1.
City of Industry, California
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City of Industry, or simply referred to as Industry, is an industrial suburb of Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California. Home to over 2,500 businesses and 80,000 jobs, but only 219 residents according to the 2010 census and it was incorporated on June 18,1957 to prevent surrounding cities from annexing industrial land for tax revenue. Industry is located at 34°1′N 117°57′W, according to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 12.1 square miles. 11.8 square miles of it is land and 0.3 square miles of it is water, Industry is a suburb of Los Angeles 22 miles away from Downtown L. A. In the California State Legislature, Industry is in the 22nd Senate District, represented by Democrat Ed Hernandez, the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department operates the Industry Station in Industry. The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services operates the Pomona Health Center in Pomona, the citys zoning is primarily devoted to business, 92% is Industrial, 8% is Commercial. In addition, there are residents at the El Encanto Healthcare Center, the City of Industry has no business taxes and is primarily funded through retail sales tax from shopping centers located within the city limits, and property tax on parcels within the City. The city has the highest property tax rate in Los Angeles County, for convenience many Chinese entrepreneurs and staff live in nearby Rowland Heights, Hacienda Heights, West Covina, Diamond Bar and Walnut. Some of the companies headquarters in Industry are, Arconic Alta Dena AMI ClubWear CSC Enterprise Corp. Dacor Hot Topic Newegg. com iStarUSA Group Metro United Bank DUB Emtek Products Serec of California ITC-Diligence, the population density was 18.2 people per square mile. The population of Industry was 58. 9% White,0. 5% Black or African American, hispanics or Latinos of any race made up 52. 5% of the population. The Census reported that 214 people lived in households,5 lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, there were 3 unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 2 same-sex married couples or partnerships. 12 households were made up of individuals and 6 had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 3.1. There were 53 families, the family size was 3.6. The median age was 37.5 years, for every 100 females there were 108.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.5 males, there were 73 housing units at an average density of 6.1 per square mile, of which 22 were owner-occupied, and 47 were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0%, the vacancy rate was 6%. 66 people lived in owner-occupied housing units and 148 people lived in housing units
2.
San Gabriel Valley
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The San Gabriel Valley is one of the principal valleys of Southern California, lying generally to the east of the city of Los Angeles. At one time predominantly agricultural, the San Gabriel Valley is today almost entirely urbanized and is an part of the Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. It is one of the most ethnically diverse regions in the country, about 200 square miles in size, the valley includes thirty-one cities and five unincorporated communities. In 1886, Pasadena was the first independent incorporated city located in Los Angeles County. The San Gabriel Valley is in Los Angeles County, some of Whittier sits below the Puente Hills. Although these hills are small compared to the San Gabriel Mountains and this is similar to Montebello, which is a member of the Gateway Cities Council of Governments, despite geographically being part of the San Gabriel Valley. The 57 Freeway is generally considered the line between the Pomona and San Gabriel valleys. However, for statistical and economic development purposes, the County of Los Angeles generally includes these six cities as part of the San Gabriel Valley, the community of El Sereno, in the city of Los Angeles, is situated at the westernmost edge of the Valley. Unofficial estimates place the population of the San Gabriel Valley at around 2 million—roughly a fifth of the population of Los Angeles County. Before the arrival of the Spaniards, the land along the Rio Hondo River, the Tongva occupied much of the Los Angeles basin and the islands of Santa Catalina, San Nicolas, San Clemente and Santa Barbara. In 1542, when the Portuguese explorer João Rodrigues Cabrilho arrived off the shores of San Pedro, the Tongva were the people who rowed the remarkable Tiats out to meet Cabrilho. The language of the Tongva was different from the neighboring Indian tribes, the Tongva also provide the origin of many current names, Piwongna – Pomona, Pasakeg-na – Pasadena, Cucomog-na – Cucamonga. The Gabrielinos lived in structures with thatched exteriors. Both sexes wore long hair styles and tattooed their bodies, during warm weather the men wore little clothing, but the women would wear minimal skirts made of animal hides. During the cold weather they would wear animal skin capes, European diseases killed many of the Tongva and by 1870 the area had few remaining native inhabitants. Today, several bands of Tongva people live in the Los Angeles area, on July 30, the expedition crossed the San Gabriel River and continued north toward what is now the city of Los Angeles. To cross the river, the built an rough bridge, which gave the name La Puente to todays San Gabriel Valley city. A few years later, a mission was established near the river crossing, Mission San Gabriel Arcangel was founded by Franciscan Father Junipero Serra, first head of the Spanish missions in California, on September 8,1771
3.
Los Angeles County, California
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Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, is the most populous county in both the United States and the state of California, the countrys most populous state. Its population is larger than that of 42 individual U. S. states and it has 88 incorporated cities and many unincorporated areas and at 4,083 square miles, it is larger than the combined areas of the U. S. states of Delaware and Rhode Island. The county is home to more than one-quarter of California residents and is one of the most ethnically diverse counties in the U. S and its county seat, the City of Los Angeles, is also its most populous city at about four million. Los Angeles County is one of the counties of California. The county originally included parts of what are now Kern, San Bernardino, Riverside, as the population increased, sections were split off to organize San Bernardino County in 1853, Kern County in 1866, and Orange County in 1889. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 4,751 square miles, Los Angeles County borders 70 miles of coast on the Pacific Ocean and encompasses mountain ranges, valleys, forests, islands, lakes, rivers, and desert. The western extent of the Mojave Desert begins in the Antelope Valley, most of the population of Los Angeles County is located in the south and southwest, with major population centers in the Los Angeles Basin, San Fernando Valley and San Gabriel Valley. Other population centers are found in the Santa Clarita Valley, Pomona Valley, Crescenta Valley, the county is divided west-to-east by the San Gabriel Mountains, which are part of the Transverse Ranges of southern California, and are contained mostly within the Angeles National Forest. Los Angeles County includes San Clemente Island and Santa Catalina Island, non-Hispanic whites numbered 2,728,321, or 28% of the population. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race numbered 4,687,889, 36% of Los Angeles Countys population was of Mexican ancestry,3. 7% Salvadoran, and 2. 2% Guatemalan heritage. The largest Asian groups of the 1,346,865 Asians in Los Angeles County are 4. 0% Chinese,3. 3% Filipino,2. 2% Korean,1. 0% Japanese,0. 9% Vietnamese,0. 8% Indian, and 0. 3% Cambodian. The racial makeup of the county is 48. 7% White,11. 0% African American,0. 8% Native American,10. 0% Asian,0. 3% Pacific Islander,23. 5% from other races, and 4. 9% from two or more races. 44. 6% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race, the largest European-American ancestry groups are German, Irish, English and Italian. 45. 9% of the population reported speaking only English at home,37. 9% spoke Spanish,2. 22% Tagalog,2. 0% Chinese,1. 9% Korean,1. 87% Armenian,0. 5% Arabic, and 0. 2% Hindi. At the census of 2000, there were 9,519,338 people,3,133,774 households, the population density was 2,344 people per square mile. There were 3,270,909 housing units at a density of 806 per square mile. 25% of all households were made up of individuals and 7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.98 and the average family size was 3.61. In the county, the population was out with 28% under the age of 18, 10% from 18 to 24, 33% from 25 to 44, 19% from 45 to 64
4.
Back to the Future
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Back to the Future is a 1985 American science-fiction adventure comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox as teenager Marty McFly, who is sent back in time to 1955, where he meets his future parents in high school and accidentally becomes his mothers romantic interest. Christopher Lloyd portrays the eccentric scientist Dr. Emmett Doc Brown, Marty and Doc must also find a way to return Marty to 1985. Zemeckis and Gale wrote the script after Gale mused upon whether he would have befriended his father if they had attended school together, various film studios rejected the script until the financial success of Zemeckis Romancing the Stone. Zemeckis approached Steven Spielberg, who agreed to produce the project at Amblin Entertainment, the first choice for the role of Marty McFly was Michael J. Fox. However, he was filming his television series Family Ties. Consequently, Eric Stoltz was cast in the role, during filming, Stoltz and the filmmakers decided that the role was miscast, and Fox was again approached for the part. Now with more flexibility in his schedule and the blessing of his shows producers, Fox managed to out a timetable in which he could give enough time. Back to the Future was released on July 3,1985, grossing over $381 million worldwide, ronald Reagan even quoted the film in his 1986 State of the Union Address. Teenager Marty McFly is an aspiring musician dating girlfriend Jennifer Parker in Hill Valley and his father George is bullied by his supervisor, Biff Tannen, while his mother Lorraine is an overweight, depressed alcoholic. While dissatisfied with Martys relationship with Jennifer, Lorraine recalls how she met George when her father hit him with a car, on October 26,1985, Marty meets his scientist friend, Dr. Emmett Brown, at a shopping mall parking lot. Doc unveils a time machine built from a modified DeLorean and powered by plutonium stolen from Libyan terrorists, Doc demonstrates the navigation system with the example date of November 5,1955, the day he conceived the machine. A moment later, the Libyans arrive and shoot him, apparently killing him, Marty escapes in the DeLorean, but inadvertently activates the time machine, and arrives in 1955 without the required plutonium needed to return. There, Marty encounters the teenage George, who is bullied by classmate Biff, after Marty saves George from an oncoming car and is knocked unconscious, he awakens to find himself tended by an infatuated Lorraine. Marty leaves and tracks down Docs younger self to help him return to 1985, with no plutonium, Doc explains that the only power source capable of generating the necessary 1.21 gigawatts of electrical power for the time machine is a bolt of lightning. Marty shows Doc a flyer from the future that recounts a lightning strike at the courthouse the coming Saturday night. Marty realizes that he has prevented his parents from meeting and Doc warns Marty that he will be erased from existence if he not find a way to introduce George to Lorraine. Doc formulates a plan to harness the power of the lightning while Marty sets about introducing his parents, when Lorraine asks Marty to the upcoming school dance, Marty plans to have George rescue Lorraine from Martys inappropriate advances
5.
Michael J. Fox
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Michael Andrew Fox, OC, known as Michael J. Fox, is a Canadian-American actor, author, producer, and activist. Other notable roles have included Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy, Fox was diagnosed with Parkinsons disease in 1991, at age 29, and disclosed his condition to the public in 1998. Fox semi-retired from acting in 2000 as the symptoms of his disease worsened, since 2001, Fox has mainly worked as a voice-over actor in films such as Stuart Little and Disneys Atlantis, The Lost Empire. On the CBS TV show The Good Wife, he earned Emmy nominations for three years for his recurring role as crafty attorney Louis Canning. Fox has also taken recurring guest roles and cameo appearances in Boston Legal, Scrubs, Curb Your Enthusiasm and he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2010. He also was inducted into Canadas Walk of Fame in 2000, Michael Andrew Fox was born on June 9,1961, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, to Phyllis, an actress/payroll clerk, and William Fox, a police officer and Canadian Forces member. Foxs family lived in cities and towns across Canada because of his fathers career. The family finally moved to the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby, British Columbia and his father died on January 6,1990, from a heart attack. Fox attended Burnaby Central Secondary School, and now has a named for him in Burnaby South Secondary. Fox, at age 15, starred in the Canadian television series Leo and Me produced by the CBC, shortly after his marriage, he decided to move back to Vancouver. Fox was discovered by producer Ronald Shedlo and made his American television debut in the television film Letters from Frank, as he explained in his autobiography, Lucky Man, A Memoir and in interviews, he needed to come up with a different name. He did not like the sound of Michael A, Fox during a time when fox was coming to mean attractive and because his middle initial sounded too much like the Canadian eh. He also didnt like the sound of Andrew or Andy, so he decided to adopt a new middle initial and settled on J, Foxs first feature film roles were Midnight Madness and Class of 1984, credited in both as Michael Fox. Shortly afterward, he began playing Young Republican Alex P. Keaton in the show Family Ties which aired on NBC for seven seasons, in an interview with Jimmy Fallon in April 2014, Fox stated he negotiated the role at a payphone at Pioneer Chicken. He received the role only after Matthew Broderick was unavailable, Family Ties had been sold to the television network using the pitch Hip parents, square kids, with the parents originally intended to be the main characters. However, the reaction to Foxs performance led to his character becoming the focus of the show following the fourth episode. At its peak, the audience for Family Ties drew one-third of Americas households every week, Fox won three Emmy awards for Family Ties, in 1986,1987, and 1988. He also won a Golden Globe Award in 1989, Brandon Tartikoff, one of the shows producers, felt that Fox was too short in relation to the actors playing his parents, and tried to have him replaced
6.
Foot Locker
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Foot Locker Retail, Inc. is an American sportswear and footwear retailer, with its headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and operating in 28 countries worldwide. The company is famous for its employees uniforms at its flagship Foot Locker chain. According to the companys filings with the SEC, as of January 28,2017, Foot Locker, Inc. had 3,363 primarily mall-based stores in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. In 1963, the F. W. Woolworth Company purchased the Kinney Shoe Corporation, in the 1960s, Kinney branched into specialty shoe stores, including Stylco in 1967, Susie Casuals in 1968, and Foot Locker on September 12,1974. Woolworth also diversified its portfolio of specialty stores in the 1980s, including Afterthoughts, Northern Reflections, Rx Place, by 1989, the company was pursuing an aggressive strategy of multiple specialty store formats targeted at enclosed shopping malls. The idea was if a particular concept failed at a given mall. The company aimed for 10 stores in each of the major shopping malls. In 1988, the F. W. Woolworth Company incorporated a company called the Woolworth Corporation in the state of New York. The Woolworth Corporation was responsible for the operations of the Foot Locker stores, one of its first moves was the acquisition of Champs Sports and to rename itself the Woolworth Athletic Group. After 1997, Wal-Mart replaced Woolworth in the Dow Jones average, the Woolworth Corporation remained the parent company of Foot Locker, and in 1998 it changed its name to Venator Group, Inc. By the 1990s, Foot Locker was responsible for more than 70 percent of Kinney Shoe Corp. sales, Venator announced the shuttering of the remaining Kinney Shoe and Footquarters stores on September 16,1998. As the “Foot Locker” brand had become the Woolworth/Venator company’s top performing line, on November 2,2001 Venator changed its name to Foot Locker, on November 19,2004, Foot Locker announced that its quarterly profit rose 19 percent, helped by stronger sales. In 2004, Foot Locker acquired the Footaction USA brand and approximately 350 stores from Footstar for $350 million. On April 14,2004, Foot Locker Inc. announced that it agreed to buy about 350 Footaction stores from bankrupt Footstar Inc. for $160 million to expand in urban areas. On January 10,2005, the announced that Nick Grayston was promoted to President and Chief Executive Officer of its Foot Locker U. S. division. In 2011, Foot Locker joined DoSomething, in 2013, the company acquired the German retailer Runners Point Group. Foot Locker has steadily risen in Fortune 500 rank, from 446 in 2011, to 435 in 2012,413 in 2013, Foot Locker has recorded a record turnover of 7.151 billion dollars at the end of the fiscal year. Foot Locker formerly owned CCS, a retailer of shoes, clothing and equipment for skateboarding and snowboarding
7.
Macy's
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Macys, originally R. H. Macy & Co. is a department store owned by Macys, Inc. It is one of two owned by the company, with the other being Bloomingdales. Macys has conducted the annual Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City since 1924 and has sponsored the citys annual Fourth of July fireworks display since 1976, Macys Herald Square is one of the largest department stores in the world. The value of Herald Square has been estimated at around $3 billion, in 2015 Macys was the largest U. S. department store company by retail sales. Macys was the 15th-largest retailer in the United States for 2014 by revenue and they all failed, but he learned from his mistakes. On the companys first day of business on October 28,1858 sales totaled US$11.08, equal to $306.15 today. From the beginning, Macys logo has included a star, which comes from a tattoo that Macy got as a teenager when he worked on a Nantucket whaling ship and it also offered a money back guarantee, although it accepted only cash into the 1950s. The store also produced its own clothing for both men and women, assembled in an on-site factory. In 1875, Macy took on two partners, Robert M. Valentine, a nephew, and Abiel T, la Forge of Wisconsin, who was the husband of a cousin. Macy died in 1877 from inflammatory kidney disease, la Forge died the following year, and Valentine died in 1879. This latter 5-story building was purchased by Robert H. Macys ignored the tactic, and simply built around the building, in 1912, Isidor Straus died in the sinking of the Titanic at the age of 67 with his wife, Ida. The original Broadway store was designed by architects De Lemos & Cordes, was built in 1901–02 by the Fuller Company and has a Palladian facade, but has been updated in many details. There were further additions to the west in 1924 and 1928, and the Seventh Avenue building in 1931, all designed by architect Robert D. Kohn, the newer buildings were increasingly Art Deco in style. In 2012, Macys began the first full renovation of the iconic Herald Square flagship store at a reported cost of US$400,000,000, STUDIO V Architecture, a New York-based firm, was the overall Master Plan architect of the project. STUDIO Vs fresh design of the department store raised controversy over the nature of contemporary design, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark in 1978. The store has several wooden escalators still in operation, the problem of pre-existing buildings also presented itself when Macys built a store on Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst, in the New York City borough of Queens. This resulted in a unique round department store on 90 percent of the lot, Macys no longer fully occupies this building, which now contains the Queens Place Mall, with Macys Furniture Gallery as a tenant, instead it moved its full outlet to the nearby Queens Center. This relocation was the result of Macys merger with Federated Department Stores, the parent company of Abraham & Straus, in 1994, more distant acquisitions included Lasalle & Koch, Davison-Paxon-Stokes, L. Bamberger & Co
8.
J. C. Penney
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J. C. Penney Company, Inc. is a department store with 1,014 locations in 49 U. S. states and Puerto Rico. Most JCPenney stores are located in shopping malls. Before 1966, most of its stores were located in downtown areas, as shopping malls became more popular during the latter half of the 20th century, JCPenney followed the trend by relocating and developing stores to anchor the malls. In more recent years, the chain has continued to follow consumer traffic, echoing the retailing trend of opening some freestanding stores, certain stores are located in power centers. The company has been an Internet retailer since 1998 and it has streamlined its catalog and distribution while undergoing renovation improvements at store level. James Cash Penney was born in Hamilton, Missouri, after graduating from high school, Penney worked for a local retailer. He relocated to Colorado at the advice of a doctor, hoping that a better climate would improve his health, in 1898, Penney went to work for Thomas Callahan and Guy Johnson, who owned dry goods stores called Golden Rule stores in Colorado and Wyoming. In 1899, Callahan sent Penney to Evanston, Wyoming, to work with Johnson in another Golden Rule store, Callahan and Johnson asked Penney to join them in opening a new Golden Rule store. Using money from savings and a loan, Penney joined the partnership and moved with his wife and infant son to Kemmerer, Wyoming, Penney opened the store on April 14,1902. He participated in the creation of two stores, and purchased full interest in all three locations when Callahan and Johnson dissolved their partnership in 1907. In 1909, Penney moved his headquarters to Salt Lake City, Utah to be closer to banks. By 1912, Penney had 34 stores in the Rocky Mountain States, in 1913, all stores were consolidated under the J. C. Penney banner. The so-called mother store, in Kemmerer, opened as the second location in 1904. It still operates, as of 2011, albeit with shorter hours than other locations. In 1913, the company was incorporated under the new name, J. C. Penney Company, in 1914, the headquarters was moved to New York City to simplify buying, financing, and transportation of goods. By 1917, the company operated 175 stores in 22 states in the United States, J. C. Penney acquired The Crescent Corset Company in 1920, the companys first wholly owned subsidiary. In 1922, the companys oldest active private brand, Big Mac work clothes, was launched, the company opened its 500th store in 1924 in Hamilton, Missouri, James Cash Penneys hometown. By the opening of the 1, 000th store in 1928, in 1940, Sam Walton began working at a J. C. Penney in Des Moines, Iowa
9.
Projection screen
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A projection screen is an installation consisting of a surface and a support structure used for displaying a projected image for the view of an audience. Projection screens may be installed, as in a movie theater, painted on the wall. As in a room or other non-dedicated viewing space. Another popular type of portable screens are inflatable screens for movie screening. Flat or curved screens may be used depending on the used to project the image. Screens can be designed for front or back projection, the more common being front projection systems. In commercial movie theaters, the screen is a surface that may be either aluminized or a white surface with small glass beads. The screen also has hundreds of small, evenly spaced holes to allow air to and from the speakers and subwoofer, rigid wall-mounted screens maintain their geometry perfectly just like the big movie screens, which makes them suitable for applications that demand exact reproduction of image geometry. Such screens are used in home theaters, along with the pull-down screens. Pull-down screens are used in spaces where a permanently installed screen would require too much space. These commonly use painted fabric that is rolled in the case when not used. Fixed-frame screens provide the greatest level of tension on the screens surface. They are often used in theater and professional environments where the screen does not need to be recessed into the case. Electric screens can be mounted, ceiling mounted or ceiling recessed. These are often larger screens, though electric screens are available for theater use as well. Electric screens are similar to pull-down screens, but instead of the screen being pulled down manually, switchable projection screens can be switched between opaque and clear. In the opaque state, projected image on the screen can be viewed from both sides and it is very good for advertising on store windows. Mobile screens usually use either a pull-down screen on a free stand and these can be used when it is impossible or impractical to mount the screen to a wall or a ceiling
10.
AMC Theatres
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Founded in 1920, AMC has the largest share of the American theater market ahead of Regal Entertainment Group and Cinemark Theatres. The chain has 346 locations in North America, and 86 more locations in mainland China, the companys headquarters are located in Leawood, Kansas. AMC Theatres was founded in 1920 by the Dubinsky Brothers, who had been traveling the Midwest performing melodramas and they purchased the Regent Theatre on 12th Street between Walnut and Grand in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. The Dubinskys eventually changed their name to Durwood, and the company formed was called Durwood Theatres. In 1961, Edwards son Stanley took control of Durwood Theatres, then a small 10-theatre chain, Stanley had attended Harvard University and served as a navigator in the U. S. Air Force during World War II. He renamed Durwood Theatres as American Royal Cinema on October 1,1968, as he later explained to Variety magazine, We needed to define what our company was doing in the business. It was structured under the belief that every customer was a guest, under its new name, AMC opened the two-screen Parkway Twin theatre in a shopping center on Kansas Citys Ward Parkway in 1963. This marked the companys first foray into using the multiplex model, the industry quickly embraced the multiplex concept, where additional screens meant very little difference in staff and operating costs, but resulted in a significant increase in profits. The concept also provided more film choices at one location, drawing bigger crowds and it also gave owners the flexibility to show big hits on more screens, and less reliance on any individual film that could turn out as a bust. By the 1980s, the company was experiencing strong growth, AMC had built and was operating a number of ten-screen multiplex cinemas in the United Kingdom, including sites at locations such as Dudley and Tamworth. These were subsequently bought and taken over by UCI, in the later part of the decade, AMC MeyerPark in Houston, Texas opened with 14 screens, and became the largest theatre in the United States under one roof at the time. AMCs megaplexes were a success overseas as well, on December 20,1996, AMC opened the AMC Arrábida 20 in Portugal. At the time, AMC was publicly traded on AMEX under the code AEN, the company filed for a $450 million IPO in its third such filing since 2006 on 14 July 2010. Stanley Durwood died in 1999, and was succeeded by Peter Brown, gerardo I. Lopez succeeded Brown as CEO and president on March 2,2009. Previously, Lopez was the Executive Vice President of President Consumer Products Group, Seattles Best Coffee and Foodservice at Starbucks. Under new leadership, one of the first major announcements came in March of the same year, the company used to have its headquarters in downtown Kansas City. The state of Kansas had offered $47 million in incentives to get the 400 jobs to move, the company continues to officially be headquartered in Kansas City, although it has moved its headquarters to the Ten Main Center, where it now leases space. The disability rights group had accused the company of only providing closed captioning or audio description systems at some of its locations in the state, AMC was acquired by Dalian Wanda Group, a Chinese conglomerate headquartered in Dalian, in May 2012
11.
Circuit City Corporation
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Circuit City is an American multinational consumer electronics company. It was founded in 1949 by Samuel Wurtzel as the Wards Company, after multiple purchases and a successful run on the NYSE, it changed its name to Circuit City Stores Inc. In early 1949 Wurtzel was on vacation in Richmond, Virginia when, while at a barber shop. Imagining the opportunities, in late 1949, he moved his family to Richmond, later, Abraham L. Hecht joined him as a partner in the business. By 1959, Wards Company operated four television and home appliance stores in Richmond, the company continued to grow and acquired stores in other locations including Albany, New York, Mobile, Alabama, Washington, D. C. and Costa Mesa, California. During the 1970s and early 1980s, it also sold mail-order under the name Dixie Hi Fi, Wards experimented with several retail formats in Richmond, including smaller mall outlets branded Sight-n-Sound and Circuit City. Wards Company officially changed its name to Circuit City and became listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1984, One of the companys early slogans was Circuit City — Where the Streets are Paved with Bargains. The company, which had leased space from the Zodys department stores as well as other department stores, began acquiring retail stores. The first of these occurred in Knoxville, Tennessee, Charleston, South Carolina. In 1981, Circuit City entered the New York City market by acquiring the six remaining stores of the bankrupt Lafayette Radio chain, Wurtzel served as president of the company until 1970. He remained the chairman until 1984, when he stepped down, his son Alan served as chairman until 1994. Wards purchased a new building at 2040 Thalbro Street in Richmond, Virginia and in the extra space opened Wards Loading Dock. The large-format store was popular with customers. The company continued to expand with the new format modeled after Wards Loading Dock, Circuit City began to replace its smaller stores with the Superstore format and started a nationwide expansion. In 1988, the company constructing the new plug design Superstore stores. During this era, Circuit City became known for its exceptional service and its slogan, likewise, was Welcome to Circuit City, Where Service Is State of the Art. Later, Circuit City returned to New York City opening a 40,000 sq ft superstore in Union Square, also in 1998, Circuit City introduced the Pluggie mascot that was seen on television and in-store advertising. The mascot was a similar to the one seen on Circuit City television commercials plugging into store fronts
