The Economic Crisis has finally taken its toll on corporate businesses across the United States. Many Fortune 500 Companies have been laying off thousands of workers, closing some store locations, and even shutting down the entire company. Among these stores are Circuit City and Linens n’ Things.
   As the second largest electronic retail store in the United States, Circuit City have been facing many financial hardships since last year when the company closed 150 stores across the United States. More recently, they have decided to close the remainder of Circuit City stores; 567 across the United States. With this drastic change across the United States comes 18.71 million square feet of vacant commercial space and over 40,000 workers will be out of work, according to the San Jose Mercury News.  
   With Circuit City nearing its end, its rival competitor, Best Buy Inc., is taking advantage of the situation. With twice as much store locations as Circuit City and a more vibrant store atmosphere, Best Buy has been winning over more customers, outperforming Circuit City by $40 billion. Analysts say that Best Buy will likely gain at least 30% of Circuit City’s profits. Another large company, which closed indefinitely in late 2008, is Linens ‘n Things. Linens ‘n Things was once the second largest home goods retailer in the United States, but in 2006, the retailer was bought by Apollo Management for $1.3 billion. Linens ‘n Things filed for bankruptcy in May of 2008 due to a major decline in customer expenditure. With almost 600 stores across North America, Linens ‘n Things were forced to liquidate, but could not find a buyer of the company. However, at a recent bankruptcy auction, two companies, Hilco Consumer Capital and Gordon Brothers Retail Partner, agreed to purchase the Linens ‘n Things brand, name, and logo for about $1 million.