• The Wall Street Journal , Tuesday, August 12, 2008 10:31 AM

Years of being outmaneuvered by rivals have helped extinguish all but the faintest hopes of keeping Circuit City intact. Even as he sounds a more optimistic note, CEO Philip J. Schoonover is engaged in a review of options for Circuit City that include selling all or a part of the company, which operates 700 stores nationwide.

This year's sharp slowdown in consumer spending has capped years of missteps by Schoonover, who was brought in from rival Best Buy to rejuvenate the company, and instead has overseen a steep decline in the retailer's fortunes. After rebuffing three suitors in the last five years, the chain is finally in the mood to do a deal. But it is finding no takers.

In July, Schoonover asked investors to forget much of the company's recent history: turnarounds that didn't materialize, a revolving door of top executives and burgeoning losses. Instead, in a conference call he held out a vision of a company "on the right track with the right strategies, the right talent and improved processes."

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