Best Buy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Best Buy Co., Inc.
Formerly
  • Sound of Music
  • (1966–1983)
  • Best Buy Co. Superstores
  • (1983–1984)
  • Best Buy Superstores
  • (1984–1989)
Public
Traded as
IndustryRetail
FoundedAugust 22, 1966; 52 years ago (1966-08-22) in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States
FounderRichard M. Schulze
Headquarters
Number of locations
  • 1,008
  • (FY FEB 3, 2018)
Areas served
  • United States
  • Canada
  • Mexico
  • Puerto Rico
Key people
ProductsConsumer electronics
Revenue
  • Increase US$ 42.15 billion
  • (FY FEB 3, 2018)
  • Decrease US$ 1.84 billion
  • (FY FEB 3, 2018)
  • Decrease US$ 1.00 billion
  • (FY FEB 3, 2018)
Total assets
  • Decrease US$ 13.05 billion
  • (FY FEB 3, 2018)
Total equity
  • Decrease US$ 3.61 billion
  • (FY FEB 3, 2018)
Number of employees
  • c. 125,000
  • (FY FEB 3, 2018)
DivisionsBest Buy Canada
Subsidiaries
WebsiteBestBuy.com
Footnotes / references
[1]

Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. It was originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966[2] as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music. In 1983, it was rebranded under its current name with more emphasis placed on consumer electronics.

Internationally, Best Buy also operates in Canada and Mexico, and was formerly operational in China until February 2011 (when the faction was merged with Five Star) and in Europe until 2012.[3] Its subsidiaries include Geek Squad, Magnolia Audio Video, and Pacific Sales. Best Buy also operates the Best Buy Mobile and Insignia brands in North America, plus Five Star in China.[3] Best Buy sells cellular phones from Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility, Sprint Corporation, and Boost Mobile[4] in the United States. In Canada, carriers include Bell Mobility, Rogers Wireless, Telus Mobility, their fighter brands, and competing smaller carriers, such as SaskTel.

Best Buy was named "Company of the Year" by Forbes magazine in 2004,[5] "Specialty Retailer of the Decade" by Discount Store News in 2001,[6] ranked in the Top 10 of "America's Most Generous Corporations" by Forbes in 2005 (based on 2004 giving),[7] made Fortune magazine's list of "Most Admired Companies" in 2006.[8] and "The Most Sustainable Company in the United States" by Barron's in 2019.[9] Hubert Joly currently serves as Best Buy's chairman and CEO.[10] According to Yahoo! Finance, Best Buy is the largest specialty retailer in the United States consumer electronics retail industry.[11] The company ranked No. 72 in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.[12]

History[edit]

Early history[edit]

Sound of Music logo from 1966 until 1983

On August 28, 1966, Richard M. Schulze and a business partner opened Sound of Music, an electronics store specializing in high fidelity stereos in St. Paul, Minnesota.[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] Schulze financed the opening of his first store with his personal savings and a second mortgage he took out on his family's home.[21][23] In 1967, Sound of Music acquired Kencraft Hi-Fi Company and Bergo Company.[23] Sound of Music earned $1 million in revenue and made about $58,000 in profits in its first year.[21] In 1969, Sound of Music had three stores and Schulze bought out his business partner.

Sound of Music operated nine stores throughout Minnesota by 1978.[24] In 1981, the Roseville, Minnesota, Sound of Music location, at the time the largest and most profitable Sound of Music store, was hit by a tornado.[21] The store's roof was sheared off and showroom destroyed, but the storeroom was left intact.[21][25] In response, Schulze decided to have a "Tornado Sale" of damaged and excess stock in the damaged store's parking lot.[21] He poured the remainder of his marketing budget into advertising the sale, promising "best buys" on everything.[25] Sound of Music made more money during the four-day sale than it did in a typical month.[22]

Best Buy Co. Superstores logo from 1983 until 1984
Best Buy Superstores logo from 1984 until 1989

In 1983, with seven stores and $10 million in annual sales, Sound of Music was renamed Best Buy Company, Inc.[24][25] The company also expanded its product offerings to include home appliances and VCRs, in an attempt to expand beyond its then-core customer base of 15-to-18-year-old males. Later that year Best Buy opened its first superstore in Burnsville, Minnesota.[25] The Burnsville location featured a high-volume, low price business model, which was borrowed partially from Schulze's successful Tornado Sale in 1981.[21][25] In its first year, the Burnsville store out-performed all other Best Buy stores combined.[22][23]

Best Buy logo from 1989 until May 9, 2018, still used in Canada.

Best Buy debuted on the New York Stock Exchange in 1987.[26][27] In 1989, the company introduced a new store concept dubbed "Concept II".[23][26] Concept II replaced dimly lit industrial-style stores with brighter and more fashionably fixtured stores.[23] Stores also began placing all stock on the sales floor rather than in a stock room, had fewer salespersons and provided more self-help product information for its customers.[26][27] Best Buy also did away with commissioned salespeople.[21][26] The commission-free sales environment "created a more relaxed shopping environment free of the high-pressure sales tactics used in other stores," but was unpopular with salespersons and suppliers.[26] Some suppliers, such as Maytag, Whirlpool and Sony, were upset that salespeople would no longer be pushing their products and stopped selling their wares in Best Buy stores.[21][22] The suppliers returned after Best Buy's sales and revenue grew following the roll-out of Concept II.[25]

In 1992, the company achieved $1 billion in annual revenues.[27] In 1995, Best Buy debuted "Concept III" stores, which were larger than its previous stores.[27][28] The Concept III stores included expanded product offerings, interactive touchscreen kiosks that displayed product information for both customers and employees, and demonstration areas for products such as surround sound stereo systems and videogames.[28][29]

Best Buy launched its "Concept IV" stores with its expansion into New England in 1998.[27][30] Concept IV stores included an open layout with products organized by category, cash registers located throughout the store, and slightly smaller stores than Concept III stores.[31] The stores also had large areas for demonstrating home theater systems and computer software.[27][32]

In 1999, Best Buy was added to Standard & Poor's S&P 500.[27]

2000s[edit]

Best Buy at the Renaissance Center in Durham, North Carolina
Former Best Buy Store located in Shanghai, China, now closed and merged with Five Star.
Best Buy Corporate Headquarters is located in Richfield, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis
This Best Buy logo has appeared at Mall of America since 2008.
Best Buy opens its 800th store in Chicago, Illinois.

In 2000, Best Buy formed Redline Entertainment, an independent music label and action-sports video distributor.[33] The company acquired Magnolia Hi-Fi, Inc., an audio-video retailer located in California, Washington and Oregon, in December 2000.[27]

In January 2001, Best Buy acquired Musicland Stores Corporation, a Minnetonka, Minnesota-based retailer that sold home entertainment products under the Sam Goody, Suncoast Motion Picture Company, Media Play and OnCue brands. Best Buy purchased the company for $425 million in cash and the assumption of $271 million of Musicland debt.[27][34] Later that year, Best Buy acquired the British Columbia, Canada-based electronics-chain Future Shop Ltd., marking its entrance to the international marketplace.[27][35] Under the deal, Future Shop was purchased for approximately $377 million and continued to operate as subsidiary independent from Best Buy Canada.[36][37]

Brad Anderson succeeded Richard Schulze as Best Buy CEO in July 2002.[38] Anderson had begun working at Best Buy in 1973 while attending seminary school.[38] He was promoted to vice president in 1981 and executive vice president in 1986. Anderson had most recently served as president and COO of Best Buy, a position he had held since 1991.[38] In September of that year, Best Buy opened the first Canadian Best Buy-branded store in Mississauga, Ontario.[39] In October, Best Buy acquired Minneapolis-based Geek Squad, then a 24-hour residential computer repair business with offices in Minneapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.[38]

Best Buy stores in the U.S. surpassed the 600-store mark and the company opened its first global-sourcing office in Shanghai in 2003.[40][41] In June, Best Buy divested itself of Musicland in a deal with Sun Capital Partners under which Sun Capital received all of Musicland's stock and debt.[42] Best Buy launched its "Reward Zone" loyalty program in July following an 8-month test of the program in San Diego, California.[43] Also in 2003, Best Buy's corporate offices were consolidated into a single campus in Richfield, Minnesota.

In January 2004, Best Buy hired Virtucom Group to revamp Best Buy's website and handle all of the company's online content.[44] In May, the company launched its "customer centricty" program, which segmented its stores according to customer profiles. The program also called for employees to focus on specific customer groups rather than product categories.[45] In October, Best Buy completed rolling out Geek Squad "precincts" in every American Best Buy store.[46]

In April 2005, Best Buy began eliminating mail-in rebates in response to negative customer reaction against them, and instead started giving out instant rebates via notebook computers.[47]

In May 2006, Best Buy acquired a majority interest in Chinese appliance retailer Jiangsu Five Star Appliance for $180 million. At the time of the deal, Jiangsu was the fourth-largest appliance chain in China with 193 stores across eight Chinese provinces.[48] In June, the company opened Geek Squad precincts at Office Depot in Orlando, Florida.[43] The market test was later expanded to Denver, Colorado.[49]

In January 2007, the first Best Buy-branded store in China officially opened in Shanghai, China.[50] In March 2007, Best Buy acquired Speakeasy, a Seattle, Washington-based broadband VOIP, data and IT services provider. The acquisition was worth $80 million and, under terms of the deal, Speakeasy began operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of Best Buy. The company's products also became part of Best Buy's For Business program.[51] Best Buy also expanded its Geek Squad market tests in March, opening Geek Squad precincts in FedEx Kinkos stores located in Indianapolis and Charlotte, North Carolina.[52] In October 2007, Best Buy became the first consumer-electronics retailer to exit the analog television market, carrying only digital products that became mandatory in June 2009 by the FCC.[53]

In February 2008, Best Buy opened its first store in San Juan, Puerto Rico.[54] Best Buy's Geek Squad market tests in Office Depot and FedEx Kinkos stores ended by March.[55] Also in March, the company began promoting the Blu-ray optical-disc format over the HD DVD format, a move which ultimately contributed to Toshiba's decision to drop HD DVD.[56] In May, the company agreed to buy 50% of the retail division of The Carphone Warehouse, a London, England-based mobile phone retailer.[57][58] The deal was worth $2.1 billion.[58]

In July 2008, Best Buy announced that it would start selling musical instruments and related gear in over 80 of its retail stores, making the company the second-largest musical-instrument distributor in the US.[59] Best Buy became the first third-party retail seller of Apple's iPhone in September.[60] Later that month, the company agreed to acquire Napster for $121 million.[61] In December, Best Buy opened its first store in Mexico.[62]

In February 2009, Best Buy leveraged its partnership with The Carphone Warehouse to launch Best Buy Mobile, a Best Buy-branded mobile retailer. Best Buy Mobile standalone stores were opened in shopping malls and urban downtowns. These Best Buy Mobile outlets were also added in all Best Buy-branded stores.[63]

In June 2009, Brian Dunn became Best Buy CEO. Dunn replaced Brad Anderson, who was retiring.[64] Dunn had joined Best Buy in 1985 as a sales associate. In 2000, Dunn became senior vice president of East Coast operations and president of North American retail operations in 2004. He had most recently served as president of Best Buy, a position he had held since 2006.[65]

Best Buy partnered with Roxio's CinemaNow to launch an on-demand movie download service that would allow customers to stream content to any device sold by Best Buy that connected to the Internet in November 2009.[66] In December, the first Turkish Best Buy opened in İzmir.[citation needed]

2010s[edit]

A Best Buy store in Germantown, Maryland that opened in 2002.

In April 2010, Best Buy opened its first United Kingdom-based Best Buy-branded store in Thurrock.[67] The company eventually opened 11 Best Buy stores in the United Kingdom. The company closed all UK-based Best Buy stores in November 2011. That same month Best Buy purchased The Carphone Warehouse's share of Best Buy Mobile for $1.3 billion. Best Buy and The Carphone Warehouse maintained their Best Buy Europe joint venture, which at the time operated 2,500 mobile phone stores throughout Europe.[68]

The company closed all of its Best Buy-branded stores in China by February 2011, when it merged Best Buy China's operations with Jiangsu Five Star, which had become a wholly owned subsidiary of Best Buy in 2009.[3][69] In December 2011, Best Buy purchased mindSHIFT Technologies, a company that provided IT support for small and medium-sized businesses, for $167 million.[70]

In 2012, in response to overall revenue decline, Best Buy announced plans to undergo a "transformation strategy". Stores began to adopt a redesigned "Connected Store" format, providing the Geek Squad with a centralized service desk and implementing a "store-within-a-store" concept for Pacific Kitchen & Bath and Magnolia Design Center.[71]

In April 2012, Brian Dunn resigned as Best Buy's CEO during an internal company investigation into allegations of personal misconduct stemming from an inappropriate relationship with a female Best Buy employee.[72] Best Buy named Director George L. Mikan III interim CEO following Dunn's resignation.[72] The internal investigation was released in May 2012 and alleged that Best Buy founder and chairman Richard Schulze knew of Dunn's inappropriate relationship and failed to notify the Best Buy board.[72] Schulze subsequently resigned his chairmanship of the company.[72] Best Buy Director Hatim Tyabji replaced Schulze as Best Buy chairman.[72]

Hubert Joly replaced Mikan as Best Buy CEO in September 2012.[73] Joly had previously served as CEO of Carlson, a hospitality conglomerate, since 2008.[73] He led initiatives such as price matching, speeding up delivery times for online purchases, establishing "store within a store" sections for major brands such as Apple, Google, Microsoft and Samsung, and giving more product training to employees.[74]

In April 2013, Best Buy exited the European consumer electronics market when it sold its 50% stake in Carphone Warehouse back to the UK-based mobile phone retailer.[75][76] The sale was worth approximately $775 million.[75][76]

An increasing trend towards online shopping began to erode revenues and profits in the 2010s. A 4% dip in sales for the June 30, 2014 quarter, marked the tenth quarter in a row where Best Buy's sales had declined. The company, in announcing the result, said it was focusing more on digital-media in its marketing, moving away from newspaper, magazine, and television advertising.[77]

On March 28, 2015, Best Buy announced the shutdown of the Future Shop chain in Canada; 65 of its 131 former locations were converted into Best Buy locations, while the rest (primarily those in close proximity to an existing Best Buy) were closed permanently.[78]

On March 1, 2018, the company announced that it would shut down its 250 standalone Best Buy Mobile stores in the United States by the end of May, due to low revenue and high costs. The Best Buy Mobile stores were reported to account for 1 percent of the company's revenue.[79]

On May 9, 2018, the company unveiled a new logo for the first time in nearly three decades.[80]

On July 2, 2018, Best Buy announced it was cutting the amount of store space devoted to selling physical music, citing the popularity of streaming services as having reduced sales.[81]

Corporate affairs[edit]

Business operations[edit]

Best Buy Store in Edmonton, Alberta
The Former Best Buy Mobile located in the Brass Mill Center, Waterbury, Connecticut.
Map of Best Buy stores in the Continental U.S and Southern Canada, as of August 2011
Salesman demonstrating the Apple iPad 2 (June 2011)
See also: Best Buy Europe

Best Buy sells consumer electronics and a variety of related merchandise, including software, video games, music, mobile phones, digital cameras, car stereos and video cameras, in addition to home appliances (washing machines, dryers, and refrigerators), in a non-commissioned sales environment.[3] Under the Geek Squad brand, Best Buy offers computer repair, warranty service, and accidental service plans.[3] Best Buy provides an online community forum for members, where consumers can discuss product experiences, ask questions and get answers from other members or retail product experts.[82]

The building exteriors of Best Buy-branded stores are typically light brown, with the entrance designed to look like a blue box emerging from the structure.[83] Corporate employees operated under a results only work environment from 2005 until March 2013, when the management style was abandoned by Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly.[84][85]

As of October 29, 2016, Best Buy operated 1,026 Best Buy, 331 Best Buy Mobile stand-alone stores and 28 stand-alone Pacific Sales stores in the US.[3] Best Buy also operated: 135 Best Buy and 53 Best Buy Mobile stand-alone stores in Canada; and 18 Best Buy stores and 5 Best Buy Express stores in Mexico.[3] Best Buy exited the European market in April 2013.[75][76]

House brands[edit]

Best Buy also produces products under eight house brands:[3]

  • Dynex – Discount electronic and computer equipment such as Blu-ray players, data and power cables, HDTVs, office supplies, storage media, and webcams
  • Init – Storage products such as media storage, equipment bags, totes, and furniture for home theaters
  • Insignia – Electronic equipment, small appliances, and accessories including adapters, cables, HDTVs, mini refrigerators, and tablets
  • Magnolia Design Center (in select Best Buy stores) - design and installation of custom home theater setups
  • Magnolia Home Theater (in select Best Buy stores) – High-end home theater selections for both audio and visual equipment, including 4K, 3D, and large televisions, projectors, receivers, and speakers
  • Modal – style-oriented mobile accessories, including Bluetooth speakers, cables, and cases
  • Pacific Sales (in select Best Buy stores) – High-end appliances
  • Platinum – Highest-quality in-house brand for the company, producing many products, such as cables, cell phone accessories, tablet accessories, and digital imaging equipment
  • RocketFish – Cables primarily used with home-theater installation and setup as well as on computer and gaming accessories
  • RocketFish Mobile – Phone cases, gel skins, clips, and chargers for cell phones, GPS, and other exclusive high-end products

Controversies[edit]

Warranty[edit]

In 2000, two Florida consumers brought a lawsuit against the company, alleging that it engaged in fraudulent business practices related to the sale of extended warranties (or, more accurately, service plans). The suit claimed that store employees had misrepresented the manufacturer's warranty in order to sell its own Product Service/Replacement Plan and that Best Buy had "entered into a corporate-wide scheme to institute high-pressure sales techniques involving the extended warranties" and that the company used "artificial barriers to discourage consumers who purchased the 'complete extended warranties' from making legitimate claims."[86] The company ultimately settled for $200,000 but admitted no wrongdoing.[87]

In 2014, Best Buy settled for $4.55 million in a class action lawsuit filed against them in April 2010 by consumers who claimed Best Buy was making unsolicited phone calls in contravention of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.[88]

Pricing[edit]

In the second quarter of 2007, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal ordered an investigation into the company's use of an in-store website alleged to have misled customers on item sales prices.[89] In December 2007, the Los Angeles Times reported on the same issue, in which some customers claimed they thought they were surfing the Internet version of bestbuy.com at an in-store kiosk only to learn that the site reflected in-store prices only. In response, company spokesperson Sue Busch indicated the in-store kiosks were not intended for price-match purposes and rather were a means to navigate in-store availability. Since the initial investigation, a banner was placed on the in-store site to make its customers more aware of the difference.[90]

Analog televisions[edit]

On April 26, 2008, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) fined the company $280,000 for not alerting customers that the analog televisions it sold would not receive over-the-air stations after the digital transition on June 12, 2009.[91] The company challenged this ruling in May 2008 by the FCC saying it was and is in compliance with current FCC regulations pertaining to the digital transition.[92]

Environmental issues[edit]

Best Buy was one of several companies named in a 2007 report by Greenpeace for purchasing raw materials or manufactured products derived thereof from logging companies that, in the opinion of Greenpeace, contribute to unethical deforestation of taiga in Canada.[93]

Since that time, however, the company launched what it calls Greener Together to increase the energy efficiency of its products as well as reduce consumer waste through more recyclable packaging and proper disposal of certain electronic components such as rechargeable batteries, and empty ink cartridges.[94]

As a way to improve its image and past environmental issues, the company introduced a recycling program in 2009 that has since collected nearly half-a-billion pounds of consumer electronics and e-waste and is available at all their stores for a nominal fee. These items are then handed over to certified recyclers in the U.S. for proper recycling. The company's goal is to collect one billion pounds of recycling.[95]

It also has been named to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency top-50 list of the largest green-power purchasers. In 2011, the company purchased nearly 119 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power – electricity generated from renewable resources, such as wind, solar, geothermal, biogas, biomass and low-impact hydropower.[96]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Best Buy Co., Inc. Form 10-K (FY February 3, 2018)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
  2. ^ Brown, Abram (August 6, 2012). "Best Buy Founder Must Meet Challenges To Complete $8B Buyout". Forbes. Retrieved April 8, 2018. Schulze founded the company in 1966 with James Wheeler
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "Form 10-K Best Buy". United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
  4. ^ "Parter Portfolio". Zoom Systems. Archived from the original on January 15, 2011. Retrieved December 31, 2012.
  5. ^ Tatge, Mark (January 12, 2004). "Company of the Year – Fun & Games". Forbes. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
  6. ^ "DSN Honors Best Buy with Specialty Retailer Award". Discount Store News. Retrieved December 31, 2012 – via EBSCO Host.
  7. ^ Moyer, Liz (November 11, 2005). "Charitable Giving – The Most Charitable Companies". Forbes. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
  8. ^ Staff. "America's Most Admired Companies 2006". Fortune. Retrieved August 9, 2012 – via CNNMoney.com.
  9. ^ Norton, Leslie P. "The 100 Most Sustainable U.S. Companies". www.barrons.com. Retrieved 2019-02-22.
  10. ^ Thomas Lee (August 19, 2013). "A year on the job with Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly". Star Tribune. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  11. ^ Bailey, Sharon (January 19, 2015). "Best Buy: The largest consumer electronics retailer". Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
  12. ^ "Fortune 500 Companies 2018: Who Made the List". Fortune. Retrieved 2018-11-10.
  13. ^ "The best deals from Best Buy's 50th anniversary sale". USA Today. August 19, 2016. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  14. ^ "Best Buy Is Celebrating Its 50th Birthday With 50 Hours of Discounts". Fortune. August 18, 2016. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  15. ^ "The best deals from Best Buy's 50th anniversary sale". Kitsap Sun. August 19, 2016. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  16. ^ "Best Buy celebrates 50 years with 50 hours of discounts". CNBC. August 18, 2016. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  17. ^ "Best Buy Celebrating 50 Years With 50 Hours of Deals - News & Opinion - PCMag.com". PC Magazine. August 18, 2016. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  18. ^ "Best Buy to celebrate 50th anniversary with 50-hour sale - MarketWatch". MarketWatch. August 18, 2016. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  19. ^ "iPhone and MacBook Pro Deals for Best Buy's 50th Anniversary - Teen Vogue". Teen Vogue. August 18, 2016. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  20. ^ "Best Buy Co Inc (BBY.N) Company Profile - Reuters.com". Reuters. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  21. ^ a b c d e f g h i Weimer, De'Ann (June 22, 1998). "The Houdini of consumer electronics. / R. M. Schulze;". Business Week.
  22. ^ a b c d Jackie Crosby (May 20, 2012). "One man's force of will built a retailing empire". Star Tribune (Mpls.-St. Paul).
  23. ^ a b c d e Pete Hisey (September 19, 1994). "Richard Schulze – specialty discounter of the year: making an impact by adopting the features of full-line discounters. (SPARC Awards 1993: Supplier Performance Awards by Retail Category)". Discount Store News.
  24. ^ a b "Best Buy, by the years". StarTribune. Minneapolis-St. Paul. May 15, 2012. Archived from the original on May 20, 2012.
  25. ^ a b c d e f Gruley, Bryan; McCracken, Jeffrey; Burritt, Chris (October 22, 2012). "BEST GUY?". Bloomberg Businessweek.
  26. ^ a b c d e "Retail entrepreneurs of the year: Dick Schulze. Chain Store Age". 75 (12). Chain Store Age. December 1999.
  27. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "International Directory of Company Histories". 63. St. James Press. 2004.
  28. ^ a b "Best Buy opens Concept III stores". 33 (21). Discount Store News. November 7, 1994. p. 6.
  29. ^ "Best Buy Opens Concept III". Consumer Electronics. October 31, 1994.
  30. ^ LAURA HELLER (October 26, 1998). "Best Buy's Concept IV enters New England". Discount Store NewsDSN.
  31. ^ Janet Moore. "A new format for Best Buy // Concept IV focus is on high-tech in a smaller store // Best Buy's latest store concept will make its Twin Cities debut today at its Maplewood location. Signs will be more readable and several store areas will feature hands-on technology". Star-Tribune Newspaper.
  32. ^ NORA LOCKWOOD TOOHER. "New kid on the block – Electronics giant to open stores in R.I., Mass". The Providence JournalPROV.
  33. ^ "Best Buy Realigns Marketing Positions; Efforts Focus on Building Area of Digital Services". PR Newswire. January 5, 2000.
  34. ^ "BEST BUY MAPPING OUT MUSICLAND PLANS". Audio Week.
  35. ^ LAURA HELLER. "Best Buy acquisition rings national note". Discount Store News.
  36. ^ "Saint Paul Pioneer Press, Minn., Business Briefs Column". November 6, 2001.
  37. ^ Alan Wolf (November 12, 2001). "Best Buy wraps up future shop deal". TWICE.
  38. ^ a b c d Sherri Cruz (October 25, 2002). "Best Buy and Geek Squad join forces ; Retailer to offer in-home support". Star Tribune.
  39. ^ Laura Heller (September 9, 2002). "Best Buy opens 1st unit in Canada: corporate banner makes debut as a global brand". Discount Store News.
  40. ^ Mayfield, Geoff (November 29, 2003). "Same-week rise continues.(Over the Counter[TM])". Billboard.
  41. ^ "City becomes sourcing center". Shanghai Daily. October 10, 2003.
  42. ^ Joan Harrison (August 1, 2003). "Taking a haircut To Dump a Loser: Buying high and selling low is becoming a sobering reality in the post-buying-frenzy years". Mergers & Acquisitions: The Dealmakers Journal.
  43. ^ a b "Retail". Warren's Consumer Electronics Daily. July 22, 2003.
  44. ^ Dickinson, Casey J (January 23, 2004). "Virtucom Group helps big retailers set sites". Business Journal  – via HighBeam (subscription required). Archived from the original on June 11, 2014. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  45. ^ Lisa Cervini (December 20, 2004). "That Was The Year That Was: A Retail Retrospective". TWICE.
  46. ^ Foster, Lauren (November 24, 2004). "The march of the Geek Squad: DIFFERENTIATION: Best Buy, the US electronics retailer, takes care of its customers after they have left the shop, writes Lauren Foster". Financial Times.
  47. ^ John Vomhof Jr. (January 24, 2006). "Best Buy starts to eliminate mail-in rebates". Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  48. ^ "U.S. electronics retailer gets controlling stake in China's Five Star Company". Xinhua's China Economic Information Service. May 15, 2006.
  49. ^ "Event Brief of Q1 2007 Office Depot Inc. Earnings Conference Call – Final". Voxant FD (Fair Disclosure) Wire. April 26, 2007.
  50. ^ "Best Buy's Shanghai Store Opens for Business". SinoCast China Business Daily News (Abstracts). January 29, 2007.
  51. ^ John Laposky (April 9, 2007). "Best Buy Buys Speakeasy To Buoy Small-Business Services". TWICE.
  52. ^ Desiree J. Hanford (March 28, 2007). "FedEx Kinko's Makes Changes To Improve Rev, Package Volume". Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES.
  53. ^ "Best Buy ends sales of analog TVs". NBC News. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
  54. ^ Yalixa Rivera Cruz (January 11, 2008). "Variedad tecnológica". El Nuevo Día.
  55. ^ Nicole Maestri (March 4, 2008). "Office Depot introducing new tech support service".
  56. ^ Antone Gonsalves. "Best Buy To Recommend Blu-ray Hi-Def Video". Information Week. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  57. ^ Ben Cooper; Amy Shields (July 18, 2008). "Best Buy closes in on first stores as UK arrival nears". Retail Week.
  58. ^ a b Jackie Crosby (June 26, 2008). "Best Buy plans to double sales by 2013". Star Tribune.
  59. ^ ASHLEY M. HEHER (July 27, 2008). "Best Buy to open in-store music centers". AP Business Writer.
  60. ^ Scott Campbell. "Best Buy Begins Sales Of Apple's 3G iPhone". CRN. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
  61. ^ YINKA ADEGOKE. "Best Buy to buy Napster for $121 million". Reuters. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  62. ^ MARIA GALLUCCI (December 5, 2008). "Best Buy arrives in Mexico with opening of its second-largest store worldwide".
  63. ^ Miguel Bustillo (February 12, 2009). "Big-Box Retailer Goes Little; Best Buy Expands With Mobile-Phone Shops in Malls". The Wall Street Journal.
  64. ^ JACKIE CROSBY (June 25, 2009). "At Best Buy, a change at the top ; In the past year, Best Buy has seen falling profits, layoffs and competition from retailers such as Amazon and Wal-Mart as it works its way through the recession". Star-Tribune.
  65. ^ "Best Buy's Dunn Leaves Mixed Legacy". TWICE. April 23, 2012.
  66. ^ JACKIE CROSBY. "Best Buy to offer movie downloads". Star Tribune. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  67. ^ Richard Smirke (April 27, 2010). "Best Buy Unveils First U.K. Store". Billboard.biz.
  68. ^ Miguel Bustillo; Kathy Gordon (November 8, 2011). "Best Buy Leaves U.K., Reboots Phone Venture". The Wall Street Journal.
  69. ^ "Best Buy closes China outlets, poor grasp of local market blamed". Xinhua News Agency. February 28, 2011.
  70. ^ Josh Gingold. "Best Buy boldly leaping into managed IT services for small business". Zdnet. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  71. ^ Reisinger, Don (March 24, 2011). "Best Buy Revenue, Earnings Slip in 4th Quarter – During the Three-Month Span That Included the Prime Holiday Sales Period, the Consumer Electronics Retailer Took Its Biggest Hit in Entertainment Hardware and Software". CNET. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
  72. ^ a b c d e Ed Stych. "Report: Dunn resigned as Best Buy CEO amid investigation over possible personal misconduct". Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  73. ^ a b Kim Bhasin. "Best Buy Is Bringing In A Master Turnaround Artist". Business Insider. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  74. ^ "Why the grim reaper of retail hasn't come to claim Best Buy". July 17, 2017. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
  75. ^ a b c ANN ZIMMERMAN. "Best Buy Sells Europe Business Back to Carphone Warehouse". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  76. ^ a b c Chris Burritt; Sarah Shannon. "Best Buy Exits Europe With Stake Sale to Carphone Warehouse". Bloomberg News. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  77. ^ "Best Buy looks to new products to push sales". Minneapolis News.Net. August 26, 2014. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
  78. ^ "Future Shop shutters Canadian stores, will re-brand as Best Buy". The Globe and Mail. March 28, 2015. Retrieved March 28, 2015.
  79. ^ "Best Buy is closing all 250 of its mobile stores in the US". The Verge. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
  80. ^ Blumenthal, Eli (May 9, 2018). "For the first time in nearly 30 years, Best Buy's logo is getting a refresh". USA Today. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  81. ^ Morris, Chris (July 2, 2018). "End of a Era: Best Buy Significantly Cuts Back on CDs". Fortune. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  82. ^ "Welcome to the Best Buy Forums". Best Buy Forums. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  83. ^ Best Buy. Encyclopedia of Business in Today's World, Volume 1. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  84. ^ THOMAS LEE. "Best Buy ends flexible work program for its corporate employees". Star Tribune. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  85. ^ HUBERT JOLY. "Best Buy CEO on leadership: A comment I made was misconstrued". Star Tribune. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  86. ^ John H. Beisner and Jessian Davidson Miller (September 2001). "They're Making a Federal Case out of It ... In State Court". Center for Legal Policy at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. Civil Justice Report. Archived from the original on July 22, 2005. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
  87. ^ "UPDATE 2-Best Buy settles class-action bias lawsuit". Reuters. June 17, 2011. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  88. ^ "Best Buy agrees to $4.55 million settlement in TCPA class action". Legal Newsline. June 17, 2014. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  89. ^ Staff (May 27, 2007). "Best Buy Accused of Overcharging In-Store Shoppers". Associated Press (via CNBC). Retrieved August 8, 2012.
  90. ^ Lazarus, David (December 23, 2007). "Best Buy Kiosks Not Connected to Internet". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
  91. ^ Puzzanghera, Jim (April 11, 2008). "Retailers Fined over Digital TV – Consumers Are Being Deceived About the Upcoming Demise of Analog, the FCC Says". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 15, 2008. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
  92. ^ Ogg, Erica (May 19, 2008). "Best Buy challenges FCC over analog TV sales penalty". CNET. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  93. ^ Green Peace (August 20, 2007). "Companies Revealed To Be Purchasing Forest Destruction – Three Logging Firms Responsible for Majority of Destruction of Boreal Forest" (Press release). Greenpeace. Archived from the original on October 21, 2007. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
  94. ^ Jennifer Berry (January 26, 2009). "Best Buy To Launch E-cycling at All Locations". Retrieved January 1, 2013.
  95. ^ Aston, Adam (April 24, 2012). "How Best Buy Makes Money Recycling America's Electronics". GreenBiz. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
  96. ^ "Statement: Best Buy Recognized Among Nation's Green Powered Organizations by U.S. EPA – Best Buy Reduces Carbon Emissions Through Renewable Energy Alternativaes" (Press release). Best Buy (via Thomson Reuters Investor Relation Services). May 11, 2012. Retrieved August 8, 2012.

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Best_Buy&oldid=885808365"