Circuit City

Cause of death

Killed by cost

with killed by a successor as a contributing factor

It fired its most experienced sales staff to cut wages and lost the expertise customers came in for.

Circuit City's most-cited decision came in 2007, when it laid off around 3,400 of its highest-paid store employees and invited them to reapply at lower wages. In a business where people buying an expensive television want someone who can answer questions, this removed the reason to visit. It filed for bankruptcy the following year and liquidated in March 2009. The trademark has since been relaunched more than once, without the stores.