Last week Circuit City, the second-biggest electronics retailer in the US, decided to close down 25% of its stores, some 155 shops, by December 31 – in part because suppliers wanted to be paid upfront.

When its suppliers heard the news it spooked them into demanding even more money upfront – or else no deliveries for the holidays.

With consumer spending dying, the liquidity crisis at the bank and quarters worth of losses on the books, Circuit City didn’t have the money – or a sales staff that knows much of anything – so it sought refuge in Chapter 11 Monday.

It’s got a special $1.1 billion debtor-in-possession line of credit to keep the doors open while it tries to sort itself out. Such a thing is practically miraculous these days.

Its biggest creditors are HP ($119 million), Samsung ($116 million), Sony ($60 million), Zenith ($41 million) and Toshiba ($18 million) but it owes a lot more.

It’s laying off about 17% of its domestic work force, roughly 7,300 people.

An AP story said Chapter 11 could help get the company out of leases for some bad store locations, which has been a chronic problem for the company.