# Best Buy Q2 Earnings Fall 91%



## mechman (Feb 8, 2007)

Source: TWICE


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## spytech (May 22, 2012)

First post for me here......
I never liked shopping there, as the prices are way out of line and the selection is always lacking. They are real good, at stocking their shelves, with hi-margin product. My experience with asking questions about product, has left me feeling, that the floor help is pretty much worthless, when it comes to product knowledge. 
All in all, I'm not surprised.....They, will have to really make some major changes, to survive their competition. It's my estimation, that the overhead is killing them, for the most part.


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## tripplej (Oct 23, 2011)

I agree with you spytech, Best Buy has to do a lot to recover from where they are now and I doubt even with a new CEO they can do it.

If you want something quick and cheap, you can go to Walmart, Target, Costco, etc. for your A/V fix. If you can wait a bit and get it cheaper, you can go to Amazon and other online retailers. 

I don't know anybody who actually bought A/V gear from Best Buy. Most folks I know go there to touch/hear/see the product but then will go online to buy the product.

The geek squad is also not very good from what I hear. 

They will have to do something drastic to bring back customers otherwise they will be out of business like Circuit City in 5 or 10 years if that long.


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

^^^ you said it well. Although, I must add, I bought two flat panels from them years ago *only* because they were willing to match the best online prices I could find.

All-in-all... The only reason I would go there now is to physically get a peek at a new tv. Other than that, it's a non-factor for my shopping needs.


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## tripplej (Oct 23, 2011)

I am very surprised they even matched the online advertisements. 

A few years ago, Best Buy wouldn't even match the prices from their own website for the same product that was in the store. They were trying to push everybody to buy from online. Not sure if this policy is still in place but anybody who doesn't even match their own store website is a retailer asking for trouble.


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## J&D (Apr 11, 2008)

I hope they can figure a way out of it. I do not shop there myself but they do employ a fair number of people who need the work.

Couple of ideas I have. Abandon stocking all of the same that walmart, sams and target currently carry. Sell all of that stuff at a lower price online with free shipping and next day in-store pickup to compete against all of them plus amazon. 

Expand Magnolia to display a wider array of higher end gear and create more "experience" spaces. Be really creative in showing average consumers how they can integrate the latest gear into their homes and offer services and support that is above and beyond what can be had at any other outlet. Extend this concept into the photo and computer areas and train/hire staff to be knowledgeable and actually know something about what they are selling. 

I personally think anything less than a total transformation will end in failure.


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## spytech (May 22, 2012)

Forgot about mentioning "The Geek Squad"............
I know more people, who have been completely ripped of by that service, than I can count.
One friend, received a long distance phone bill, whereas, the tech had called for support, out of the country, on his personal phone. Needless to say, he was not very happy to receive a phone bill, in excess of $80.00 additional to his normal usage......
The worst part, was the PC system was left in an non-operational condition, and there charge was $129.00
I fixed it the next day, in less than an hour.
I think they will be history, in the not too distant future....:yes:


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## tripplej (Oct 23, 2011)

Yahoo reports on Best Buy compensation.

The new CEO of Best Buy takes in $32 million over three years and get this.. If he doesn't get his visa for his employment by the end of next month with Best Buy, he gets more than $6.25 million..

Good to be the king!


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

I would personally like to see them succeed but they certainly need to overhaul their business plan. I still purchase Blu-Ray movies on occasion and earn reward points. That is the extent of my support other than small items. I doubt they'll ever be able to compete against online vendors when it comes to price. They have to offer something that nobody else does. I like the idea of going high end with their products but that would also require extensive training of all employees. I would start with paying the employees more and thus bringing in a higher caliber job seeker. I think the chances of that happening are about 0%.


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## tripplej (Oct 23, 2011)

JBrax said:


> I think the chances of that happening are about 0%.


I agree with you 100%.. 

The new CEO will take the money and run once the company runs out of business.


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## bear creek (Jun 18, 2012)

Almost no brick and mortar store except the super high end home theater retailers is going to have really knowledgible help working there. And when I was shopping for my projector I got a lot of wrong answers from the help at Chealsea and Lews locally. Let's face it, they don't want to deal with techno geeks - they want to make a sale. Getting bogged down in minutiae makes a sale less likely.

Regarding Best Buy they do have one thing going for them -- the 30 days no restocking fee return policy. I'm willing to pay a bit more to get the ability to return an expensive item if I buy it and then genuinely don't like it. CostCo has a good return policy too, but they don't stock very many home theater items.

Best Buy also seems to have good prices for blu-ray disks. Some of the 3D disks for new release movies are on special for <$20.


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