.🤬

[@criticalsmoker]

Munster, highland and schererville have become a new Calumet City and Lansing

[@ccsd0601]

@@criticalsmoker not quite yet, but not far from it.

[@slackingpacking]

Rare to see these abandoned. I explored one a few months ago that has been closed since 2004 before the entire company went out.

[@zsomborgo4563]

I love this type of videos,this video was also very good.

[@noel_996]

I remember going in a circuit city once when I was a kid. It was so cool and I thought I dreamt it thinking I was going crazy looking up electronics stores like it.

[@justindaproducer]

Love your content! Watching from Chicago💪🏾

[@JayofallTrades]

The predecessor to best buy. I don't think i ever set foot in one before (mainly cuz we never could buy new items) but do remember the popularity. Loved hearing the history. My hometown bulldozed the lot and put a target in it place (same colors but not the same)

[@ErickWright]

I grew up five minutes from that circuit city. I had no idea Calumet city was worse than Flint, Michigan.

[@dJ.kNiGhT23]

I'm from Chicago i used to go there to buy video games movies cds and more I hope circuit city one day makes a comebackvAlso venture stores like sesrs and Kmart all those stores need to come back is a must.

[@nicholaskania9106]

You explore some pretty dicey areas. I remember I had a track meet here 4-5 years ago when I was in high school. I was watching my back when warming up 😂

[@SetsStreetsEats]

Yeah, it's definitely not a good area, although my upbringing probably prepared me for being at ease in places like this since I was raised in Flint, MI, lol

[@jay-vd6rt]

It was beautiful 40 years ago,now it’s looks like a scene out of nightmare on elm street. Thanks to the politicians!

[@seanjones21]

I worked at one about 30 mins west of here in the early 2000s. I'll never forget that place lol

[@MJ-me5nj]

Thanks for the video. I worked at Circuit City for 2 years about 24 years ago. I loved that job. ALTHOUGH, they had some very questionable commission practices; for instance if I sold something and a customer returned it, the commission would get pulled from my next check. Usually I could get some of it refunded if the customer purchased something different, but the customer services agents would often steal the commission on the return. We would get dot-matrix paper printouts every morning in our mailboxes that showed our sales transaction history, in and out. I had to keep a vigilant eye on those hundreds of pages or risk losing a lot of money. They had a secret code system on their price tags that told the sales staff how much they would make on a sale....so most of these sales people would just sell the highest commission item...(which usually was the most returned and junkiest product)...and they'd get frequent returns. I learned the good products and qualified my customers so I had to stop looking at that stupid printout as much. It was my 4th job and I don't regret it though. That was back when electronics were really new and fun.

[@D2503T]

Rockford is really the only one left in the area! The rest have all been converted to something but you can always still see the plug !

[@danabenjamin3300]

That one was my favorite circuit city....

[@spankyham9607]

Our small Circuit City never had this entrance. It had the red sign above the door and red around the door but it was a normal flat entrance like any other store.

[@matthewdropco]

I miss store competition. Also miss CompUSA and Radio Shack, Sun TV, HH Greg and more. I bought my Denon AVR-888 before they started closing stores I believe. I got an original AppleTV when the store was closing. Circuit city seemed to have a similar shopping style to US Merchandise and Service Merchandise. However, except for the jewelry counter, you were self-serve. You'd get a piece of paper from the front with shopping list lines on it, and you'd jot down the product you wanted from the display and take it to the back of the store and they'd enter it into the computer and ME or some other employee working back in the warehouse would get the printed list and start pulling the items from the stock room and sending it down the roller ramp thing. . Anyway, the last full-size Kmart is shutting down in the continental US in NY, yet another icon of shopping.

[@D2503T]

Also… it wasn’t gutted a few years ago. They did a gut. I wonder what’s going on with it. It was left untouched for a long rime

[@W4ZFN]

Hey Chris, just wanted to let you know the last full line kmart in Bridgehampton New York just announced it is closing in late October!

[@alexander2685]

I remember the hd drive for xbox and went crazy for when the war has over and they had those hd dvd for cheap prices i bought tons you took me back woohoo.

[@EthanCrossMedia]

Wow, it's been like that since the company closed all physical locations in 2009. I remember as a kid going to the Schaumburg, IL location (in the Chicago area) in the 2000s. The former location is now multiple businesses and it became a Michael's, First Watch (before that, it was a Sleepy's bed and mattress store), and Café Zupas. It is now an online store to this day today.

[@Segaheros]

I think my mom’s grandma still has one of the TVs from there!

[@Troy-jc2ko]

I haven’t seen an in-depth history of Circuit City so I appreciate this. Nice editing with the commercials and photos! You planning any CEC trips in the future?

[@ThatBoi64]

Can you visit the Walmart in Kapuskasing Ontario? Its the last 90's Walmart in the world.

[@ThundercatDarklion]

There is one here in Rockford Illinois that still have the original Circuit City look to it in an shopping center that is mostly dead except for an Haunted House Attraction that is open around and during Halloween in an old store that is in the same shopping center on the East side off of East State Street not too far from Rockford U. The outlot has two locally owned fast food style restaurants Uncle Nick's second location along with Tom & Jerry's. Uncle Nick's second location was an former Checker's. Also Awesome Filmation shirt!!!! I am an kid of the 1980s.

[@Type1DomoGuy]

If Best Buy isn't careful they maybe next

[@danielsottilejr6268]

Great video man! Should have 350k views 🙃

[@SetsStreetsEats]

I appreciate you saying that!

[@loganinnis3117]

You forgot one thing circuit city is coming back because another KZbinr says the company is coming back by as a small store like the ones you see in malls

[@tweef79th]

They had the best employee discount

[@michaelmcgoben4169]

Hey man, Sturgis MI has a joint called Hot N Now and it's the only one left in the world. Maybe that's something you'd be interested in.

[@SetsStreetsEats]

Yep, already visited there. The video will be out in a week!

[@southsidediy]

Used to go to this one all the time. Still have some original Xbox games that I bought there.

[@yournightmare9999]

My last purchase from circuit city was Sony Bravia XBR-Series KDL-40XBR5 40" 1080p in 2009 for PS3. Remember to purchase cheaper in circuit city than best buy price. But I remember there were two shops next to each other. Great TV still have it 👍.

[@91Nintendofan]

I remember pre-ordering super Smash Brothers brawl for the Wii and picking it up after church on Sunday at Circuit City. I still have that same copy after all these years.

[@spankyham9607]

I bought a real circuit city hat not long ago on ebay just because it is kinda cool now.

[@AngelCastle-fb7jf]

Interesting, a abandoned circuit city 🤔

[@matthewdropco]

My Mom's family was the first family on the street to have Color television. It was funny because my grandpa would stand up by the television while watching cooking shows and trying to see what they had in the pot they were stirring. lol I'm guessing it was before they did some of the multi-camera shots or even some shows that would have an angeled mirror above the chef so you could see them talking about also see from above at the same time.

[@gtmustang4me1111]

Great video

[@programmerm5907]

Thought it was Alex Jones in the thumbnail

[@masonbaggett]

That store for hi Halloween Spirit Halloween

[@angelinauy00]

Oh nostalgia, Simpler times.

[@QR_Code]

ha! i randomly came across this video.. i worked there in the 90s back when we wore blazers and were forced to sell extended warranties "ESP" on everything 🤣 i remember working the black fridays, i remember ~ 96 or 97 when dvds came out and circuit city bet the farm on the 48-hr 'disposable' dvd' technology called Divx and that was the initial downfall of the company. they partnered with RCA iirc and you had to buy like ~ $300-400 divx dvd player (that btw connected via phoneline in order to authorize the movie) and the disc were like $2.50 ea. vs when dvds were still like $20/$25 ea... i remember going to a sunday meeting once and they were trying to force(encourage) employees to buy the player for like $100 accomodation price so that we could see how awesome they were 😉so we would push it to customers. i never believed in it... anyways i do remember the sound rooms.. there was one with a big screen and a/v setup a bunch of speakers you could hit the button to test the specific pair of tower or bookshelf speakers, then they had another big screen enclave type room with a more home theater experience with a bose lifestyle or similar system, then there was a car stereo dept with a area to test diff amps w/ different speakers. yes, you mentioned cd's that was a good spot to buy cd's i have vivid memories of so many ppl buying music like "jagged little pill" to the days when master p was dropping cd's every week it was crazy. overall i had good memories but it was upper management and a lot of bad decisions that was the end of that company

[@amradio1968]

The fall happened fast. I’m from Chicago but I was doing some contract IT work for Circuit City at their corporate headquarters the day the liquidators came in. I remember riding the elevator and there was a media screen in the elevator and they were tearing it out while we road the elevator! As I sat at my desk they came by and tried to literally grab my laptop as I typed. I had to show my employer’s sticker and code on the bottom, and even then the guy was like if it’s not true they’d come after me. I promptly folded up my stuff and left. As I did, I noticed they were taking everything, every monitor, every phone, every lamp, keyboard, everything going into bins on rolling carts. People were crying, some were just in shock, some were laughing and just leaving. It was among the most odd moments I’ve ever had in my career. Back at the hotel I waited for my supervisor to let me know what I should do. I was stuck, just hanging around. Reporters and people started booking the rooms, and I promptly got sick with the flu for a week. The hotel manager I think genuinely felt bad for me and she comped my entire 5 extra days while I had the flu and always had water bottles and breakfasts to my room every day. a weird weird time.

[@SetsStreetsEats]

That's unreal, thanks for sharing!

[@jaspatjowls]

This Isn’t That Far From Me

[@Troy-jc2ko]

Same. 40 minutes here.

[@muppetsretrofan8873]

I don't remember Circuit City [granted I grew up in the 2000s/2010s and mostly remember Toys R Us, Walmart, Target, etc... maybe K-Mart once or twice], but this video still makes me sad. Mismanagement and failing to keep up with the times has destroyed so many businesses. On a different note, LOVE your Filmation shirt. My main exposure with Filmation was through The Archie Show on defunct station KTV.

[@SetsStreetsEats]

Yes, I loved filmatian cartoons growing up!

[@chefwolf77]

You should check out Winchell's Donuts I think you would really like it if you wanna stay in the South there is one still left in Oklahoma, but the rest are on the West Coast, Winchell's Donuts brings back memories for me of my dad and sitting down on a Saturday spending time together I would have an apple fritter or chocolate bar and chocolate milk and he would have an apple fritter and a coffee and that was our time together he owned his own business but he made sure that Saturday was our day we spent together he did not work on Saturday and he spent the whole day with me.

[@drivesecure2476]

Years ago I bought a V C R at that store they beat everyones price !!!

[@maxwellplushvideos2386]

There is an intact circuit city in Somerville Massachusetts

[@mrfixitishere]

I first saw a Nintendo console that played multiple games a circuit city.

[@mafia-r3u]

nice

[@MrBigangry]

I purchase an e machine from a circuit city....... as well as a dolbly digital sound system i brought home strapped to a 49cc yamaha zuma..

[@ramz1455]

I thought that was Alex Jones for a second via the thumbnail

[@WeSRT4]

The internet and the company's blunder with Divx killed them.

[@EncomHumanRecources]

Cal city is a whole suburb full of wanna-be’s 😂 fight me

[@kmartcarol48]

Sad to see the transition to mainly online shopping. I would rather shop in a store than online.

[@Wheelgauge-bt7ox]

Don’t forget Spatula City🤡

[@DarwinWJ74]

Columbia house CD’s

[@micro7vista]

I wish they didn't just up and die and maybe tried to save a few stores and start over with a new vision. Best Buy is only successful because there is no competition for them really right now. They win by default.

[@robertrydz337]

Then they opened carmax

[@CECseattle]

What CEC location in Washington should I go to next

[@Troy-jc2ko]

Spokane before they get 2.0.

[@bob9158]

they do online store still in 2024

[@SetsStreetsEats]

Yeah, an online company bought their brand after they went bankrupt. It's still use it today on the web.

[@justin8894]

DIVX killed Circuit City.

[@sillyolryan]

The name has been sold a few times, and a website lives on, so maybe one day someone will figure out a plan to bring them back.

[@UHaulShorts]

(Edit) No luv loss, gatt kicked outta 1 4 being discriminated against. Btw - wateva happened 2 _hhgregg?_

[@Type1DomoGuy]

If Best Buy isn't careful they maybe next