8 ms·

Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn resigns

41 points by zacharye 15y ago

chollida1 15y ago
> INNEAPOLIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The board Is INNEAPOLIS a place or did they really misspell the companies head quarters location. A quick search shows their head quarters are in Minnesota so it looks like they did. Or possibly it's shoddy reporting by the website who cut and pasted the press release?
- AdamTReineke 15y ago
  Yeah, they're based out of Minneapolis. Probably a copy/paste error somewhere and they missed the first letter.
justjimmy 15y ago
All my Apple products have been purchased from Best Buy (except iPad 3 which I had engraved), why? Because of the Reward Visa that I have with BB. But I dread buying Apple products everytime I go to BB – you never find someone that's free, I'd have to hunt down employees or stand next to one as they helped other customers (which took up to 30 minutes once) and wait for my turn. And after telling them what I exactly want, they'd disappear for 15 minutes in the backroom, only to come out with the wrong model, another 15 minutes before they tell me they don't have it in stock. It's a horrible buying experience but I endure it for points (especially when one spends thousands of dollars, it can really rack up). It's the only reason why Best Buy still gets my money. (If Apple had their own Loyalty/Reward kind of program on top of their customer service, it'd be so full of win.)
- rumblestrut 15y ago
  It's funny that you never find someone that's free, when any time I go I get asked by no less than five people if I need assistance. My advice for Best Buy would be this: 1. Make sure all your displays work. 2. Stop your employees from treating customers like shark bait. That ought to do it.
- rahim 15y ago
  I've purchased two MacBook Airs from Best Buy and had the exact same experience. Walk in knowing exactly what I want and ready to buy, wait ~30 minutes for an associate to free up only to be told that he/she doesn't manage that area, and then wait some more for someone that does. The reason I bought from Best Buy rather than the Apple store is the discounted price. Best Buy sells the Air for something around $50 cheaper than Apple. I haven't made use of it yet, but their Black Tie warranty seems pretty good. You're covered for everything from hardware malfunction (out of your control) to accidental coffee spills (in your control).
- hyperbovine 15y ago
  Amazon has a Visa rewards card, sells Apple products, and won't even charge you tax.
  - gameshot911 15y ago
    Which means you need to remember to declare it on your tax returns. Seems more convenient to the buyer to charge it at the time of purchase, no? :)
    - hyperbovine 15y ago
      I will cede the moral high ground if you can honestly declare that you have done so for every purchase you have ever made online. Ever.
pavel_lishin 15y ago
> “I have enjoyed every one of my 28 years with this company, and I leave it today in position for a strong future. I am proud of my fellow employees and I wish them the best,” Dunn said, double-checking his parachute as he prepared to leap from the burning airplane.
walru 15y ago
I'd be hard pressed to blame the CEO for the all of the ills that plague Best Buy, though I have to give the man credit for knowing when to step aside. After 28 years with the company I'd say he deserves a rest. The problems that exist with the company, I think, mostly stem from the pool from which they have to select their work force. It's hard to keep up any sort of reputable service when you get so big. Saying that, Apple seems to be doing okay..
- bilbo0s 15y ago
  To be fair... Apple is training an Army of people on the same 4 products. Best Buy is trying to train an Army of people on a myriad number of products. Just sayin'.
- awayand 15y ago
  whatever a company does wrong is always the leadership's fault
  - righteous 15y ago
    The fish rots from the head back.
- LargeWu 15y ago
  The problems start at corporate HQ. I worked there as a contractor for a few years. Getting anything done there is a huge political struggle. When I was there, at least, B&M and dotcom were two separate concerns, often with conflicting goals. Product was off doing its own thing. Everybody there seemed to forget they were all playing for the same team. I routinely worked with MBA's from supposedly reputable schools who could put excel spreadsheets together, but couldn't interpret the results. Most full-timers spend their days in meetings while contractors do the real work. When I finally left, they offered me a few plush full time positions, in which I would have vague responsibilities and ill-defined deliverables. No thanks, I told them. Everybody there felt pretty smug when they were kicking Circuit City's ass. Now the shoe's on the other foot.
  - 15y ago
Jun8 15y ago
Uh-oh, this seems to be the beginning of the end for BB: once you get into this looking for a good CEO candidate thing, things generally do not go back up, e.g. Yahoo, Motorola. BB's problems are myriad, but to me a single problem stands out clearly, and it's not Amazon's competition: It's the hapless nature of their store associates: i) In BB stores, when you walk in it's always hard to find an associate. ii) When you do find them, they tend to be starry-eyed young guys who know next to nothing about the products and usually resort to random searching of the aisles, which of course you could have done yourself. iii) When they need to check for product info, e.g. "Do you have it in stock"", "Does this work with that?" They have to walk back to a computer screen on their desk and check using the browser, which of course you could have done much faster on your phone. It's hard to create a low-paid task force that's also knowledgeable about the intricacies of tons of electronic products. So the solution is to use in-store tablets with a helper app running on them. In other words, go to an Apple store, observe for 15 minutes, come back and replicate. BB already has great inventory APIs, coming up with a very useful v1.0 shouldn't be hard.
- warfangle 15y ago
  Apple Stores' POS/Associate system + automated B&H style purchase delivery + the removal of most packaged goods and leaving only display models = less shrinkage + more helpful associates + shorter lines = profit.
- lawnchair_larry 15y ago
  That isn't a problem at all for me. In fact I prefer to be left alone by sales people. I always know more about what I'm getting than they do, and like to take time weighing the options. My problem with them is that they have phased out a lot of non-store brand hardware (Dynex and Rocketfish are their store-brands) and put ridiculous markup on everything. Then they essentially scam you with marked up store brand crap or Monster Cable/Monster Power, then push silly Service Plans on you, and in some cases try and charge you for "calibration" or "optimization".
yuhong 15y ago
I wonder what would happen if Geek Squad's Robert Stephens was promoted up.
- 422long 15y ago
  Robert Stephen's left BBY last month
rickdale 15y ago
This type of business is bound to change as technology evolves. It used to be people would get the good information from Circuit City and then go across the street to Best Buy for better prices. And now Circuit City is gone. Somewhere down the line Best Buy started over charging for services that aren't necessary. My primary example of this is that they offer to come calibrate your new HDTV for $500 upon purchase. You can order the same software they are using off of amazon for $12. Another thing is their price on cables. They just rip you off and smile in your face. Its annoying. Geeks like to shop at tech stores, you know? These sorts of practices force us to purchase things online. I just think somewhere down the line Best Buy quit putting the customer first and just like the rest of the comments, this seems like the beginning of the end.
- mgkimsal 15y ago
  This seems to be very dependent on the people and store locations. We just bought a $2k HDTV, and weren't pressured in to warranty, weren't upsold on any services like that, and they delivered, installed and configured it for free. re: cables - every retail store rips you off. go to target, walmart, radio shack - they all have $20 cables that you can get online for $5. I've had other geeks laugh at me when I complain about cable pricing. "Dude, just get it online!". Well... when I need a cable, I need a cable. I don't want to preemptively buy 5-6 cheap ones online (however cheap they are) on the offchance that I'll need one of them later.
  - zbuc 15y ago
    I wonder if that's due to the profit margins on the big-ticket items(like an HDTV) being so low that they have to make it up on the accessories.
    - mgkimsal 15y ago
      maybe, and maybe, because we bought a more expensive one, there was no call/pressure to upsell? they'd already hit a profit min for that sale? still, I'm not even sure we were offered an extended warranty. Well... maybe. been a few months now - can't remember.
righteous 15y ago
I parted ways with Best Buy last month and the writing has been on the wall about Brian for months. Lackluster vision, missed opportunities to capitalize on growth combined with soft performance meant this was all but certain.
joshmlewis 15y ago
This is my rant about Best Buy: Coming from a technical family (my dad being an IT director) at a small age I was dissecting computers and fixing them back. I love computers and that's what lead me into web dev. I'm still very technical in this area and I'd say I'm a pretty good hardware and software fixer. That being said, when I go into BB it saddens me to see how they up-sell ignorant people. It bothers me so much. I'll be inline behind someone and they'll offer an initial setup and cleaning of your new PC for $75+ and I'm thinking to myself I could do this in 20 minutes and I'd do it for a lot less. Installing memory is way more than it should be. Backing up and restoring, etc, all relatively simple things they charge so much for. And without the "geek squad" prices, their hardware prices are just high. Best Buy is for ignorant consumers who don't know about computers or geeks that need something asap and cave to pay the difference. There needs to be a chain like this that doesn't screw people over, that has excellent customer service and doesn't continue to BS people about things that they really don't need. There's a business model to be had with treating people right.
- untog 15y ago
  That being said, when I go into BB it saddens me to see how they up-sell ignorant people. It bothers me so much. I'll be inline behind someone and they'll offer an initial setup and cleaning of your new PC for $75+ and I'm thinking to myself I could do this in 20 minutes and I'd do it for a lot less. Installing memory is way more than it should be. Backing up and restoring, etc, all relatively simple things they charge so much for. You're right, and there's a big potential for disruption here. But it isn't easy- once you have a service that relies on physical presence somewhere things get expensive quickly. But I can see it- a sort of AirBnB for tech support. Or something.
- aswanson 15y ago
  Right. I hate their "bait and switch" tactics with the low tagged price on a given machine acting as a trojan horse for their ridiculously expensive warranties. They must place a ton of pressure on their salespeople to push them; I refused one a few years back and the customer service guy put me through a gauntlet of managers drilling me on why I needed it before they all finally fell back. The average non-tech savvy customer is just going to cave in.
fourmii 15y ago
BB isn't going away, it'll just be forced to change. Change it's atrocious cust. service, adopt some technology and probably close a ton of stores. Not to mention have more competitive pricing. Now I'm not at all a fan of BB. But I think BB will survive in some form because there are still many people who still like to have things instantly and see/try physically. There's still a segment out there, like the older generation that still need to go somewhere for 'advice' and get hands on goods.
- zacharycohn 15y ago
  Don't be so sure BB isn't going away... remember that Circuit City died a few years ago.
- jader201 15y ago
  The same could be said about buying books and renting videos, but Borders and Blockbusters are both on their way out. I agree with the other comments that this is the beginning of the end for BB. We are in an era where online businesses are starting to have a real impact on brick and mortar stores.
  - Goronmon 15y ago
    The same could be said about buying books and renting videos, but Borders and Blockbusters are both on their way out. Until someone figures out a way to stream me a SATA cable that I'm missing for a new computer build I'm putting together on a Saturday, I think that Best Buy will be able to hang on for quite a while.
- projct 15y ago
  I know you picked 'the older generation' as an example, but I think it's worth pointing out that I see far too many people under the age of 30 who are clueless, or worse, they feel they have a grasp of tech but can barely figure out anything other than Facebook. Many people 60+ are feeling left out and jumping on the bandwagon. All ages who exhibit the Dunning-Kruger effect in this manner will likely never know they are clueless. I'm 27, and the number of people I know around school (TAs included) is astounding, even in CS. In my local (Fort Lauderdale, FL) best buy and apple store, there are plenty of these types of people too. I think at BB when they figure out how to sell themselves they end up at the geek squad.
ben1040 15y ago
I wonder if Ron Johnson (the guy behind the Apple retail concept) could have turned around Best Buy, had BBY picked him up instead of JC Penney. The Apple store philosophy seems to be "We think most people will be delighted with our products. But if we can't make you a happier person for buying this product, we're just wasting your time trying to sell it to you, and making it less likely you'll want to come back when we do offer a product you might enjoy." Meanwhile every shopping experience I've had at Best Buy tells me their philosophy is "You need x, but we'll convince you to buy y, and we'll try our hardest to pack in a high margin accessory bundle too. So buy it and get out, so I can move on to the next sucker. Oh, and you had better be buying a service plan on that." Then again, if you can't turn the place around by making it a place where people actually want to shop and reflect favorably upon their experiences, then maybe the big box electronics concept is just falling out of favor altogether.
- edwinnathaniel 15y ago
  Can you find a company that is replicable anywhere in the world at the scale of Apple/Best Buy?
ArbitraryLimits 15y ago
Speaking as a Minnesota native, this is just all kinds of sad. Believe it or not, Best Buy used to be a more or less local chain that was known for their customer service and that inspired all kinds of customer loyalty. They were like the Fry's of the Midwest, except that it was usually possible to get useful technical information out of the employees.
saturdaysaint 15y ago
Maybe it's just me, but I think a lot of the things that drew people to Best Buy at one point - powerful computers, big TVs, customized theater setups, rows of DVDs - have gradually gone from sexy to culturally irrelevant (still a profitable niche, quite possibly) in the last 15 years. They've become the workmanlike, unsexy appliance showfloors they put out of business by the early 00's.
- aswanson 15y ago
  Yeah, it's like, aside from layout, Walmart offers the same stuff.
alexqgb 15y ago
Wouldn't it be something if Radio Shack outlasted Best Buy and Circuit City both.
astrodust 15y ago
I hope they frisk him at the door on the way out and double-check his receipts.
fruchtose 15y ago
Dunn has been there for 28 years. He started as a sales associate an become CEO in 2009--truly a remarkable career progression. Dunn may not have caused Best Buy's mess, but he was promoted by the same people that oversaw it.
T_S_ 15y ago
It's going to be harder and harder to operate businesses that rely on the ignorance of their customers to achieve their margin goals. The last time I was in BB, I was trying to pick up a Roku box. After upselling me by being out of stock on the heavily advertised cheaper model, the sales person tried to sell me a connector cable that cost more than the box itself. Nice! There is no real news about BB's business model in this announcement. A more interesting question is what remaining verticals are relatively untouched by transparency and fact-based marketing?
jerednel 15y ago
I purchase from Best Buy because of the no-interest deals they have with their credit cards. It's convenient when I want something now, and know that I'll have an extra few injections of extra cash coming in the next couple of months to support it. Regarding customer service, I had a great experience at a Chicago store. I just bought the 11" Air and decided it was too small for me, so I took it back with the intention of upgrading to the 13". I was waiting in line to exchange, when they noticed I was exchanging a MacBook and they whisked me off to a separate area to complete the exchange, saving me about 15 minutes of waiting time. With regards to pushing their warranty's, I think they asked me once and then let it go. I agree that some of their stuff is overpriced, and they could improve their sales workflow with tablets or whatever, but my experiences don't reflect the negative ones I'm reading about here.

41 points by zacharye 15y ago

> INNEAPOLIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The board Is INNEAPOLIS a place or did they really misspell the companies head quarters location. A quick search shows their head quarters are in Minnesota so it looks like they did. Or possibly it's shoddy reporting by the website who cut and pasted the press release?

AdamTReineke 15y ago
Yeah, they're based out of Minneapolis. Probably a copy/paste error somewhere and they missed the first letter.

justjimmy 15y ago

All my Apple products have been purchased from Best Buy (except iPad 3 which I had engraved), why? Because of the Reward Visa that I have with BB. But I dread buying Apple products everytime I go to BB – you never find someone that's free, I'd have to hunt down employees or stand next to one as they helped other customers (which took up to 30 minutes once) and wait for my turn. And after telling them what I exactly want, they'd disappear for 15 minutes in the backroom, only to come out with the wrong model, another 15 minutes before they tell me they don't have it in stock. It's a horrible buying experience but I endure it for points (especially when one spends thousands of dollars, it can really rack up). It's the only reason why Best Buy still gets my money. (If Apple had their own Loyalty/Reward kind of program on top of their customer service, it'd be so full of win.)

rumblestrut 15y ago
It's funny that you never find someone that's free, when any time I go I get asked by no less than five people if I need assistance. My advice for Best Buy would be this: 1. Make sure all your displays work. 2. Stop your employees from treating customers like shark bait. That ought to do it.
rahim 15y ago
I've purchased two MacBook Airs from Best Buy and had the exact same experience. Walk in knowing exactly what I want and ready to buy, wait ~30 minutes for an associate to free up only to be told that he/she doesn't manage that area, and then wait some more for someone that does. The reason I bought from Best Buy rather than the Apple store is the discounted price. Best Buy sells the Air for something around $50 cheaper than Apple. I haven't made use of it yet, but their Black Tie warranty seems pretty good. You're covered for everything from hardware malfunction (out of your control) to accidental coffee spills (in your control).
hyperbovine 15y ago
Amazon has a Visa rewards card, sells Apple products, and won't even charge you tax.
- gameshot911 15y ago
  Which means you need to remember to declare it on your tax returns. Seems more convenient to the buyer to charge it at the time of purchase, no? :)
  - hyperbovine 15y ago
    I will cede the moral high ground if you can honestly declare that you have done so for every purchase you have ever made online. Ever.

pavel_lishin 15y ago

> “I have enjoyed every one of my 28 years with this company, and I leave it today in position for a strong future. I am proud of my fellow employees and I wish them the best,” Dunn said, double-checking his parachute as he prepared to leap from the burning airplane.

walru 15y ago

I'd be hard pressed to blame the CEO for the all of the ills that plague Best Buy, though I have to give the man credit for knowing when to step aside. After 28 years with the company I'd say he deserves a rest. The problems that exist with the company, I think, mostly stem from the pool from which they have to select their work force. It's hard to keep up any sort of reputable service when you get so big. Saying that, Apple seems to be doing okay..

bilbo0s 15y ago
To be fair... Apple is training an Army of people on the same 4 products. Best Buy is trying to train an Army of people on a myriad number of products. Just sayin'.
awayand 15y ago
whatever a company does wrong is always the leadership's fault
- righteous 15y ago
  The fish rots from the head back.
LargeWu 15y ago
The problems start at corporate HQ. I worked there as a contractor for a few years. Getting anything done there is a huge political struggle. When I was there, at least, B&M and dotcom were two separate concerns, often with conflicting goals. Product was off doing its own thing. Everybody there seemed to forget they were all playing for the same team. I routinely worked with MBA's from supposedly reputable schools who could put excel spreadsheets together, but couldn't interpret the results. Most full-timers spend their days in meetings while contractors do the real work. When I finally left, they offered me a few plush full time positions, in which I would have vague responsibilities and ill-defined deliverables. No thanks, I told them. Everybody there felt pretty smug when they were kicking Circuit City's ass. Now the shoe's on the other foot.
- 15y ago

Jun8 15y ago

Uh-oh, this seems to be the beginning of the end for BB: once you get into this looking for a good CEO candidate thing, things generally do not go back up, e.g. Yahoo, Motorola. BB's problems are myriad, but to me a single problem stands out clearly, and it's not Amazon's competition: It's the hapless nature of their store associates: i) In BB stores, when you walk in it's always hard to find an associate. ii) When you do find them, they tend to be starry-eyed young guys who know next to nothing about the products and usually resort to random searching of the aisles, which of course you could have done yourself. iii) When they need to check for product info, e.g. "Do you have it in stock"", "Does this work with that?" They have to walk back to a computer screen on their desk and check using the browser, which of course you could have done much faster on your phone. It's hard to create a low-paid task force that's also knowledgeable about the intricacies of tons of electronic products. So the solution is to use in-store tablets with a helper app running on them. In other words, go to an Apple store, observe for 15 minutes, come back and replicate. BB already has great inventory APIs, coming up with a very useful v1.0 shouldn't be hard.

warfangle 15y ago
Apple Stores' POS/Associate system + automated B&H style purchase delivery + the removal of most packaged goods and leaving only display models = less shrinkage + more helpful associates + shorter lines = profit.
lawnchair_larry 15y ago
That isn't a problem at all for me. In fact I prefer to be left alone by sales people. I always know more about what I'm getting than they do, and like to take time weighing the options. My problem with them is that they have phased out a lot of non-store brand hardware (Dynex and Rocketfish are their store-brands) and put ridiculous markup on everything. Then they essentially scam you with marked up store brand crap or Monster Cable/Monster Power, then push silly Service Plans on you, and in some cases try and charge you for "calibration" or "optimization".

yuhong 15y ago

I wonder what would happen if Geek Squad's Robert Stephens was promoted up.

422long 15y ago
Robert Stephen's left BBY last month

rickdale 15y ago

This type of business is bound to change as technology evolves. It used to be people would get the good information from Circuit City and then go across the street to Best Buy for better prices. And now Circuit City is gone. Somewhere down the line Best Buy started over charging for services that aren't necessary. My primary example of this is that they offer to come calibrate your new HDTV for $500 upon purchase. You can order the same software they are using off of amazon for $12. Another thing is their price on cables. They just rip you off and smile in your face. Its annoying. Geeks like to shop at tech stores, you know? These sorts of practices force us to purchase things online. I just think somewhere down the line Best Buy quit putting the customer first and just like the rest of the comments, this seems like the beginning of the end.

mgkimsal 15y ago
This seems to be very dependent on the people and store locations. We just bought a $2k HDTV, and weren't pressured in to warranty, weren't upsold on any services like that, and they delivered, installed and configured it for free. re: cables - every retail store rips you off. go to target, walmart, radio shack - they all have $20 cables that you can get online for $5. I've had other geeks laugh at me when I complain about cable pricing. "Dude, just get it online!". Well... when I need a cable, I need a cable. I don't want to preemptively buy 5-6 cheap ones online (however cheap they are) on the offchance that I'll need one of them later.
- zbuc 15y ago
  I wonder if that's due to the profit margins on the big-ticket items(like an HDTV) being so low that they have to make it up on the accessories.
  - mgkimsal 15y ago
    maybe, and maybe, because we bought a more expensive one, there was no call/pressure to upsell? they'd already hit a profit min for that sale? still, I'm not even sure we were offered an extended warranty. Well... maybe. been a few months now - can't remember.

righteous 15y ago

I parted ways with Best Buy last month and the writing has been on the wall about Brian for months. Lackluster vision, missed opportunities to capitalize on growth combined with soft performance meant this was all but certain.

joshmlewis 15y ago

This is my rant about Best Buy: Coming from a technical family (my dad being an IT director) at a small age I was dissecting computers and fixing them back. I love computers and that's what lead me into web dev. I'm still very technical in this area and I'd say I'm a pretty good hardware and software fixer. That being said, when I go into BB it saddens me to see how they up-sell ignorant people. It bothers me so much. I'll be inline behind someone and they'll offer an initial setup and cleaning of your new PC for $75+ and I'm thinking to myself I could do this in 20 minutes and I'd do it for a lot less. Installing memory is way more than it should be. Backing up and restoring, etc, all relatively simple things they charge so much for. And without the "geek squad" prices, their hardware prices are just high. Best Buy is for ignorant consumers who don't know about computers or geeks that need something asap and cave to pay the difference. There needs to be a chain like this that doesn't screw people over, that has excellent customer service and doesn't continue to BS people about things that they really don't need. There's a business model to be had with treating people right.

untog 15y ago
That being said, when I go into BB it saddens me to see how they up-sell ignorant people. It bothers me so much. I'll be inline behind someone and they'll offer an initial setup and cleaning of your new PC for $75+ and I'm thinking to myself I could do this in 20 minutes and I'd do it for a lot less. Installing memory is way more than it should be. Backing up and restoring, etc, all relatively simple things they charge so much for. You're right, and there's a big potential for disruption here. But it isn't easy- once you have a service that relies on physical presence somewhere things get expensive quickly. But I can see it- a sort of AirBnB for tech support. Or something.
aswanson 15y ago
Right. I hate their "bait and switch" tactics with the low tagged price on a given machine acting as a trojan horse for their ridiculously expensive warranties. They must place a ton of pressure on their salespeople to push them; I refused one a few years back and the customer service guy put me through a gauntlet of managers drilling me on why I needed it before they all finally fell back. The average non-tech savvy customer is just going to cave in.

fourmii 15y ago

BB isn't going away, it'll just be forced to change. Change it's atrocious cust. service, adopt some technology and probably close a ton of stores. Not to mention have more competitive pricing. Now I'm not at all a fan of BB. But I think BB will survive in some form because there are still many people who still like to have things instantly and see/try physically. There's still a segment out there, like the older generation that still need to go somewhere for 'advice' and get hands on goods.

zacharycohn 15y ago
Don't be so sure BB isn't going away... remember that Circuit City died a few years ago.
jader201 15y ago
The same could be said about buying books and renting videos, but Borders and Blockbusters are both on their way out. I agree with the other comments that this is the beginning of the end for BB. We are in an era where online businesses are starting to have a real impact on brick and mortar stores.
- Goronmon 15y ago
  The same could be said about buying books and renting videos, but Borders and Blockbusters are both on their way out. Until someone figures out a way to stream me a SATA cable that I'm missing for a new computer build I'm putting together on a Saturday, I think that Best Buy will be able to hang on for quite a while.
projct 15y ago
I know you picked 'the older generation' as an example, but I think it's worth pointing out that I see far too many people under the age of 30 who are clueless, or worse, they feel they have a grasp of tech but can barely figure out anything other than Facebook. Many people 60+ are feeling left out and jumping on the bandwagon. All ages who exhibit the Dunning-Kruger effect in this manner will likely never know they are clueless. I'm 27, and the number of people I know around school (TAs included) is astounding, even in CS. In my local (Fort Lauderdale, FL) best buy and apple store, there are plenty of these types of people too. I think at BB when they figure out how to sell themselves they end up at the geek squad.

ben1040 15y ago

I wonder if Ron Johnson (the guy behind the Apple retail concept) could have turned around Best Buy, had BBY picked him up instead of JC Penney. The Apple store philosophy seems to be "We think most people will be delighted with our products. But if we can't make you a happier person for buying this product, we're just wasting your time trying to sell it to you, and making it less likely you'll want to come back when we do offer a product you might enjoy." Meanwhile every shopping experience I've had at Best Buy tells me their philosophy is "You need x, but we'll convince you to buy y, and we'll try our hardest to pack in a high margin accessory bundle too. So buy it and get out, so I can move on to the next sucker. Oh, and you had better be buying a service plan on that." Then again, if you can't turn the place around by making it a place where people actually want to shop and reflect favorably upon their experiences, then maybe the big box electronics concept is just falling out of favor altogether.

edwinnathaniel 15y ago
Can you find a company that is replicable anywhere in the world at the scale of Apple/Best Buy?

ArbitraryLimits 15y ago

Speaking as a Minnesota native, this is just all kinds of sad. Believe it or not, Best Buy used to be a more or less local chain that was known for their customer service and that inspired all kinds of customer loyalty. They were like the Fry's of the Midwest, except that it was usually possible to get useful technical information out of the employees.

saturdaysaint 15y ago

Maybe it's just me, but I think a lot of the things that drew people to Best Buy at one point - powerful computers, big TVs, customized theater setups, rows of DVDs - have gradually gone from sexy to culturally irrelevant (still a profitable niche, quite possibly) in the last 15 years. They've become the workmanlike, unsexy appliance showfloors they put out of business by the early 00's.

aswanson 15y ago
Yeah, it's like, aside from layout, Walmart offers the same stuff.

alexqgb 15y ago

Wouldn't it be something if Radio Shack outlasted Best Buy and Circuit City both.

astrodust 15y ago

I hope they frisk him at the door on the way out and double-check his receipts.

fruchtose 15y ago

Dunn has been there for 28 years. He started as a sales associate an become CEO in 2009--truly a remarkable career progression. Dunn may not have caused Best Buy's mess, but he was promoted by the same people that oversaw it.

T_S_ 15y ago

It's going to be harder and harder to operate businesses that rely on the ignorance of their customers to achieve their margin goals. The last time I was in BB, I was trying to pick up a Roku box. After upselling me by being out of stock on the heavily advertised cheaper model, the sales person tried to sell me a connector cable that cost more than the box itself. Nice! There is no real news about BB's business model in this announcement. A more interesting question is what remaining verticals are relatively untouched by transparency and fact-based marketing?

jerednel 15y ago

I purchase from Best Buy because of the no-interest deals they have with their credit cards. It's convenient when I want something now, and know that I'll have an extra few injections of extra cash coming in the next couple of months to support it. Regarding customer service, I had a great experience at a Chicago store. I just bought the 11" Air and decided it was too small for me, so I took it back with the intention of upgrading to the 13". I was waiting in line to exchange, when they noticed I was exchanging a MacBook and they whisked me off to a separate area to complete the exchange, saving me about 15 minutes of waiting time. With regards to pushing their warranty's, I think they asked me once and then let it go. I agree that some of their stuff is overpriced, and they could improve their sales workflow with tablets or whatever, but my experiences don't reflect the negative ones I'm reading about here.