So Circuit City, the second largest electronics retailer in the U.S., announced today it will begin liquidating its assets after failing to reach an agreement with its creditors and lenders.

This means Dearborn will be left with another vacant big box store. And given the economy, it will likely be a long while before we see the site at Ford Road and Mercury Drive occupied again. Nationally, the move will put 30,000 people out of work. At one point during its free fall, Circuit City fired thousands of veteran salespeople and replaced them with lower-paid and less-experienced workers, believing that sales wouldn’t suffer as a result. They did big time and the damage to the company’s reputation, let alone its revenue, was never undone.

The upside out of all of this is that perhaps with the demise of Circuit City, people might take some time to drive over and support one of Dearborn’s own, Adray Appliance, 20219 Carlysle. In our book, it remains the best photo and electronics store around. The staff is courteous and knowledgeable and many in the photo and electronics departments have been there for more than 20 years. That to us says a lot. Adray has also given a lot to Dearborn, supporting many of the little league baseball teams I played on when I was a kid, along with many hockey teams.

Trouble is Adray is off the main path and many Dearborn folks either don’t know about them or would rather go to a big box national chain to buy their products, saving maybe a few bucks in the process, if anything at all.

We can all complain about the lack of retail in our city and the lack of quaint shops locally owned but if we residents don’t even support our home grown stores – and there are many beyond Adray we can list here – what do you think the outcome will be here long term?