Best Buy founder seeks to stop "2.0" plan to shrink chain down to Apple's size

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 57

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ahmlco View Post


     


    Next thing you know, you're going to want me to tell you about the time when all of the phones had wires. Go look it up on your iPad.



    Ah yesss... the good old days... Back when I was a kid there was only one phone in the house and it was wired to the wall in the kitchen. We all used the same phone and it had only one ringtone that no one got to pick. Sometimes you'd pick up the phone to make a call and total strangers would be talking on it. We had to wait until they got done so we could then make a call.


     


    There was also this bald-headed guy that was certain people in THIS century would want to use computers with keyboards that were designed for typewriters that were part of the 1800s when people rode around on horses and debated the pros and cons of installing one of those new-fangled bath tubs inside the house. 

  • Reply 22 of 57
    capnbobcapnbob Posts: 388member
    4fx wrote: »
    Pioneer makes great TVs, but unfortunately they tend to be a bit pricey. AFAIK, they are the only viable American option.

    Pioneer is a Japanese corporation and no longer makes TVs. They were the best when they did make plasmas but that is several years ago now.
  • Reply 23 of 57
    aaarrrggghaaarrrgggh Posts: 1,609member
    Well...BB needs an identity, and their current setup does not do that. Their proposed setup sounds like a loser on identity too. They are becoming almost as bad as Fry's at merchandising to make matters worse.

    I can't think of a formula that makes sense for a big box store, unless you have a large inventory on consignment. Target seems to work, but buying electronics there still seems very out of place. (That said, I have spent a few grand on Sonos boxes there this year with their store credit card.) Quality range needs to improve for them to take on BB.
  • Reply 24 of 57
    Best Buy can stay in business successfully if they just implement a cover charge for all men, ladies get in for free. After all, most of us are just using them as showrooms.
  • Reply 25 of 57

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Eriamjh View Post


    More than likely, BB will go under regardless of what they do.



    Yep! BB is an ice cube...as is RIM, Nokia, Yahoo.


     


    This reminds me of Blockbuster circling the drain a few years ago. Also, compusa, ciruitCity and Montgomery Wards.

  • Reply 26 of 57
    sockrolidsockrolid Posts: 2,789member


    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post



    Best Buy's founder Richard Schulze believes the company's current cost cutting plans will put it out of business, however.




     


    Best Buy will probably go out of business either way.  Sooner if they do nothing.  Later if they cut costs now.


     


    It's happened over and over.  Pacific Stereo, The Good Guys, etc. all had their day in the sun, when they were


    perceived as being novel, hip and trendy.  But just like pop music and hair styles, the previous generation's


    "hip" is the next generation's "uncool."  Even if they have all the latest merchandise and decent prices, few 


    consumer electronics chains last more than 2 decades.


     


     


     


    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post



    Large electronics retail chains have struggled to remain profitable, with CompUSA closing more than 90 percent of its 126 US stores in 2007 and Circuit City liquidating its last of its 155 US stores in early 2009.





     


    See what I mean?  Survivability of large consumer electronics retail chains drops after 20 years.


     


    CompUSA: 1984 - 2007 (still operating about a dozen stores in the US under new ownership)


    Circuit City: 1949 - 2009 (founded as "Wards," then changed to "Circuit City" in 1984)


     


     


     


    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post



    Apple's smaller format of stores, coupled with a limited selection of desirable products and personalized service, have grown to 373 stores in 13 countries ...





     


    Mark Parker, CEO of Nike, once asked Steve Jobs for advice.  Here's what Steve said:


     


    "Well, just one thing.  Nike makes some of the best products in the world.  Products that you lust after.  


    But you also make a lot of crap.  Just get rid of the crappy stuff and focus on the good stuff."


     


    Maybe Best Buy could do something similar.  Get rid of all the crappy stuff they sell.  Downsize a little.


     


    Oh, and when's the last time you actually got some real help at Best Buy?  From one of their employees?


    Yeah, me too.

  • Reply 27 of 57
    recrec Posts: 217member


    I definitely see BB on the way out.  Not because there's no room for retail, there's just no room for crappy retail.


     


    I've gone into their stores less and less over the years as there are fewer reasons to go.  Too many other/better options, while they continue to run the store like its 1997.  They are truly living in the 90's, the lack of modernization will kill them.  And so will their inability to compete on a big scale, shrinking to survive is the worst thing they can do.


     


    I went in to the BB near me the other week because I needed a scanner.  Fry's is a bit further away so I tried BB first.  Went over to the PC section, no scanners were obvious.  PC section pretty pathetic looking, and shrunken/discarded looking.


     


    Found an employee I could get answers from, some of them looked like they just wanted to duck customers.  Asked the employee where the scanners are, she looked at me and said "we don't carry those in the store anymore.  We just have those printer/scanner/fax combination devices."  I was surprised!  This is how you can tell a big box retailer won't last, they aren't catering to the wide swath of PC needs.  As I'm walking away they offered to have it delivered to the store for pickup... ridiculous!  Would I be in a retail store if I weren't already willing to pay your markup for the convenience of buying something now?  Everyone knows how to use Amazon.


     


    Pop over to Fry's, get what I need from a big selection of models and price points, in and out pretty quick.


     


    There are so many things wrong with BB today, but going into one you really do feel like you're in a CompUSA or FutureShop.  Their business is crumbling.

  • Reply 28 of 57
    antkm1antkm1 Posts: 1,441member


    IMHO:


    Changing the business model to compete with Amazon and the likes is the WRONG solution and it quite possibly be impossible to do in a brick-and-mortar store.


    Providing only High quality staff and products, reducing and/or eliminating crap and accessories IS a solid plan.

  • Reply 29 of 57


    Best Buy is going the same direction as Circuit City. Their lack of customer service and poor product knowledge has destroyed their image beyond repair.(not that they had any sort of reliable image)


     


    Sounds as though BB founder has an alterior motive up his sleeve. All the years he couldn't get it right and now all of a sudden he woke up one morning and decided he has the magic answer to save the company.

  • Reply 30 of 57
    sockrolidsockrolid Posts: 2,789member


    @ Bushman4 - Seriously.  The only Best Buy employee who even acts happy to see you is the guy at the door.  And he's basically there to help prevent the more advanced shoplifting when people leave.  (The employees on the floor are there to prevent the more basic, amateur level shoplifting.)


     


    Same thing with Circuit City.  The "help" stood around gossiping and pretending to not see customers who obviously needed help.  I saw an employee sitting in an easy chair watching NASCAR, and when one of his "co-workers" said "Hey man, we got customers," he just said "I'm busy" and kept watching.


     


    Maybe Amazon can break into the brick-and-mortar store business.  Just showrooms, not retail stores.  You'd see the goods you're shopping for, then order them online from the store.  Free 2-day shipping to your home.   The Amazon stores could focus on things that need to be seen side-by-side in real life, like TVs.  But there would be no stock in the store, no loading dock, nothing.  Far fewer square feet.  Many small stores.  All promoting Amazon in places where traditional brick-and-mortar stores are still operating, like in malls.

  • Reply 31 of 57
    misamisa Posts: 827member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mstone View Post


    What other chain sells TVs? If I was in the market for a TV the first place I would go is to BB. I did buy my last big TV there. I bought the smaller TVs online.



    NCIX.com (yes it has physical locations) and Tigerdirect.com (Also has physical locations) they just aren't national chains.


     


    Where I live, BestBuy is right across from a mall from Futureshop (which is owned by BestBuy) , NCIX is one block from the mall. London Drugs also sells Televisions (it's actually more known for electronics than anything else.) Superstore (grocery store) sells televisions. Other parts of Canada have Canadian Tire and Walmart. If BestBuy were to close all it's locations, the slack would be picked up by London Drugs here.


     


    I'm certain in most of the US, there are Walmarts and Costco's that sell televisions as well. At worst, you won't be able to get all the specialty 600% markup monster cables anymore. You'll have to buy all those online.


     


    In small towns, however the national chains don't exist. The prices for electronics, games and appliances can be three times the cost, you may as well buy online. Oh but small towns down't have UPS/FedEX depots.


     


     


    In my opinion BestBuy's been swirling the toilet ever since they bought Futureshop and started expanding in Canada. Futureshop here is known for pushy sales staff on commissions, scammy mail in rebates and the only way Bestbuy could differentiate itself from Futureshop was saying they don't have commissioned sales staff. Still doesn't get rid of the pushy extended warranty or mail in rebate garbage.

  • Reply 32 of 57
    Fry's?

    I thought we were in 2012, not 2002.
  • Reply 33 of 57
    macquest wrote: »
    Fry's?
    I thought we were in 2012, not 2002.

    And you don't like Fry's because.....?

    I'll take Fry's over Best Buy any day.
  • Reply 34 of 57
    maecvsmaecvs Posts: 129member
    misa wrote: »
    NCIX.com (yes it has physical locations) and Tigerdirect.com (Also has physical locations) they just aren't national chains.

    Where I live, BestBuy is right across from a mall from Futureshop (which is owned by BestBuy) , NCIX is one block from the mall. London Drugs also sells Televisions (it's actually more known for electronics than anything else.) Superstore (grocery store) sells televisions. Other parts of Canada have Canadian Tire and Walmart. If BestBuy were to close all it's locations, the slack would be picked up by London Drugs here.

    I'm certain in most of the US, there are Walmarts and Costco's that sell televisions as well. At worst, you won't be able to get all the specialty 600% markup monster cables anymore. You'll have to buy all those online.

    In small towns, however the national chains don't exist. The prices for electronics, games and appliances can be three times the cost, you may as well buy online. Oh but small towns down't have UPS/FedEX depots.


    In my opinion BestBuy's been swirling the toilet ever since they bought Futureshop and started expanding in Canada. Futureshop here is known for pushy sales staff on commissions, scammy mail in rebates and the only way Bestbuy could differentiate itself from Futureshop was saying they don't have commissioned sales staff. Still doesn't get rid of the pushy extended warranty or mail in rebate garbage.


    Sounds like you live in the Metrotown area.

    I bought a 386 from Net-link years ago. I would do that again. Thing was a lemon.....
  • Reply 35 of 57

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by anonymouse View Post



    The main problem with Best Buy is that they treat their customers like crap. Rude sales staff who can't be bothered, onerous return policies (and return lines), it's just not a pleasant experience.

     


     


    That is not my experience with Best Buy at all. All the people at the one I shop at are some of the most helpful and polite people I know. From the security yellow shirt guy at the front, to the customer service people, to the sales floor.....they all treat me as if I am the only customer in the store. In fact, I have gotten to know several of them by name. I have become a Silver Rewards member, and I can assure you that would never have happened if I had a lousy experience shopping at Best Buy. I hope that they do not go under. The benefits of shopping there far outweigh any other stores I shop at....except for Apple of course.


     


     


    iDevice and Mac Lover


    Rob Bond - Cary, NC USA - 25 Year Retired Navy Photographer


    4th Gen iPod Touch 64gb iOS5.1.1/New iPad 4G LTE 64gb iOS5.1.1/Mac mini 2.7GHz Core i7, 8GB RAM, OS X 10.8/2012 15" MBP 2.6GHz Quad i7, 8GB RAM, OS X 10.8/Win7

  • Reply 36 of 57

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SockRolid View Post




     


     


     


    Mark Parker, CEO of Nike, once asked Steve Jobs for advice.  Here's what Steve said:


     


    "Well, just one thing.  Nike makes some of the best products in the world.  Products that you lust after.  


    But you also make a lot of crap.  Just get rid of the crappy stuff and focus on the good stuff."


     


    Maybe Best Buy could do something similar.  Get rid of all the crappy stuff they sell.  Downsize a little.


     


    Oh, and when's the last time you actually got some real help at Best Buy?  From one of their employees?


    Yeah, me too.



    I agree with this wholeheartedly. I don't want to have to wade through tons of crap, just to get to the good stuff.  Best Buy is full of high profit (for them) crap that no one is buying and a large amount of low profit product that not enough people are buying.  That's just a recipe for death of a retailer.  After all these years they're still selling ungodly high priced hdmi cables because why?  Because they use them as an add-on when selling a new tv, as the cable probably is the only item they make profit on.  It takes the focus off of selling great tv's at low prices - focusing on volume, which is what they need in order to make up for low profit dollars.


     


    It's been almost a year since I've been in a BB and the experience was forced by my son wanting a xbox headset.  The experience was not good and the example of their selling crap came out clearly.  The headset he bought was a model that should have been discontinued years ago as it was meant for an old xbox with all wired connections.  I understand it's not exactly BB's fault for this, but they didn't make it easy to understand what he should have been looking for.  I tried to do a search on Amazon to read reviews before he bought it, while standing in BB, but he was impatient and bought it anyway.


     


    Maybe, in addition to focusing their sales, they should institute a bit of honesty into the buying process.  Make it easy for people to look at product reviews from Amazon or BB or wherever.  Or have the salespeople be honest and not just try to sell those things BB is deep on or what drives bonuses.

  • Reply 37 of 57


    How come nobody mentioned "Nobody Beats The Wiz"? Great store!!! It only took them 3 tries to bring me a brand new phone instead of taking one off somebody's desk and putting it in the box while I waited in the pickup area.

  • Reply 38 of 57


    I guess I'm the only one who is replying here in agreement with the founder.  His plan is to aggressively cut prices.  That's the main reason I don't go there or shop there often.  Their prices online are nearly always higher than Amazon's and, what's much worse, more than 50% of the time, when I buy something and it rings up, it rings up higher than the online price.  I catch it, they call a manager over to confirm and adjust the price.  They never give me a hard time about it, but it leaves me hating their business more, since they're clearly relying on the fact that a lot of their customers won't have checked the online prices and will just pay whatever it rings up at.


     


    I use BB as a showroom, to get something I want/need right away and/or when I want to "test" it out at home (i.e., I know going into it that there's a good chance I'll want to return it).  On that point, their return policy used to suck, too, but they seem to have improved that significantly.


     


    Getting back to price...another bad experience I had was when I tracked down an open-box item (I think it was a front projector).  If I recall, their open box item was priced the same as the current sale price they had on the projector brand new.  I asked to talk to a manager to see if they could knock the price down further, but they said they couldn't (or wouldn't?  Not sure how empowered the managers are there).  That particular store didn't have a brand new one in stock, so I left and ended up buying it at a different Best Buy much farther from my home.  But that was a great indicator of just how clueless their manager (or the store policy) was.  Why would anyone buy that open box item?


     


    I'd say there are a couple of options for potential success:


    Option 1) Go with the founder's plan and cut prices significantly.  Make 'beating Amazon's prices' the goal for every item.


    Option 2) Put all your eggs in the Apple basket.  Right now, Apple is making obscene profits and their devices and computers are wildly popular.  Best Buy has more stores (certainly in my state of CT) than Apple.  So, they could focus on selling not only Apple computers and devices (ideally at a slight discount compared to Apple's prices), but also sell every conceivable 3rd party Apple accessory out there.  The Apple stores are a lot smaller, and they dedicate the majority of their floor space to the Apple computers and iPads.  Best Buy could display tons of different stereo docks and all manner of other accessories.  They could be the go-to spot for whenever you wanted a new case or some other accessory.  And, again, price these things well.

  • Reply 39 of 57


    Matching or selling at a "slight discount" will not cut it after you factor in sales tax which is quite significant on big ticket items.

     

  • Reply 40 of 57
    al_bundyal_bundy Posts: 1,525member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Misa View Post


    NCIX.com (yes it has physical locations) and Tigerdirect.com (Also has physical locations) they just aren't national chains.


     


    Where I live, BestBuy is right across from a mall from Futureshop (which is owned by BestBuy) , NCIX is one block from the mall. London Drugs also sells Televisions (it's actually more known for electronics than anything else.) Superstore (grocery store) sells televisions. Other parts of Canada have Canadian Tire and Walmart. If BestBuy were to close all it's locations, the slack would be picked up by London Drugs here.


     


    I'm certain in most of the US, there are Walmarts and Costco's that sell televisions as well. At worst, you won't be able to get all the specialty 600% markup monster cables anymore. You'll have to buy all those online.


     


    In small towns, however the national chains don't exist. The prices for electronics, games and appliances can be three times the cost, you may as well buy online. Oh but small towns down't have UPS/FedEX depots.


     


     


    In my opinion BestBuy's been swirling the toilet ever since they bought Futureshop and started expanding in Canada. Futureshop here is known for pushy sales staff on commissions, scammy mail in rebates and the only way Bestbuy could differentiate itself from Futureshop was saying they don't have commissioned sales staff. Still doesn't get rid of the pushy extended warranty or mail in rebate garbage.



    in the USA walmart is everywhere. i'm an hour north of denver for a few more days and there are big box chains everywhere. and amazon will deliver next day if want it to

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