RICHMOND, Va. – Circuit City Stores Inc. is working with advisers to determine how to substantially improve the nation's No. 2 consumer electronic retailer's operating and financial performance.

The move is part of the Richmond, Va.-based company's announcement last week that it has launched a comprehensive review in order to operate as a standalone business while it continues to explore strategic alternatives.

“The management team, working together with the board of directors, is committed to preserving vendor and shareholder equity value in the company,” Circuit City spokesman Bill Cimino said in an e-mail late Monday.

Cimino also said that in addition to its previously announced plans to suspend store openings beginning in fiscal 2010, some of the 16 to 26 openings planned for fiscal 2009 also are on hold.

Shares fell six cents, or about 10 percent, to 53 cents in early trading Tuesday – hovering above its 52-week low of 51 cents set Monday. The stock has fallen 95 percent since trading at its 52-week high of $9.65 last October.

Last week, Circuit City posted a wider second-quarter loss and withdrew its outlook for the full year as it looks toward a holiday shopping season which has even the least vulnerable retailers worried.

The company said it lost $239.2 million in the three months ended Aug. 31, compared with a loss of $62.8 million in the same quarter last year. Excluding $73 million of non-cash asset impairment charges, the loss came to $162.7 million – better than earlier forecasts for a loss from continuing operations between $170 million and $185 million.

Sales declined 10 percent to $2.39 billion from $2.64 billion, with consolidated same-store sales falling 13.3 percent.

Circuit City, which has seen only one profitable quarter since the second quarter of 2007, said it plans to focus on customer service and execution as it battles sluggish sales, poor traffic and heightened competition for customers already buffeted by the poor economy.

The comprehensive review comes as the company tapped James A. Marcum, vice chairman and the new acting president and chief executive, to oversee Circuit City's multiyear turnaround efforts. Marcum replaced Philip J. Schoonover, who agreed to step down on Sept. 22.

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