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Best Buy, the last national electronics chain, is counting on these advisors to distinguish it from Amazon.com Inc., the company’s competitor, partner, and would-be vanquisher. With more than 1,000 big-box stores in North America and about 125,000 employees, Best Buy was supposed to have succumbed to the inevitable. “Everyone thought we were going to die,” says Hubert Joly, who was hired as chief executive officer in August 2012 after profits shrunk about 90 percent in one quarter and his predecessor resigned amid an investigation into his relationship with an employee.
Instead, Best Buy has become an improbable survivor led by an unlikely boss. Joly was raised and educated in France, trained at McKinsey & Co., and previously employed by hospitality company Carlson, based outside Minneapolis, and media conglomerate Vivendi SA, where he greenlighted a little game called World of Warcraft. He’s the first outside CEO in the chain’s 52-year history. He had no retail experience—Best Buy’s stock fell 10 percent the day he was named CEO—but Joly understands how to value, and capture, customers’ time. Comparable sales rose 5.6 percent last year and 9 percent during the Christmas season, the biggest holiday gain since 2003. The stock price has quadrupled. Even Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is impressed. “The last five years, since Hubert came to Best Buy, have been remarkable,” he said at an appearance in April.
Geek Squad to the rescue?
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Friday July 20 2018, @08:42PM (5 children)
At a 20-30% mark up over list price, you can make a lot of money.
Every time I've *ever* bought or looked at buying something from "Best" Buy, it's always at least 20% over the list price.
I suppose that having a clueless customer base really helps too.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by ilPapa on Friday July 20 2018, @09:40PM (1 child)
Nah. I just bought a Galaxy Tab E there as a gift and it was cheaper than anywhere else. I recently bought a SteelSeries gaming headset and it was the same price as anywhere else and I was able to take it home and start using it immediately.
I like Best Buy. You can recycle old electronics there safely (at least at the one by me) and sometimes you don't want to wait. It's a good store, and it keeps people working who appear to be relatively happy at their jobs (unlike Amazon). Got no problem with Best Buy.
You are still welcome on my lawn.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 20 2018, @09:59PM
Jeff Bezos is very happy with his job.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 21 2018, @01:10AM (1 child)
Every retail outfit has markups - some items with large ones, some items with little or none at all. Best Buy's cables and the little stuff? Yeah, big profit margins there. TVs, laptops, and other big-ticket items? Little to none. Sounds like in your case you only ever looked at Best Buy is when you wanted the little things. It happens. Me, I go to Best Buy when I need to replace something big... and I visit Microcenter or Amazon for the small.
Your mileage may vary.
(Score: 2) by schad on Saturday July 21 2018, @06:15PM
I go to Microcenter whenever I can because I very strongly want them to continue to exist.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday July 21 2018, @02:01PM
Making your clueless customers feel good about their purchase and themselves is the art here, and it is real value for some people - sure they might have saved 20% by picking something out online themselves, but they might also have spent that 80% on something that gave them unending hassle and embarrassment, ultimately going back to the overpriced store to get something pre-sorted for their needs.
Doesn't work for me, but I can definitely see my grandparents' generation going for it.
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