IBM Selected to Transform Merchandising and Supply Chain Systems for Circuit City Stores

ARMONK, NY - 25 Apr 2006: IBM will work with Circuit City Stores, Inc. to comprehensively transform the consumer electronics retailer’s merchandising and supply chain systems, under a new consulting and services contract IBM announced today.

The new merchandising system is designed to give Circuit City significant new merchandising capabilities, including more accurate planning and forecasting, enhanced assortment and space planning, more effective promotion planning and pricing and increased visibility and collaboration in its supply chain. The goal is a more streamlined, integrated and less complicated system that will better enable Circuit City’s focus on its customers and customer service.

The new systems will be based on IBM WebSphere® Product Center middleware, with IBM Global Services providing the planning, implementation and integration services. As part of the contract, IBM Global Services will integrate state-of-the-art packaged software applications composed primarily of Oracle Retail products. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“Circuit City is committed to providing its customers with the right products and services at the right price,” said Mike Jones, senior vice president and chief information officer for Circuit City. “With these new systems, we will have a much better understanding of what our customers want, as well as the ability to respond quickly and effectively.”

“Consumers have more information at their fingertips than ever before, and they are going to shop at the retail stores that understand their needs and then gives them the right combination of products and services,” said Robert Hafker, Global Retail Solutions Executive, IBM. “Visionary retailers like Circuit City are integrating the latest technologies and linking their supply chains, merchandising and store systems to anticipate and better serve their customers. When this happens, everybody wins.”

The new merchandising and supply chain systems will be phased in beginning this year. As part of the agreement, IBM will maintain the application development of Circuit City’s legacy merchandising and supply chain systems.

About IBM
IBM, the world’s largest information technology company, is the leader in providing the Retail Industry with a full range of e-business solutions, including: point-of-sale systems, automated self-checkout systems, other hardware and software technology, consulting focused on business transformation, IT strategy and planning, store operations improvement, and supply chain optimization, and with services, such as outsourcing, managed operations, systems integration, and application development and design. IBM has a list of retail customers in 100 countries worldwide that reads like a “Who’s Who” of retailing. For more information on IBM Retail Solutions, please visit http://www.ibm.com/industries/retail

About Circuit City Stores, Inc.
Circuit City Stores, Inc. (NYSE: CC) is a leading specialty retailer of consumer electronics. The domestic segment operates through 627 Superstores and seven other locations in 158 U.S. markets. The international segment operates through more than 950 retail stores and dealer outlets in Canada. Circuit City also operates Web sites at http://www.circuitcity.com and at http://www.thesourcecc.ca.

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Michael Rowinski

IBM Media Relations

IBM

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