and turning its first profit in FY2001. Circuit City sold a further 10% of its interest in CarMax in July 2001 for $140mm, with proceeds going to Circuit City. CarMax was spun off from Circuit City in a tax free distribution to shareholders in October 2002 to allow both companies to grow and be valued independently. The stock distribution provided Circuit City shareholders with KMX stock valued at over $1.2bn at the time of the spin off in 2002. Circuit City Express Circuit City Express was a chain of mall-based Circuit City stores with over 50 locations at its peak. The first locations opened in Baltimore, Maryland; Richmond, Virginia; and McLean, Virginia in 1989. The stores were originally known as Impulse, but were later renamed in 1993 to focus on the strength of the Circuit City brand. These stores focused on small electronic products for personal use or to be given as gifts. Cellular phones were a major focus of the business since all major carriers were sold until the exclusive agreement with Verizon Wireless in 2004. Circuit City Express stores offered Superstore prices and the Circuit City "Price Match Guarantee" in a mall environment. Most of the locations closed in the early 2000s as their original 10 year leases expired. Connect Connect was a store concept operated as a joint venture between Circuit City and Comcast. These small stores offered Comcast cable services, plus select electronics and Firedog tech support services from Circuit City. The first Connect store opened in Medford, Massachusetts in December 2006, followed by a second in nearby Burlington in May 2007. DIVX DIVX was developed by Circuit City and launched in 1997 as an alternative to DVD. DIVX discs cost $5 each, but could only be played for 48 hours on proprietary set-top players before a continuation fee was required to continue viewing. The player was connected to a phone line to check whether the disc was still valid. Opposition to the format and limited acceptance by the public led Circuit City to discontinue the format in 1999. Circuit City took a US$114 million loss to close its DIVX division. Firedog Firedog was launched in August 2006 to provide in-store, in-home, and online computer and home theatre technical support and installation services in competition with other retailers' consumer and business technical services offerings such as Best Buy's Geek Squad and Staples' EasyTech. The Firedog brand