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One door closes and another opens. Where will Circuit City customers take their business after the mega-chain's swan dive? To Best Buy, 55 percent of them told NPD Group researchers.

The NPD report, "Consumers React to an Evolving Technology Retail Landscape without Circuit City," also said Walmart would win 11 percent of former Circuit shoppers. The three top reasons cited were price, 40 percent; product selection, 29 percent; and store location, 22 percent.

And here comes your analyst quote from NPD's Stephen Baker: "The loss of Circuit City eliminates a shopping option for consumers, a selling option for manufacturers, and a merchandising option away from both. As we have seen in recent weeks, with announcements like Microsoft's decision to open retail stores, manufacturers will need to become savvier about how they go to market in the future as volume could potentially concentrate in the two largest retailers. However, consumers' criteria for replacing their Circuit City experience suggests that while the retailing strengths of Best Buy and Walmart may make it difficult to keep consumers from turning to those retailers, there are other retailers and channels that can compete with those two on the basis of price, selection, and location, or some combination thereof."