Jan. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Circuit City Stores Inc.’s assets may be bought by companies that would sell off remaining merchandise and shut down the second-largest U.S. consumer-electronics chain, according to two people familiar with the planned bids.

Hilco Merchant Resources LLC, Great American Group LLC and Hudson Capital Partners are part of two separate groups of liquidators that planned to submit offers for the retailer, said the people, who declined to be identified because the auction process isn’t public.

Circuit City, which said last week that it was in talks with two potential acquirers, had planned to take bids from liquidators today. The retailer also sought buyers that wanted to continue operations through a related auction. Bill Cimino, a spokesman for Richmond, Virginia-based Circuit City, declined to comment.

The company filed for Chapter 11 protection on Nov. 10 after suppliers concerned about declining sales at more than 700 U.S. stores cut off credit and demanded cash up-front for shipments.

“They join a long and storied list of consumer electronics retailers that have ended up on the pile,” Colin McGranahan, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., said in an interview before the bid deadline.

Circuit City, the biggest electronics chain in the U.S. until the mid-1990s, lost market share to Best Buy Co. and Wal- Mart Stores Inc., while Amazon.com Inc. and other online retailers undercut it with lower prices. The company, founded in 1949 when Samuel Wurtzel opened Richmond’s first retail television store, lost more than $5 billion in stock-market value in two years.

More Bidders

Gordon Brothers Retail Partners LLC and Tiger Capital LLC also are among potential buyers that would liquidate Circuit City’s assets, the people said. Liquidators buy the assets of distressed companies, which can include unsold merchandise, store displays and shelving, computer systems and other technology. Circuit City leases most of its stores.

Representatives from the liquidators declined to comment or weren’t immediately available.

Ricardo Salinas Pliego, Mexico’s fourth-richest man, may also bid for Circuit City, a spokesman for the billionaire said last week. Salinas, the owner of Mexican electronics retailer Grupo Elektra SAB, has been reviewing the company since November to consider boosting his 28 percent stake in the chain, spokesman Nino de Rivera said. Another spokesman declined to comment today.

The case is In Re Circuit City Stores Inc., 08-35653, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Virginia (Richmond).

To contact the reporters on this story: Lauren Coleman-Lochner in New York at llochner@bloomberg.net; Mark Clothier in Atlanta at mclothier@bloomberg.net; Jonathan Keehner in New York at jkeehner@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 14, 2009 17:05 EST