Circuit City, Office Depot, Tweeter Under Scrutiny

It seems as if Mark Wattles, the boss of both Wattles Capital Management and Ultimate Electronics, will have some company in trying to change the management of Circuit City, according to a story in today’s Wall Street Journal. This comes on top of the news which broke on Friday that the S&P 500 has decided to drop Circuit City from its index and will replace it with Philip Morris starting Friday, March 28.

Circuit City is not the only one under the investor microscope. Office Depot management is being questioned by Levitt Corp.’s subsidiary Woodbridge Equity Fund. Woodbridge wants former Office Depot president/COO Mark Begelman on the board, along with ex-Staples president/COO of Staples Martin Hanaka, when the annual stockholders’ meeting takes place April 23.

And while Tweeter’s management said it is opening a new store in Chicago and a test of a new format in a Boston location, the buzz from irate former employees and industry types based on our “Feedback” from that announcement was quite negative, for what it’s worth.

While the Office Depot situation is somewhat of a surprise, the industry has been watching the Circuit City situation closely. And while Tweeter Opco management seems to have the confidence of Schultze Asset Management, which bought the chain last summer, the situation of that 95-store A/V chain is being watched closely by the industry.