The Motley Fool Take

Finally, someone admits to doing something wrong. Circuit City (Nasdaq: CC) CEO Philip Schoonover came right out and said he's disappointed in the weak third quarter his company delivered, and that the issues behind it all "are primarily self-induced and are within our control to improve."

Circuit City is trying to remake itself, remodeling its stores and cleaning out a crusty old corporate structure. Its new plan is to slow things down a bit and to "focus on execution" as it selects its most promising new store formats.

The company is playing catch-up behind the leading electronics specialist store, Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), and is also behind mass retailers. These days, Best Buy is some 26 times bigger than Circuit City by market cap, though only about three times the size in terms of sales or assets. Over the past year, Circuit City's stock has lost about 75 percent of its value. It recently traded in penny-stock land, at less than $5 a share.

In other words, this stock could be a sweet, sweet Cinderella story if Schoonover's gang pulls off a decent turnaround. The trouble is that the improvement is far from guaranteed. So thanks for owning up to your faults, gentlemen.

Now, fix them!