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Best Buy Closing 50 Stores
An anonymous reader tips news that electronics retailer Best Buy will be closing 50 of its big-box stores across the U.S. this year, and laying off hundreds of corporate workers besides. The company plans to start testing new types of outlets as it tries to adapt to the changing face of retail sales. From the article:
"Best Buy shares were off 7.7% at $24.56 on Thursday afternoon on the New York Stock Exchange. Also Thursday, Best Buy reported a $1.7 billion loss for its fourth quarter ended March 3. ... Consumers armed with mobile phones are increasingly using stores as showrooms to check out merchandise they later purchase for less online, a trend greatly benefiting Internet retailers such as Amazon.com Inc. that aren't encumbered by the costs of running physical locations and in many cases don't have to collect sales tax. Meanwhile Apple Inc.'s phones and tablets, showcased in its own namesake stores, have eroded the status of specialty chains as the one-stop shop for the latest in gadgetry. In response, Best Buy said it will launch large-scale tests of what it calls new 'connected store' formats in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., as well as San Antonio. The stores, which will emphasize services such as technology support and wireless connections, will feature large new hubs at their center to assist shoppers, as well as reconfigured checkout lanes and new areas to accelerate the pickup of items purchased earlier online."
If any retail chain deserves to fail it is Best Buy.
Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
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For me, Best Buy is a matter of convenience. If I don't need it RIGHT THIS MINUTE, I will order it online from Newegg or Amazon and get it in a few days. But sometimes, you need something right now, and you're willing to pay a premium for it. For me, that premium is $10 or so more than what I could get online, assuming the product is under a hundred dollars. About a year ago, I needed an HDMI cable. Amazon had it for ten bucks. So I said, all right, going to Best Buy, if they have it for around twenty they've got my business. The cheapest six foot HDMI cable they had, from their own house brand, was forty dollars. And that's not even touching on the sales tax.
Occasionally living proof of the Ballmer peak.
I went into a Best Buy just last week. My wireless mouse was acting up and tired of replacing batteries, I wanted a good old fashioned wired mouse. After searching for an employee to show me where they were (because I couldn't seem to locate them myself) I was shown to a small corner of the showroom behind the Ipad 2 displays.
23 mice. Thats it. Every last one of them was Wireless. When I asked about this I was shown some package deals they had of Keyboard and Mouse (which I didn't need) that had a wired mouse. Aside from being horribly cheap looking, I didn't need the keyboard.
When I got home, I went on Amazon.com, read a few reviews, and ordered excatly what I wanted. Its on its way as I type this, sure I didn't have it same day...but when you can no longer even FIND what you're looking for in a big box store, what the hell is the point?
I couldn't agree more. On top of what the op stated, I can't stand being literally stalked by a comsuck salesman from the second that I walk in the door. When BestBuy started allowing comcast people to follow you from point of entry to anywhere you went in the store in order to bug you about switching your non existant television service, I stopped shopping there. It was like I was being followed by a persistent pop-up that I couldn't turn off. Worst part about it was that I had to insult the salesman to get him to leave me be. A string of "No" and "leave me alone" did no good. I'll stick to amazon and Microcenter for when I need something fast.
Warning: Corny karma killing post above.
"This is a great product, you've made a solid choice. It will be a good investment for years to come."
"Okay, I'll get it."
"Sure, but you'll want the extended warranty."
"Why?"
"Because these are badly made, they break constantly and are very expensive to fix."
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
I like killing time at Best Buy. I never actually buy anything from them, way overpriced. But when I want to see if something looks like quality or crap it's a good place to go for a demo.
But then I become tempted to buy something.... A few weeks ago I wanted to get a new screen protector for my wife's Samsung Epic. "Can I help you sir?" "Yeah, do you have a screen film for this phone?" "Yes, we have this one with a lifetime warranty for 20 dollars."
Honest Abe. 20 bucks for a fancy piece of scotch tape.
"Oh, we're going broke!!!!" Good.
Forbes had a really good article explaining why this was inevitable a few months ago. The author was absolutely dead right about his central point contrasting best buy and amazon.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrydownes/2012/01/02/why-best-buy-is-going-out-of-business-gradually/
He makes the point that it isn't about money, it's about the customer experience and he is absolutely right. Amazon goes to extremes to make the customer have a better experience. Best Buy goes to extremes to make the customer more profitable. Best Buy needs to drop their customer as the enemy mentality and learned to embrace the customer instead of alienating them on a routine basis.
Sales tax doesn't bother me. I don't even notice it on anything that isn't a really large purchase particularly since from most places you pay shipping anyhow so it is kinda a wash. Also I'm willing to pay more for local convenience. It is nice to just go and get something, and not have to wait, and also be able to take it back, should that be needed. However there's a limit to what I'll pay, it has to be in the same ballpark.
So one time I'm looking at cheap(ish) speakers. I find some JBL E series that looks good. J&R had them for like $300, shipping included (who is a retail store I might add, they aren't mail order only). Ok that's good, and shipping is non-trivial because they are big towers. However let's check local. Nice to not have to wait a week (things that big come by train) and if there's a problem I'd rather take them back to the store than fuck around with shipping something that big for RMA. Best Buy is listed as the only local dealer by JBL.
So I head over there. They do have them in stock... For $600. Are you fucking kidding me? Double? You want twice the price of J&R? Hell no. So J&R got the order.
Best Buy wants to price themselves like they are some kind of premium shop. However their employees don't know shit. They try to pretend they do, which is more annoying than if they just said "I'm not a subject matter expert, I'm just here to help you with basic retail support." So if you don't get the premium service, why the premium price?
Hence I never shop there. I've bought things form Wilson Audio, which is a local premiums shop and ya, it is expensive but they really do have some experts there. I also shop at Target, no premium service there but the prices are good and I can get what I want right now (and physically look at things before buying).
Best Buy is being killed by their own stupidity, not by Amazon.
When I worked for Sears ten years ago I refused to "push" extended warranties. I told the customer that for $25 extra they can warranty their refrigerator five years and get free replacement of food if there's a power outage or failure. Plus repair. 95% of the time they'd say "no" and I'd ask "Are you sure?" and then drop it.
Sears responded by pulling me off the floor (thus I earn no money except min. wage) and making me watch Warranty training videos, because my EW percentage was too low. Basically punishment.
I didn't stay at that store long. I thought it would be a fun parttime job for extra cash, but it made me feel dirty instead.
EWs truly are a waste of money. Appliances either suffer infant mortality (first few months) or end-of-life mortality (15-20 years). The infant mortality is covered by the manufacturer's 1 year deal, and EOL is just EOL. Extended warranty covers neither of these two cases.
My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
No one seems to have brought it up so I will. I don't mind paying a premium for getting an item today. Or for being able to hold the thing in my hands while I'm making a decision. But they're so worried about getting ripped off, they treat everyone like a criminal. Their security at the front of the store and their policy of requiring GOVERMNMENT-ISSUED PHOTO ID to return an item, even if purchased with a credit card, is absurd. Next up: a full-fledged TSA groping on the way out the door. No thanks. Good riddance.
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I recently found myself in the market for a digital piano. I went to my local (actually local) piano store and checked what they had (wanting to feel the keys more than anything else), and fell in love with a particular model. They had it for $699. I went online and found an online retailer who had it for $499 ($20 shipping) in a special sale. As this is an actual local store, with actual local owners, I called the owner up and explained the price I had found (with a printout ready, which he didn't even demand).
Although he said he couldn't match that price without taking a loss, he immediately offered to knock $100 off his price, and to take my old model on consignment. In addition, he offered some great advice about stands, offered to deliver it for free. He also explained that he wanted me to be happy with it, so I shouldn't hesitate to return it if I had any problems with it. So, I went with the local guys, and picked it up (and the owner even stayed around 15 minutes after closing to seal the deal that very day).
All told, I probably ended up paying around $100 extra to stay local. But with the return policy being humane, the service incredible, and with actual expertise on the accessories needed, I still feel good about it, and feel it was money well spent. Had I demoed the unit at Best Buy and they'd had such a high price, I likely would've ordered online without a second thought, as I know they have a crappy return policy, no expertise, and no service to speak of.
Retailers need to know that price is not the sole factor that drives people towards (or away from) online retailers. Showrooming isn't all about price. With the piano, I paid the extra money for service and expertise (and to support that service and expertise being available in the future), online didn't just win instantly because of price. Lower prices aren't the reason I use Best Buy (and their ilk) as a showroom. Crappy service, pushy sales, and bad policies are the reason I showroom. Prices are just the excuse.