After some very brief reviews of Circuit City's financial condition a couple of years ago, I told people the company was going to claim bankruptcy as soon as the credit bubble caught up with its customers. A few weeks ago, a friend emailed me to tell me she was going to get a new laptop computer (the old one died), and so I emailed her some advice on various models to look at, etc., and she said "I'll get one tomorrow." I thought about it, and remembered she had bought her last laptop at Circuit City. I called her back and said, "Go to Best Buy, not Circuit City, no matter what!" She was taken aback, and asked, "Ok, and why?" I told her they were going bankrupt, and she would risk losing the money she paid for an extended warranty/service plan, etc. A week later she saw the story about Circuit City closing 155 stores. She said, "How did you know??" I said, "I research. I think. I assess." Circuit City has now filed for bankruptcy.

But oops, a couple of years ago I learned a crappy lesson. I bought an expensive, powerful laptop at Comp USA because it had the best price. I didn't focus too much on the who - just the what. I bought a gold-card, 3-year extended warranty, too. Thirteen months later it took a poop, so I took it to Comp USA to take advantage of my paid-up warranty. When I drove up into the parking lot, the store was an empty shell. It turns out there was one store left in Michigan - 2 hours away - but that was closing down as well. I was out $$$$$ and had to fix it at my own expense after paying for a warranty. I know these things are impossible to foreseeable accurately, but this one was predictable had I taken the time to do a quick sweep of the retailer beforehand. I'll never repeat such a glaring mistake. Anyways, just something to think about before buying any major items nowadays.