Best Buy to shutter 50 stores as Apple's iPad strains margins

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Comments

  • Reply 101 of 110
    sunilramansunilraman Posts: 8,133member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gary54 View Post


    Best Buy with all their products and the range of products they carry. TV's, stereos, home theater systems, DVD's, cameras, phones, small and major appliances, etc. Not to mention computers, parts, peripherals, etc from many different brands.



    Closed stores because of the iPad.



    Wow.



    It's just rubbish isn't it? What sort of lack of mental faculties does one need to suffer to believe this stuff from Best Buy/ the media?
  • Reply 102 of 110
    axualaxual Posts: 244member
    Eliminate two thirds of the crap you sell, and reduce the size of your stores. Do you really need to offer 9 models of a dishwasher? Do you think that offering 30 digital cameras is a great idea? How about stock the top three sellers and dispense with the others. Give me a break. The iPad is very least of your problems.



    Best Buy is living in the last century like most big box retailers.
  • Reply 103 of 110
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by axual View Post


    Eliminate two thirds of the crap you sell…



    You mean the $30 "setup plans" that involve plugging things in, the $40 "get ready" packages that involve watching the startup movie and giving your account a username, and the $50 6' HDMI cables?



    Quote:

    Do you really need to offer 9 models of a dishwasher?



    Yes.



    We're in the market for one, and I'm not going to buy an appliance based on pictures I saw online. I'm going to go to an overpriced store, check the controls, the design, the capabilities, the size, the internal organization, make a decision for myself with some actual information, and THEN go home and buy it online.
  • Reply 104 of 110
    razorpitrazorpit Posts: 1,796member
    Quote:

    Do you really need to offer 9 models of a dishwasher?



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    Yes.



    We're in the market for one, and I'm not going to buy an appliance based on pictures I saw online. I'm going to go to an overpriced store, check the controls, the design, the capabilities, the size, the internal organization, make a decision for myself with some actual information, and THEN go home and buy it online.



    You're right Tallest Skil, this way of thinking reminds me of our local public transportation system. Even with the high cost of gas they can't take advantage of people wanting/needing to take mass transportation in to the city to cut their travel costs. Thus they are way over budget. So what's their solution? Instead of making buses or trains more accessible, they are cutting back on their schedule and raising the rates.



    If you want to sell washers and dryers you better give people a selection and offer it at a competitive prices unless you offer some stellar service to justify a higher price. If you're not going to do those things then get out of the business because you will fail.
  • Reply 105 of 110
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gatorguy View Post


    Of course I am Mel.



    I saw your spin after your original post was questioned. In essence you really didn't mean to say what you said initially, but instead meant that other products could get discounted unlike Apple products, so their actual margin is really the same as Apple's. . . depending on IF the retailer chose to discount the product heavily. Did I get that right?



    I think that most people understood what I meant. Fake margin isn't margin at all. There are very few products that aren't sold with very large discounts. We all know that.
  • Reply 106 of 110
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by newbee View Post


    They are both retailers who maintain brick and mortar stores and have an online presence. That's the common factor between the two. Just because Apple designs and controls the building of what they sell and is wildly successful at marketing it and BB is not ..... takes nothing from the fact that they are indeed in the same marketplace, competing for the same consumer $$$ and sometimes, even on the same products.



    Again with the hyperbole .... retail everywhere ? Really ? In that case I guess I'd better stock up on ...... everything.



    There, I fixed it for you.



    And who decides to discount the 40% margin on those products. What you are seemingly not understanding is that every retailer makes it's own mind up about what kind of company they are going to be and then develop a philosophy/plan to make it happen. The whole tone of my post was to point out the two different philosophies of retail marketing.

    I guess that I didn't make that clear enough for you .... or maybe you were in too much of a rush to tell me how, in your opinion at least, I was wrong .... multiple times.



    Wrong. Apple and BB are not really competing. Both companies know that in areas where there are Apple stores, BB will be getting the overflow. In areas where there aren't Apple stores, they will be filling in. Apple is a very specialized operation, while BB is scattershot, offering everything, pretty much including the kitchen sink. They have very different customer bases as well. People who shop at Apple's store simply wouldn't go to BB for those products unless they had no choice. So competition is very low between. Is it 100% different? Nothing is, but it's close enough.



    But. Most of apples business is in design AMD manufacture, an area in which BB has nothing. So if you think the business are competing, it might be over 1% of their businesses where they overlap, but that's all. It hardly matters.



    Your attempt to be sarcastic would be better if it weren't so lame.



    I understand retail better than you will ever. A big part of my business was retail, I've experienced it for almost 30 years, how about you?
  • Reply 107 of 110
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by melgross View Post


    I think that most people understood what I meant. Fake margin isn't margin at all. There are very few products that aren't sold with very large discounts. We all know that.



    Fair enough Mel.
  • Reply 108 of 110
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gatorguy View Post


    Fair enough Mel.



    This gives some of the idea of the problem, and what some companies are trying to do about it. Of course, it doesn't show the breath if the problem, as it extends to appliances, and pretty much very other product line, but it's interesting.



    By the way, I wonder if the government might think this is conspiring to fix prices. What do you think? I'd like to know.



    http://beta.fool.com/tdalmoe/2012/04...tcnnlnk0000001
  • Reply 109 of 110
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by melgross View Post


    This gives some of the idea of the problem, and what some companies are trying to do about it. Of course, it doesn't show the breath if the problem, as it extends to appliances, and pretty much very other product line, but it's interesting.



    By the way, I wonder if the government might think this is conspiring to fix prices. What do you think? I'd like to know.



    http://beta.fool.com/tdalmoe/2012/04...tcnnlnk0000001



    If they conspired together to restrict prices, I could see the government taking an interest. A bit different than the Apple and bookseller's claims since that involved a willing distributor supposedly conspiring with producers to restrict pricing to any other distributor or seller, but close enough that I wouldn't bet on it passing muster. Then again I'm no lawyer nor versed in the details of of the Sherman Act and how it's been interpreted. In any event I don't see how it benefits consumers in any way.
  • Reply 110 of 110
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gatorguy View Post


    If they conspired together to restrict prices, I could see the government taking an interest. A bit different than the Apple and bookseller's claims since that involved a willing distributor supposedly conspiring with producers to restrict pricing to any other distributor or seller, but close enough that I wouldn't bet on it passing muster. Then again I'm no lawyer nor versed in the details of of the Sherman Act and how it's been interpreted. In any event I don't see how it benefits consumers in any way.



    Like everything, it's complicated. The Apple issue is a strange one as well, because proving a conspiracy will be difficult, but it seems to be going in a different direction.



    This is definitely an act by several companies to hold pricing. How it will work out isn't known as its just begun. The only way it could affect consumers it to keep large, and I suppose, smaller retailers in business so that people can actually go in, see and handle something they may want to buy. It certainly won't make things cheaper to buy, though it may also help manufacturers stay in business.
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