Best Buy is closing 50 stores after losing money

Best Buy is closing 50 stores after losing money:

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

Best Buy feels Amazon squeeze:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-57406388-92/best-buy-feels-amazon-squeeze-to-close-50-big-box-stores/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=title

Not really a shocker because more and more people are shopping online these days and these big box, brick and mortar stores are going to have a hard time competing. I only go in Best Buy to get a hands on with something I am thinking of buying, then go online and beat their prices by by at least 20% or more. Maybe buy a blu-ray movie I want if it is on sale, but that is about it.

the way of BlockBuster

They also made a few bad bets on technology, stocking their shelves and product cages with stuff that just doesn't sell to a broad market.

It's about time...I'm surprised they made it this far. Next step is for them to go the way of Circuit City, and let Mom & Pop stores benefit from their demise.

Originally Posted by dandbj13

They also made a few bad bets on technology, stocking their shelves and product cages with stuff that just doesn't sell to a broad market.

And that would be? Never mind. But if you are serious about that :rolleyes:

Originally Posted by alnamvet68

It's about time...I'm surprised they made it this far. Next step is for them to go the way of Circuit City, and let Mom & Pop stores benefit from their demise.

I'm pretty sure that ship has sailed. Ma/Pas were put out of business because they couldn't stock a large variety of products, and the ones they did were way overpriced. Stores like the big box saved us from Ma/Pa. There is no going back now. Next stop, the online store.

Originally Posted by dandbj13

They also made a few bad bets on technology, stocking their shelves and product cages with stuff that just doesn't sell to a broad market.

I'm not sure if that was the biggest reason. I think the business models for selling technology is just changing. Why drive to a store, wait in line, sit in traffic, if you could buy the same goods cheaper online and have them shipped to your store? Soon, I may not have a brick and morter store to buy electronics from anymore. It will be all online, or Walmart :mad:

Originally Posted by kbz1960

And that would be? Never mind. But if you are serious about that :rolleyes:

I'm quite serious about it. I think they made a big bet on profitless netbooks back in the day which was a huge mistake. I also think their big bet on tablets was a huge mistake. I am still waiting on evidence that there is a tablet market.

They stretched themselves too thin selling all kinds of products like refrigerators and vacuums, and everything else you could think of.

They bet too heavily on the niche, geek market. It is one thing to offer a few anti-Apple products for that particular market. There are those super geeks that will buy anything with lots of lights and buttons. But they counted way too much on that market which is not, and never has been a mass market. They stocked up on every piece of technocrap out there without realizing how small that market really was. They had to rely on deep discounting and rebates to move product rather than having products people actually wanted to buy.

Their mistakes were legion.

By the way, if you really want me to name a product, let's go with the HP TouchPad. They had so many and sold so few, they demanded that HP take them back. I'm sure I could come up with more examples if I tried. :)

Originally Posted by brucep1

I'm not sure if that was the biggest reason. I think the business models for selling technology is just changing. Why drive to a store, wait in line, sit in traffic, if you could buy the same goods cheaper online and have them shipped to your store? Soon, I may not have a brick and morter store to buy electronics from anymore. It will be all online, or Walmart :mad:

Apple has proven that you can sell electronics in traditional stores. You can buy their products from their online store, even from Amazon. Yet, they are the most profitable retail chain per square-foot in the world. There is clearly a way to make it work. BB is an example how how to make it fail.

I like the brick and mortar stores. I like walking in and playing around with the gadgets.

When I shop online I often hesitate. Sometimes after calculating the shipping I find that the online savings often becomes negligible - especially if I choose the fastest method. I'm more of a "want it now" kind of guy. Plus, the savings are mostly from US retailers and it doesn't really make a difference for a Canadian consumer like myself (unless I'm just shopping at the wrong online outlets).

I can't imagine this world without these stores... maybe just less of them, but not becoming extinct! Is it possible??

So you're saying they would be fine if they were an apple store? But you're right about stocking everything under the sun. I also think part of it is the help there or at least the one near me. Not even the geek squad knows anything. That and over saturation of these stores.

Originally Posted by kbz1960

So you're saying they would be fine if they were an apple store? But you're right about stocking everything under the sun. I also think part of it is the help there or at least the one near me. Not even the geek squad knows anything. That and over saturation of these stores.

Wow! We almost agree on everything. :)

We know they sell plenty of Apple products. I just read a report that said BB sells almost as many iPhones as Apple. But that's not really my point. Apple products are a mainstream bet, for better or worse, right now. Most of the stuff they carry is not.

Also, it is just impossible to have a staff that is knowledgeable on everything. They hire cheap labor to be experts on everything that plugs into a wall. A person can get much better information from a simple Google search than they can from a blue shirt.

Another lesson they could learn from Apple is merchandising. Everything in an Apple store is on and working to its full capacity. You can just walk up to any machine and do whatever that machine is capable of doing. It is telling that in the typical BB, the only computers that are online are in the Apple section. That's ridiculous. Then again, Apple pays for that. HP could care less. Why do you think MS are building their own retails stores in the style of Apple stores. Best Buy has done just about everything wrong that could be done.

When I hear that they aren't doing well I think to myself: Could their woeful service, training, and product prejudice have anything to do with their declining fortunes?

People on the forums have made it well known that staff at these stores are biased, ignorant, and plain rude when you express any interest in RIM products. And while I understand their souring towards RIM is not the reason. I do think it is an example of the one of its bigger problems. When they address that maybe they'll be back on the upswing.

So I don't mean to be a but, again, when I hear that they are not doing so well I think to myself:

Good, they deserve it.

I think a lot of people go to BestBuy to try a product then go online to compare pricing.

In BestBuy, and other stores, I tell them I find this item online for Ex. $10 less and no one will match online prices. I prefer to buy products in a store. BestBuy should start competing with online prices if it's legit :eek:

Originally Posted by brucep1

I'm not sure if that was the biggest reason. I think the business models for selling technology is just changing. Why drive to a store, wait in line, sit in traffic, if you could buy the same goods cheaper online and have them shipped to your store? Soon, I may not have a brick and morter store to buy electronics from anymore. It will be all online, or Walmart :mad:

....and that is exactly why Mom & Pop stores will make a comeback; just like in specialty grocery stores have made a comeback in my 'hood', with butcher shops, bakery shops, and old fashioned soda shops replete with the elusive pretzels stick sold by the "one", and a fresh coke, or egg cream made to order with real syrup and seltzer. To be sure, we will pay more, but the shops in my neighborhood are doing a thriving business, with the attention to detail, quality, and old fashioned professional advice you don't get from a big box store that sells virtually everything under the sun, except that AK-47, AH-64, or Cruise missle.

50 stores out of 14,000? :rolleyes: I think I'd rethink pulling the emergency alarms.

Haha. That's what they get for cancelling my 64 gb pb order.