Retail Roundup: Future of Circuit City's Web Site Unclear, J.C. Penney Comments on Its Health, More

CircuitCity.com to remain shuttered? — Although the brick-and-mortar locations operated by Circuit City Stores Inc. are papered with signs advertising the chain’s liquidation sales, the same can’t be said for the company’s Web site. After announcing that Circuit City is going out of business, operators took down CircuitCity.com, the Web’s 16th biggest retailer, replacing it with a generic Web page answering common questions about the liquidation process. Although the company received permission from a judge to close its remaining 567 U.S. stores, the fate of the site is unclear: CircuitCity.com may live on as a brand after the company liquidates. [Source: internetretailer]

J.C. Penney comments on health of company, share prices slide — Aiming to mitigate “unfounded concerns” about its revolving credit facility, J. C. Penney Company Inc. released a press release Tuesday stating the company expects to have more than $2 billion of cash on its balance sheet at the end of fiscal 2008, the period that ends Jan. 31. The retailer paid a $200 debt maturity from its cash balances in August and has no debt maturities during 2009; the next debt maturity is about $500 million in March 2010. CNN Money called J.C Penney’s press release “a rare move demonstrating the pressure retailers are under to allay misperceptions or try and talk a good game as they struggle amid the worst retail spending downturn in generations.” Yet, the company’s efforts at damage control may have the reverse effect: Since issuing its public statement, the slide in the retailer’s share price has accelerated. [Source: J.C. Penney Press Release and CNN Money]

German retailer slashing 15,000 jobs — Metro AG, an international retailer based in Duesseldorf, Germany, announced plans Tuesday to cut 15,000 jobs from its global workforce as the economic landscape darkens. The massive reduction is part of a cost-savings plan called “Shape 2012.” Metro said the intended potential for profit improvements until 2012 will amount to $1.95 billion. [Source: AssociatedPress]

Zale’s CFO resigns — Rodney Carter, CFO of Zale Corp., resigned from his post at the helm of the jewelery retailer’s finance department this week after more than two years on the job. Cindy Gordon, 46, will succeed the 51-year-old while Zale’s conducts internal and external searches for a replacement. The jewelry chain wanted a chief financial officer with a different skill set to steer it through the rough economy, according to The Wall Street Journal. The company’s holiday sales fell 20 percent from a year ago, but the retailer said sales have picked-up in January. [Source: The Wall Street Journal]