Best Buy is getting slammed

cr136124

Syndil, I fully agree with you. They need to adapt rather quickly to avoid the same fate of Circuit City. I am just sad for the employees impacted by this.

Big Dawg

Years ago I used to really enjoy walking through a Best Buy. Like a kid in a candy store - Oh, I want that. And that. And some of those too. Everywhere I'd turn, there would be something cool to buy - lots of great music, cool computer gear, etc.

For the last several years, except when I needed a last minute gift, I never go there. Like so many others, I do most of my shopping online. Now when I visit BB, I've already seen everything and read the reviews, the music selection is nearly non-existent, and after 15-20 minutes I walk out wondering why I wasted my time.

As far as Magnolia, it is so far removed from the Audio stores of old that it just depresses me.

Polkie2009

I'm still mad at Samsung for not standing behind their product(tvs) when so many were defective the last couple of years.

WagnerRC

Anyone remember incredible universe stores? Damn talk about a sideshow. wow

gudnoyez

I wouldnt miss the store that much, however I would miss the recently found $4.99 cd section they have A-Z at the store here in town. I buy a lot of cd's off of best buys web site. They have a good selection, I've found some stuff I thought they would never stock.

gdb

rdb2001 wrote: »

Yeah I learned this the other day when looking at the samsung 2012 models in my local bestbuy. The tags on the samsung tv's at the bottom says that this is a umrp item. This is nothing new though. Apple is the same way.[/QU

Don't buy Samsung. (crap)
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sugexp=frgbld&gs_nf=1&cp=11&gs_id=w&xhr=t&q=samsung+sucks&pf=p&safe=off&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&rlz=1R2ADRA_enUS465&oq=samsung+suc&aq=&aqi=&aql=&gs_l=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=a356af58ae652a18&biw=1600&bih=662

Dennis Gardner

Closing 50 stores of the 1450 domestic or 2900 worldwide is hardly huge news. It less than 2% of their stores. I do believe that they will have a hard time lasting throughout this decade, but the reason for this quarter's loss is mostly a 4th quarter strategy taking write offs.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/earnings/story/2012-03-29/best-buy/53852802/1

obieone

I found a $100 difference between the Harmony 900 remote on their website, and in their store:eek::frown:.
They don't carry PC games anymore, and their prices on BD's is a joke- like $10+ difference compared to Amazon.
What really sux is, I have a bunch of GC's for BB, and I can't find anything I want. I may end up getting the Beatles Stereo box set from them, who knows.

gdb

Say what you will about Best Buy, They are far and away a much better staffed and stocked store than HH Gregg will EVER be. I wanted to shower immediatey after going into HH Gregg, ick.

exalted512

Polkie2009 wrote: »

I'm still mad at Samsung for not standing behind their product(tvs) when so many were defective the last couple of years.

My Samsung 58" 8000 series plasma had the HDMI inputs go out less than 2 months out of their 1 year warranty. It took some 'coercion', but they eventually replaced it under warranty. They sent someone to my house on a Saturday that I was home and got it done.
-Cody

schwarcw

I buy as much as I can at Sam's Club or Walmart. No haggling, I pick it up, drive it home. If it ever breaks, their customer service for replacement is great. Never a hassel, especially if you get an extended warranty on electronics. Try returning a 65" TV that you bought online, threw away the boxes and they tell you sorry!!

markmarc

The problem is that Best Buy over saturated way too many markets. For example, here on the west side of Portland there are three stores within 15 minutes of my house, and a fourth one is just 25 minutes away. By doing this BB is only cannibalizing their own sales, and actually driving down their profit margins. They should be closing 300 stores if they expect to have a chance at surviving. Instead they will do the bare minimum and end up in bankruptcy twice with the second time being Chapter 7 liquidation all in 5-7 years.

markmarc

A Forbes article from a few months back about Best Buy's downward spiral.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrydownes/2012/01/02/why-best-buy-is-going-out-of-business-gradually/

cnh

cr136124 wrote: »

Syndil, I fully agree with you. They need to adapt rather quickly to avoid the same fate of Circuit City. I am just sad for the employees impacted by this.

The irony here is that the Circuit City name and customer list was bought by someone else and still exists as a internet only entity that may or may not be helping to bring Best Buy down, now?

cnh

Dennis Gardner

It is hard to believe that a single company that has 1/3 of our whole country's electronics sales is in trouble. Name any other company that has that market share that is dying, or can't find a way to stop the bleeding.

VR3

haha, ok

Guitar Center..

LOL!

VR3

http://www.onlinedigeditions.com/article/Guitar+Center+Works+To+Delay+Debt+Repayments/709973/0/article.html

nooshinjohn

I could turn them around in a heartbeat, but the problem with the biggest cat in the jungle is that they get complacent, lazy and then die when there is nothing left to prey on.

The first move would be to slash the numbers of stores by 30% instead of just two. Any store within 30 miles of another would automatically result in closure of the weakest store. All associates would be tested on their product and customer service knowlege and again, the weakest would be shown the door. Next would be to roll out Magnolia to all stores instead of a selected few. Ended would be the autosound departments, the Geeksquad, and the vacuum cleaner and toaster departments.

New store layouts that make logical sense would be deployed, and a revamped home install department would pick up where the Geeks left off. This would be staffed by the best professional outsourced home automation/design teams in a local area, and where none exists, those services would be handled by the nearest available.

Associates would be paid for performance based on customer satisfaction and the value of the transaction to the company. Internet sales would be run by and administered by the local stores, and any sales from online credited to those stores rather than having online compete with retail.
Warehouses would all be closed, with all merchandise pushed to the stores, or direct shipped from one central location or by the vendors themselves.

Customers would be greeted with a much larger selection of products and personalized service, and followup with a random sampling of customers, regardless of transaction value would be mandatory.

From the surface looking in, this is where I would begin. I do know that is how they began back in Minnesota when they were called Sound of Music and had some 23 stores. They cared for and about their customers. It would not hurt them in the least to remember and value those roots. Sometimes moving forward means looking back.

pearsall001

heiney9 wrote: »

Sears has had some incredible deals if you shop them right and I use the Sears card and usually get 12mos 0% interest or better. Free money. The Washer and Dryer I just bought a couple weeks ago were Kenmore brand with 28% off, plus 18 mos no interest and if I bought the pair I got another 10% off. Geez, how could I go wrong. Delivery and haul away was extra $60. Home Depot was offering a decent sale price plus 12 mos no interest with free delivery but the price for a similar package was $55 more. I decided to go with Sears.

But I usually buy household items from either Sears or Home Depot so I can see that trend.

H9

+1 they sure do!!!!

Sears definitely has some super deals...I was shopping for quite some time for my new TV (B&M & online) but Sears had them all beat by a mile. I snagged my Panasonic 65" 3D Plasma for a whopping $1199.00, brand new in the box. I ran out of the store in a hurry just in case they might have made a mistake. I'm still smiling!!!

Syndil

obieone wrote: »

What really sux is, I have a bunch of GC's for BB, and I can't find anything I want. I may end up getting the Beatles Stereo box set from them, who knows.

I used my last BB GC to purchase ink for my printer.

Syndil

nooshinjohn wrote: »

I could turn them around in a heartbeat, but the problem with the biggest cat in the jungle is that they get complacent, lazy and then die when there is nothing left to prey on.

The first move would be to slash the numbers of stores by 30% instead of just two. Any store within 30 miles of another would automatically result in closure of the weakest store. All associates would be tested on their product and customer service knowlege and again, the weakest would be shown the door. Next would be to roll out Magnolia to all stores instead of a selected few. Ended would be the autosound departments, the Geeksquad, and the vacuum cleaner and toaster departments.

You would drive them into the ground. Many markets where Best Buys exist would not support a Magnolia division, and GeekSquad is pretty much the only thing keeping them afloat right now!

civilian

nooshinjohn wrote: »

Best buy will be gone soon enough, but don't worry audiophiles, Walmart will be there to pick up the slack.

LOL I was at AIX Records a couple of weeks ago and the owner teaches Audio Engineering classes and always asks his students who downloads music for free. The vast majority do and he is amazed they are putting themselves out of business.

brgman wrote: »

Now where will i get my Magnolia high end system i've been saving for???

Just go to China:
"The company said it plans to open the same number of stores in China during the same time period."

nooshinjohn

Syndil wrote: »

You would drive them into the ground. Many markets where Best Buys exist would not support a Magnolia division, and GeekSquad is pretty much the only thing keeping them afloat right now!

Magnolia is nothing more than a department within the store for the most part, and if a community was not big enough to support a Magnolia, chances are they cannot support a Best Buy store either. With regards to Geek Squad, The branding would be gone but the skills(what little they have) would be passed on to the computer department. The HT side of things would be farmed out to the best available private firms.

If the only thing keeping Best Buy alive is the Geeks, then they deserve to fail and nothing I suggested would change that. As it stands, the only hope they have is that they be deemed "too big to fail" and they become Federal Electronics.

Syndil

Like I said, it's not Best Buy's fault. Brick and mortar electronics chains in general are being driven out of business by Amazon, Newegg and other online retailers. Geek Squad is really the only thing they have that is truly profitable. That's not saying anything about the level of knowledge their techs have, it's just a better business model right now than a brick-and-mortar electronics store. Geek Squad is a brand people recognize and use, and that has value. To just discard that brand's value and roll Geek Squad into their computer department would hurt them immensely. Services are the way to make money in this economy, not retail, unless you are Amazon or Newegg.

Just wait, Fry's will be next to start reporting doom and gloom.

tonyb

Their return policy has kept me from buying any big ticket item in their stores. Plus the lack of knowlege of the staff in the Magnolia section is stunning.

Instead of giving me reasons to not shop there, how about they get their marketing dudes to give me a reason TO shop there.

BeefJerky

gdb wrote: »

rdb2001 wrote: »

Yeah I learned this the other day when looking at the samsung 2012 models in my local bestbuy. The tags on the samsung tv's at the bottom says that this is a umrp item. This is nothing new though. Apple is the same way.

Don't buy Samsung. (crap)
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sugexp=frgbld&gs_nf=1&cp=11&gs_id=w&xhr=t&q=samsung+sucks&pf=p&safe=off&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&rlz=1R2ADRA_enUS465&oq=samsung+suc&aq=&aqi=&aql=&gs_l=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=a356af58ae652a18&biw=1600&bih=662

Well, maybe I'm in the minority, but I've had good experiences with Samsung.

a) I have a 52" LCD that still functions flawlessly after 2.5 years; plus the picture is great once calibrated.
b) I have a Samsung Droid Charge as my cell phone, and am very happy with it. They really did a good job with this phone, especially the Gingerbread update. In addition, the OLED screen is amazing. Since no one else seems to be using those screens, I don't see myself switching to another brand cell phone; even the best LCD screen pales after using one of these.
c) My mom currently has a basic Samsung flip phone that works well. Prior to that, she had another (more) basic Samsung flip phone that worked fine until it just plain wore out.

WagnerRC wrote: »

Anyone remember incredible universe stores? Damn talk about a sideshow. wow

Yup, I remember those! We had one here in Houston when I was still a wee lad.

pitdogg2

When BB first opened in our area it had a great room to listen to speakers. It was walled off from the rest of the store and had a top of the line Onkyo power amp with their them TOTL pre-amp. This area made for a great low noise environment to listen...Fast forward 15yrs now all their stuff is in the open on terrible noisy metal racks. Driven by terrible bottom of the line electronics in a very noisy environment with salespeople that KNOW NOTHING but think EVERYTHING they carry is the BEST of the BEST who talk down to you at every point in the conversation. They now carry hardly any name brand items, unless you consider Rocketfish,insignia and Dynex name brands. yes they do carry Polk but it is the lowest of the line with the highest price. I did once shop there but now every time i go to find something they're out of stock and I can buy it at a number of other stores in the area that will match the price. I got a much better price and a better TV from Sears when I bought my Panasonic Plasma TV....

Toolfan66

I avoid Best Buy as much as I can, I might pop in for a Blu-Ray now and then but thats it. They are so far backwards its pathetic.

Best Buy Sucks and has done so the last five years...

cstmar01

tonyb wrote: »

Their return policy has kept me from buying any big ticket item in their stores. Plus the lack of knowlege of the staff in the Magnolia section is stunning.

Instead of giving me reasons to not shop there, how about they get their marketing dudes to give me a reason TO shop there.

I was down at the Mag AV store in Chicago and that wasn't bad. It was a Design Center and they had some nice Mac gear as well as a nice theater set up with the TOTL JVC pj and ML Summit X's. Overall it was a small store but the staff was decent.

There was a girl that I spoke with mostly and honestly she was pretty good. Also not to mention very good looking. She had a bf though but honestly it was the first girl that I met that was really into audio. She ran an Arcam HT system and walk taking about upgrading her speakers.

I was in love, too bad my gf (at the time) had to be there with me. :sad:

Honestly I know a lot of people who work for BB. The one here is what it is. I bought my first stuff from them as there is nothing else around my area. Overall some of the staff is good, others not so much. The managers don't know product but some of the employee's do. I'm friends with a guy who does the in home training for DSLR's and he is very good. He also is one of the best sales people because he doesn't force anyone to buy something. Which IMO is the problem.

You get hounded to buy all this crap that really you don't need. Some people will always want the protection plan but not everyone. If you know product ususally you can sell easily but when you don't, well have fun.

Polkie2009

One of the things that pissed me off twice_ this past year in BB, happened when I was looking through the dismal selection of blu ray movies:frown:. I was approached by a salesperson who wasn't a BB associate but a freakin' Direct TV or sattelite salesperson. WTH! :rolleyes:The guy asked me how I was doing and I told him ok and he started in on his spiel about what I was paying for cable tv or satellite. I cut the guy off immediately and told him I wasn't shopping at BB for a freakin' satellite service,I was there to shop for a blu ray movie and to go away.:evil: I think he got the message.