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Attention, shoppers. Circuit City may close 150 stores as an alternative to bankruptcy. The reason this grim news may be of interest is that when stores close, inventory gets liquidated--and that could mean sweet deals for consumers down the road.

Whether that will happen in time for the holiday shopping season is dubious. Circuit is trying to avoid filing for bankruptcy amid the holiday season, fearing that would spur fears over its warranties. But according to The Wall Street Journal, the company has lined up both a bankruptcy counsel (a law firm that specializes in bankruptcies) and an investment bank (to develop a turnaround plan). And it is seeking debtor-in-possession financing which would allow it to pay operating expenses during bankruptcy.

Unfortunately lenders, in the current climate, are proving hard to find. So Circuit is considering other options, and store closings are one of them. Selling off $350 million in inventory would bring in needed cash to pay off leases on abandoned sites, according to the Journal. The company is carrying leases for 80 abandoned sites on its books (in case you wondered why it isn't doing well). It would also try to renegotiate other now-overpriced leases unwisely signed during the real estate boom-turned-bust.

No one wants to see thousands of people lose their jobs. And this coming holiday season will suffer no shortage of good buys. But if you can wait till after the New Year, the ailing Circuit City may offer even better ones.

Update: On Nov. 3 Circuit announced it would close 155 stores, 20 percent of its outlets.