Can Another Electronics Store Fill Circuit City's Vacancy?

Watching Circuit City in its final days before closing is painful for most people in Highlands County. Landing that major electronics store was a big deal and added a new level of shopping in this area. All we can hope for now is that another similar business takes its place.

When Circuit City opened in Shelby Crossing not so long ago, along with Michaels, Bed, Bath and Beyond and all the other retail stores, people here were excited that so many new and expanded offerings would save them a trip to Lakeland and beyond for similar goods. Many of us have held our breath as the economy slumped and retail stores started closing across the country. We didn't want it to happen here - especially to the new stores that opened.

Circuit City hit rough times and the entire company is closing. That's terrible news for the people who work there and the consumers who enjoyed having such a large selection of electronics close to home.

We hope the landlords of Shelby Crossing are working hard to fill Circuit City's anchor position with another big electronic retailers. Best Buy anyone?

Most folks would love for a local retailer already in the electronics business to step up and take that position. There's little doubt that Circuit City made it tougher on them to compete, although locally owned businesses offer something the big chains can't: hometown customer service. It would, no doubt, be tough for a local business owner to pull it off, due to higher overhead, but we wish it could happen.

Let's hope that something comes along to fill Circuit City's space, and that all the existing businesses can hang in there long enough for the economy to turn around. We want all local businesses to succeed. It's always good when consumer dollars stay locally and filter through our communities.

Getting through these difficult economic times, however, will be a challenge for everyone.