A Tale of Two Cities - Ralph Smith on Richmond

Ralph Smith was manager of the Advertising Service Department at the Richmond Times-Dispatch when he met Sam Wurtzel in 1949. He became a close family friend of Sam Wurtzel and his business partner A.L. Hecht. Ralph joined Wards TV in the mid-1950s and retired from Circuit City in 1982. He is 96 years old now. This clip captures his memories of first arriving in Richmond after relocating from Michigan.
"A Tale of Two Cities: The Circuit City Story" is a feature-length documentary coming in the fall of 2010. It is dedicated to the hundreds of thousands of associates who built Circuit City into a retail powerhouse, only to watch it spiral into bankruptcy and liquidation. The documentary tells a tale of two "Cities" -- one that went from good to great, and another that went from great to gone. Produced in high-definition video by WulfTeam Productions. Find out more by visiting http://www.circuitcitystory.com

Note: "Circuit City" and "circuitcity.com" are the registered trademarks of Systemax, Inc. Check out the revival of the brand at http://www.circuitcity.com.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Circuit City
• leadership
• CEO
• economy
• chairman
• entrepreneur
• leaders
• Richmond VA
• retail
• business
• job losses
• unemployment
• management
• who
• what
• when
• where
• why
• how
• good to great

[WulfTeam]

@cinderskid

I met Ralph just a few months before he passed away, but enjoyed every minute I spent with him. He had a terrific sense of humor, and was an invaluable contributor to the documentary.

[cinderskid]

Oh my goodness! I worked with Ralph back in the 70's with Ward's TV and we had a blast! I love this guy...and learned so much from him. I'll never forget him.