Circuit City Stores Inc. filed for bankruptcy amid rising competition from Best Buy Co., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and online electronics retailers.

The petition for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond, Virginia, listed $3.4 billion in assets and $2.32 in liabilities. The Richmond, Virginia-based company, founded in 1949 when Samuel Wurtzel opened Richmond's first retail television store, has lost more than $5 billion in stock market value in two years.

The chain, with 721 stores in the U.S., including Abilene, and about 770 in Canada, has said competition hurt sales, especially at its older locations in lower-income neighborhoods. Amazon.com Inc. and other Web-based retailers of computers, televisions and music also have lured customers away.

On Nov. 3, the company said it will close a fifth of its U.S. stores and renegotiate leases on some locations to conserve cash. The retailer closings will trim about 17 percent of its 43,000-strong workforce.

Circuit City tried to sell itself in May after Blockbuster Inc. made a preliminary offer that was later withdrawn. The retailer fired higher-paid workers and opened smaller stores to cut costs. Until this shift, the company's strategy had been to sell in locations as large as 44,000 square feet (4,090 square meters), which it calls ``superstores.'' (click here for more)