Best Buy: Last man standing

Electronics chain is focusing on fast-growing products like mobile phones and low-cost laptops and moving away from CDs and DVDs.
(From The New York Times)

The story "Best Buy: Last man standing" published July 18, 2009 at 2:27 PM is no longer available on CNET News.

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[graldrich]

Forget about Bestbuy ,Fry's Electronics is probably the biggest electronics retailer on the west coast !

[cvaldes1831]

Fry's only has a few stores, mostly in California, so it could be described as a regional chain at best. Note that this article originates from the New York Times, a state that has no Fry's Electronics.

Curiously, the article neglects to mention Radio Shack.

[MagiMamoru]

There are two Fry's in GA that I'm aware of, and doing quite well.

From the foot traffic in my own big box general retailer, I would say that DVD and CD sales have decline. The big hit is the CD market, and I would love to see that catogory shrink in my store and expand with computer accessories, and a wider selection of DVDs.

[bwrobertson2]

Fry's is alright. I'm not a fan of Best Buy...you can almost always beat their prices online.

[psyop15]

Fry's is in about a dozen states, has roughly 35 or 40 stores, is more than 20 years old, and is privately held. No need to worry about falling stock, shareholder dissatisfaction, etc., etc. You have to take a vacation to return anything, and their repackaging of returns should be illegal, but for retail products on sale in original packaging they're tough to beat.

[therealbean]

@psyop Best Buy is publicly owned. Traded on NYSE as BBY

[vmlenigma]

What Sucks about Fry's is that they have about 40 check out counters and only 1 or 2 return counters, as far as products, its the same as Best Buy. But at Fry's Most of it refurbished, Open Box or brands you have never heard of. Both suck at customer service, Especially Best Buy here in Los Feliz in Los Angeles, I had some phone sales guy, lets call him Manuel, get up in the middle of a sale when I was inquiring about the voice and data plans for my new iphone I was trying to buy, he got up just to go help one of his homies find a case for a phone.....Best Buy might be the Last Man Standing, but if they continue treating customers like that, they will be extinct. Most companies go out of business by their own fault, the advertise millions of dollars to lure customers in, and once they have them in there they ignore them.....my take on this is Order Online, usually free shipping, No Taxes (for now)
I bought a pair of speakers and a sub woofer (open box) from best buy, and at the time I thought it was a great deal until I got home and looked up prices, I returned to the store, got my money back and ordered online...I saved over 500 bucks on the same stuff that I had just returned and BRAND NEW. That was the last time i have bought something with out checking out prices online. Best Buy might be the last man standing, but its days are numbered once consumer wake up and realize that they don't have to pay retail.

[dragonsky1]

I've learned no matter where you purchase, you will almost always end up finding it somewhere else cheaper. You would be amazed how often Amazon, Best Buy, and even Sears will sell TV's for less than Walmart. And you'd be amazed how often Best Buy will beat Amazon and newegg on prices. It's just a matter of doing research, and timing. Prices change at retailers, online and B&M, weekly. Just because Amazon was cheaper on Tuesday, doesn't mean it will be on Wednesday. Not mention, most Best Buy's (especially smaller locations) will price match online retailers. Though that's highly dependent on the location and management, as their price match policy doesn't require them to do it.

And yes, DVD and CD sales have declined dramatically, especially in B&M stores. It's really not surprising that Best Buy is moving away from them. In fact, it's quite evident if you enter their media sections. The variety and amount of music and movies is much lower than it was last year. Older titles and niche categories, like anime and horror, are given much smaller sections now.

As for Fry's, I don't believe there are any in the north east period, though I could be wrong. But the company is doing okay for now, and will probably continue adding locations. But it will be a long time before they are any type of threat to Best Buy.

[dennisl59]

""Why Best Buy? Because he didn't want to shop online and wait for delivery--and Best Buy's retail competitors are all out of business."""-Impulse buyers ALWAYS get the worse price. Order online and delay the gratification a few days. It'll give you something to look forward to in any case. In my opinion.

[Methuss]

Someone didn't do their homework. CompUSA may have gone out under prior management, but it's name and business were picked up by TigerDirect and the stores are being reopened.

[PhaseDMA]

I wouldn't buy something from TigerDirect if you paid me. It's not exactly good when a company has more BBB complaints then you can shake a finger at.

[steinfield]

If price is what you're concerned about, why not just show the competition's price at Best Buy. They always have matched price for me and you still receive the instant gratification. Not to mention BB's rewards programs which you can't get at other retailers.

[cvaldes1831]

You still have to pay sales tax.

Even if Best Buy will match some Internet retailer's advertised price, I still get nailed by sales tax. That's not Best Buy's fault. They're simply collecting the tax which is then passed on to the state.

If I buy something at Amazon.com, the price I see on the screen is the price deducted from my credit card. No tax, no shipping (I always use the $0.00 Super Saver option). If I see something at BestBuy.com, I can get in my car, bring the item to the register and still get dinged 9.25% (in addition to the nominal gas use).

Admittedly I don't know anything about BB's Rewards Program. But in any case, it has to cover the 9.25% sales tax, otherwise it's not a valid argument for me.

[dragonsky1]

A lot of us have to pay shipping at Amazon. They have distribution centers in 20+ states, including 4 here in PA.

[dkturd]

I have never bought a piece of tech equipment online -- and never will. It has nothing to do with price. Most retailers will match any price you can find online, and since i have to pay taxes for online purchases too, that advantage doesn't apply.

Store have something that online retailers don't -- actual human beings that can answer a question if I have one and may give me an unknown option to whatever it is I'm purchasing. If I have a problem with the equipment or it doesn't meet my needs once I get it home, I have a physical place I can take it back to and explain what's wrong instead of spending hours with a phone glued to my ear, being put on hold repeatedly, being shuffled from call-taker to call-taker, only to have to start over again because someone hung-up on me by accident. Not to mention the fact that those stores provide jobs to people living in the same community I live in.

And no -- I don't and never have worked in retail. I would hate to put up with customers like me.

The world is growing more high-tech. but sometimes I think low-tech is the best option. Give me an electronics store instead of a Web site any time.

[oassaf]

Agreed!

[puterhead]

I feel the same way about this these days. For a few years I used to get computer equipment strictly through the internet, I would shop around for the bet price and put together systems and save $5 here and $15 dollars there, wait a week or more for all the parts to arrive and then figure out one of the pieces wasn't working correctly and have to send it back for exchange.

What I finally figured out is I don't really care if I end up paying $50 or even $100 more for the same system put together from my local retailers if I can drive less than ten minutes and have what i need or return a defective item. If i have to spend hours comparing different items on the web, placing orders, spend hours on the phone if something does not work correctly, waiting for ups to deliver what i want, pick up returns and re-deliver the new part, etc. Then saving even $100 dollars on the purchases themselves nets me a loss overall in the time i could have saved and used working on a customers dime or playing with my kids, both of which are worth a lot more than that $100.

[giaz5]

I have been buying electronics including big screen tvs online for years and will continue to do so. Tigerdirect for example has always been a great site to get awesome prices great selection and very low cost shipping, sometimes free. Now that they bought Circuit City and CompUSA, they are available in both retail and online. Last tv i purchased was a samsung and I saved 350 over anywhere else including shipping, etc...

[bvdon]

As far as CDs and DVDs, sites like swap sites like Swapster are taking a big bite out of the retails -- why pay full price when you can trade your media and only pay shipping?

[garrionmarsh]

heh you should try Microcenter...there aren't as many of them as there are best buys...but if you have access to one they are a lot cheaper and much better customer service...and i believe that they were the only 'consumer electronics' store to have gained money a year or 2 ago

[dkturd]

when i lived in atlanta, there was a microcenter, and it was a great store. got my first laptop there -- an ibm thinkpad. unfortunately, it closed. but you're right, they are great stores. far, far better than compusa used to be, which wasn't a bad store but managed to put the last nail in the atlanta microcenter despite higher prices..

[garrionmarsh]

huh...i never knew that a microcenter had ever closed...apparently something they don't teach in their thing about the company lol