Velocity Coming to Circuit City / Chesterfield Firm’s Computers Will Be Sold in 50 of the Chain’s 656 Stores Across the Country

By JEFFREY KELLEY

To find its latest supplier, Circuit City Stores Inc. didn’t have to look far.

The Henrico County-based consumer electronics retailer will announce today a partnership with Velocity Micro Inc. of Chesterfield County to sell pumped-up personal computers in Circuit City stores.

Circuit City will roll out Velocity desktop and laptop PCs in 50 of its 656 stores across the country, including at least one in the Richmond area. Specific stores are unknown. Products will hit shelves July 22.

Circuit City rival Best Buy has been selling Velocity Micro computers since mid-2005.

Retail has been a big push for Velocity, which previously sold its products only from its Web site or by phone. Velocity will continue to offer direct sales.

Velocity computers and those from its “boutique” PC-making rivals are usually more expensive than consumer brands.

Velocity’s systems are hand-built with sleek video cards, superfast speeds and are geared toward heavy users including enthusiasts, gamers and professionals such as video editors who require more power.

Boutique systems are “not people’s first computer purchase,” said Elliot Becker, vice president and general merchandise manager of technology at Circuit City. That is, it’s the difference between a Toyota Camry and a Ferrari.

Velocity desktops and laptops at Circuit City will start at $1,300, Becker said. Best Buy offers desktops from $1,400 to $3,500 at BestBuy.com or at 350 of the company’s 852 locations nationwide. It does not sell Velocity laptops.

Circuit City and Velocity have been in talks for about two years. The timing was right for a summer rollout, both say.

“For us, it was about managing our growth and making sure we weren’t biting off more than we can chew” after jumping in with Best Buy, said Randy Copeland, Velocity’s founder, president and chief executive.

Best Buy influenced Velocity’s need to relocate its headquarters from the area near Courthouse Road and Midlothian Turnpike. The company more than quadrupled its office and production space to 40,000 square feet in two buildings near the Chesterfield County Airport.

Circuit City’s Becker said demand for luxury PCs has been picking up. Consumers demand processing power for games, digital video and pictures and want systems that can fully exploit the capabilities of Vista, Microsoft’s PC operating system released this year.

Copeland said the move was also to defend the company from Dell and H-P, both of which have scooped up Velocity rivals. Dell bought Alienware; H-P bought VoodooPC. CircuitCity.com has an affiliate program with Alienware, though the systems are not available in stores. Users on the retailer’s Web site link to Alienware.com.

Joining with Best Buy and Circuit City is all the retail expansion Velocity foresees, and it plans to deepen its relationship with both. New products are in the works, such as a computer that hooks into a TV to manage video and pictures, said Velocity’s Kate Ashley. She became the firm’s first retail channel director in February.

Becker said the deal wasn’t contingent on the companies being within a few miles of one another. It helps, though. “It’s nice for us to work with a local company. Instead of doing things over the phone, we’re able to drive out there,” he said. “It makes planning a lot easier.”

Contact Jeffrey Kelley at (804) 649-6348 or jkelley@timesdispatch.com.

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