RICHMOND, Va. — A change at the top may not be enough to jump-start Circuit City, after the head of the nation’s No. 2 consumer-electronics retailer abruptly resigned amid plummeting stock prices and calls for his ouster.
Four months ago, chief executive Philip Schoonover asked shareholders for more time to turn around the company amid talks of a possible sale, despite some acknowledged missteps. This week, Circuit City’s board decided more needed to be done.
But the move did little to inspire investors or analysts, and the company’s shares dropped nearly 9 percent.
Circuit City, which has seen only one profitable quarter since the second quarter of 2007, “still faces a mountain of challenges,” JPMorgan analyst Chris Horvers told investors in a report following the change.
Schoonover stepped down Monday as chief executive, chairman and president of the Richmond, Va.- based company.
Board member James Marcum, appointed in June to defuse a fierce proxy battle, will stand in as the chain’s interim president and chief executive. Former tobacco executive Allen B. King will become the new chairman.
Marcum, 49, was one of three directors elected to Circuit City’s board as part of a deal to quell a proxy fight with Mark Wattles, whose investment firm holds a 6.5 percent stake in the company. Wattles, who bought Thornton-based Ultimate Electronics in 2005, had sent a letter to the company’s board in April, calling turnaround efforts under Schoon over “disastrous” and asking for his ouster.
