retail

When Leslie Martinez walked into a Los Angeles-area Best Buy two weeks ago looking only for a 40-inch Sony Bravia LCD TV, she walked out with a heavily discounted Blu-ray Disc player, some Blu-ray movies, and half-priced HDTV accessories.

After seeing the TV she wanted at Costco, she turned to Best Buy to see if they could match the price. In the end, after a bit of negotiating with a salesman, the electronics retailer did much more than that.

"He made it almost impossible to walk away," Martinez said.

Retailers have offered bundled Blu-ray players with TVs before, … Read more

In order to avoid filing for bankruptcy, Circuit City is weighing its options.

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, the troubled electronics retailer is considering a plan to close some stores and cut thousands of jobs. The Journal cites "people familiar with the matter" who say Circuit City has also hired a bankruptcy firm, as well as a consulting firm and an investment bank to negotiate emergency financing.

Instead of filing for bankruptcy, one outlined plan calls for closing 150 stores, which would free up $350 million from inventory that could be used to pay … Read more

Hey, indie bands. Does MySpace Music's big focus on the major labels make you sad? iLike wants to hear from you--literally.

The "social music" company, best-known for its add-on apps for Facebook and iTunes, has partnered with music distribution start-up TuneCore so that unsigned artists can market their music through iLike and get royalties when it's streamed there.

TuneCore already lets independent artists sell their music through iTunes, Amazon MP3, and Rhapsody, which has a deal with iLike (and MTV and Yahoo).

It's not surprising that a company such as iLike would choose to make … Read more

Investors pushed eBay's stock down for a third consecutive day Thursday, after the e-commerce giant reported third-quarter earnings and reduced its fourth-quarter forecast amid a meltdown in the economy.

Shares of eBay fell as low as $13.69 in intraday trading, down 12 percent from Wednesday's close. But by the market's close, eBay's shares were down a mere 2.35 percent to end the day at $14.97, as the broader markets closed out with gains.

Earlier in the day, eBay's shares were whacked as Wall Street weighed in, with a number of analysts reducing … Read more

Following the success of our big summertime roundup of back-to-school laptops, we're busy testing almost two dozen new holiday models in the CNET Labs.

Same as before, we've scoured the retail shelves of big box electronics stores to find the specific configurations and model numbers you're most likely to find in stores and in Sunday newspaper sales circulars.

In plain English, that means, these are the exact same models and configurations you'll find boxed up and ready to go in traditional brick-and-mortar stores, as well as the systems most likely to end up deeply discounted during … Read more

HP's entry into the new Best Buy Blue Label lineup is a fixed configuration within the recently announced 13.3-inch Pavilion dv3500 series.

The $1,199 HP Pavilion dv3510nr will incorporate an Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 processor; 4GB of RAM (and 64-bit Windows Vista to take advantage of it); 512MB Nvidia GeForce 9300M GS graphics; and a 320GB, 5,400rpm hard drive. As with other Pavilion dv3500s, the dv3510nr includes a backlit keyboard, DVD burner, Draft-N wireless, and Bluetooth, as well as an HDMI port and an eSATA connection.

The Pavilion dv3510nr's price tag includes several nice … Read more

Oracle is adding to its retail software lineup by acquiring Advanced Visual Technology, a maker of 3D space planning software for retailers.

AVT, based in Hertfordshire, England, sells a product called Retail Focus, which lets retailers plan store floors and shelf space. An add-on product, called Retail Focus Merchandiser, gives retail planners a three-dimensional view of retail space that they can "walk" through virtually.

No terms were disclosed. Oracle said the transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2008.

Oracle plans to add AVT's employees and management to its Retail Global business unit. AVT'… Read more

The fate of Circuit City is very much in doubt. After months of poor performance and even worse management, the company reported its second-quarter earnings on Monday for the month ending August 31, and let's just say that Circuit City is in deep trouble.

According to the company, it incurred a net loss during the quarter of $239 million on $2.3 billion in revenue. During the same quarter in 2007, the company lost almost $63 million on $2.6 billion in revenue. In the past six months, Circuit City has lost over $400 million--almost four times as much as it lost during the same period in 2007.

"Clearly, the performance of the company is unacceptable to all of our stakeholders, and it is imperative that we take the right steps to accelerate our turnaround," stated James A. Marcum, chief executive officer of Circuit City Stores. "The management team and the board of directors are conducting a comprehensive review of all aspects of our business to determine the best methods of delivering substantially improved financial performance and maximizing shareholder value.

"We recognize that this will require that we intensify our efforts to correct problems in our business. In particular, to be successful, all of our actions must start with improving the customer experience in our stores. As we move forward, we intend to improve how we operate, strengthen our market position, and build a stronger future for the company."

Here's a clue, Marcum: sell the company to the highest bidder as soon as possible and get out before it's too late. It's your only option.… Read more

Philip Schoonover, chairman, president, and CEO of embattled electronics retailer Circuit City, resigned Monday, the company announced.

His resignation is effective immediately, and he will be replaced by James Marcum as president and CEO, and by Allen King as chairman of the board of directors.

Marcum joined Circuit City's board in June and was elected vice chairman in August. His specialty is electronics retail--he was selected in order to help the struggling retailer while it tries to right itself. He has helped several other specialty retailers while in the midst of their own turnarounds.

Newly installed chairman King said … Read more