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NEWS: U.S. Store Chain Best Buy's CEO Resigns After Loss




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Teriyaki Terrier



Joined: 26 Mar 2008
Posts: 5689
PostPosted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 11:54 pm Reply with quote
I hope those 400 employees are able to find new jobs soon, if it's any consultation, I think Best Buy in the midst of coming the way of Borders fairly soon if these financial issues keeping cropping up.
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Brass2TheMax



Joined: 21 Dec 2006
Posts: 65
PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 12:53 am Reply with quote
Unfortunately this is going to happen more and more as time goes on. Brick and mortar stores can't compete with online retailers anymore, so naturally their profits are going to fall, and hence they will need to, and rightly so, lay people off. You can't pay people to work if you're not generating enough revenue to be able to afford to without going out of business (then *everyone* would be out of a job). And I don't even want to hear about how much CEOs make as some kind of argument for being able to hire more people by taking chunks out of their salaries, these people are paid a heck of a lot sure, but it's because they have the weight of an entire company on their shoulders, and as we've seen here, a CEO is now out a job for failing to maintain the profits of the company. Shareholders pay for top talent, but if they don't get it, they will take action as has happened here (often, CEOs are pressured into resigning, I bet that happened here). You need to start firing at the bottom since you have more to lose by firing those above (due to hierarchical collapse and instant disorganization of the lower levels as a result), as bad as that sounds, but it's true. It's always big news when a CEO resigns because of how drastic the change is for the corporation. Anyone who thinks the lower-level employees can even be compared isn't living in the real world (I know this rant isn't entirely relevant, but I encounter this far too often, so I'm getting it out of the way).

In any case, this is why as hard as it is sometimes, more people need to try harder to get a better education and hopefully land jobs in skilled, non-retail sectors. The risk of you losing your job is lower if you're not as expendable. With working in a brick and mortar retail position and being expendable, AND when your business sector can't even hope to compete with online retailers, you have all the odds against you. I don't mean to sound pessimistic or like I have something against people working in these sorts of jobs, but sometimes reality doesn't sound so pleasant. It's just the way it is. The jobs will always be there for people building and supporting the automation of tasks that take jobs away from people (as is involved in my job as a software developer), and these are the kinds of jobs everyone should strive to educate themselves towards if they want good job security. Of course many other business sectors are still good to work in as well, but this is just one example with which I have experience.

I'm sure most of those employees who are students finishing up college or university will have a good shot at getting out of retail and into something less risky, but for those who are lifers... They're going to have a tough time. They probably only have the skills to be hired into a different retail position with a different company, and sooner or later, it's quite possible that company could face similar circumstances. It's only a matter of time. Good luck to them.
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R315r4z0r



Joined: 30 Aug 2007
Posts: 717
PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:10 am Reply with quote
On a related note, UPS, FedEx and all those other delivery service companies should be looking more drivers.
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potatochobit



Joined: 26 Aug 2009
Posts: 1373
Location: TEXAS
PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:16 am Reply with quote
This is not a competition problem, this is a problem with management and their business model.

Best buy has been increasing it's store and workforce size in an attempt to revive it's business. Sounds absurd but it is a tactic for growing market share and can be quite effective such as in the case of a store like Mcdonalds. However, Best buy does not need more market share, they just need for customers to have a reason to come back.

People are also aware of best buy's pricing models and how they are not usually the 'best buy' anymore. I bought a large LCD television on sale during black friday. Three days later the TV I bought was on sale for a hundred dollars less at the same store. I was not amused.

Best buy already has everything they need to succeed. A fully functional website, stores with inventory and educated employees. Making pennies on the dollar is what made walmart the giant it is today, they should take a number.

shameless plug: since bestbuy doesnt carry anime bluray I don't shop there anymore except during the winter holiday. Cool
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potatochobit



Joined: 26 Aug 2009
Posts: 1373
Location: TEXAS
PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:18 am Reply with quote
R315r4z0r wrote:
On a related note, UPS, FedEx and all those other delivery service companies should be looking more drivers.


I actually applied for a part time position with UPS and toured the factory before. The pay was 8 or 9$ an hour and the hours were horrible, something like 4pm to 9pm. They hire no full time employees, you have to do this for two to four years beforehand.
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dragonrider_cody



Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Posts: 2541
PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 4:32 am Reply with quote
If you read the Wall Street journal, you would see that a big reason Dunn retired is because Best Buy's board was investigating his "personal conduct". It wasn't just about the profitability of the company.

Best Buy is getting pretty desperate and I'm sure the 50 store closings are just the first of many. They are spending tons of money continually remodeling stores and trying new formats, trying to find something that works. So far, nothing has been successful. They're even launching yet another store format this year, despite the failure of their "connected store" model.

I feel bad for the employees, but Best Buy is clearly a sinking a ship and it's time for them to start looking for work elsewhere. Most store level management and district staff already are. When the managers start abandoning ship, employees should take not.

On other Best Buy related news, I just found old my old GM was terminated for having a sexual relationship with an underage employee. So not only did he loose his job and is facing criminal charges, he and Best Buy are both facing lawsuits and he may have to register as a sex offender. That's what happens when a company ignores years of harassment claims and stands behind a manager even after two lawsuits. The company gets no pitty from me.
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14860
PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 6:05 am Reply with quote
potatochobit wrote:

People are also aware of best buy's pricing models and how they are not usually the 'best buy' anymore. I bought a large LCD television on sale during black friday. Three days later the TV I bought was on sale for a hundred dollars less at the same store. I was not amused.


You could probably just come back with the receipt within 30 days, and they'd just treat it as a return/buy with the new lower price. Some stores call it "price protection" so you don't have to worry about waiting to buy in case your store-bought price comes down within 30 days.


dragonrider_cody wrote:

On other Best Buy related news, I just found old my old GM was terminated for having a sexual relationship with an underage employee.


A VN could be written about that................


Last edited by enurtsol on Wed Apr 11, 2012 6:08 am; edited 2 times in total
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MrHatandClogs



Joined: 09 Nov 2010
Posts: 283
Location: Between two ferns!
PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 6:05 am Reply with quote
potatochobit wrote:
shameless plug: since bestbuy doesnt carry anime bluray I don't shop there anymore except during the winter holiday. Cool


Mine does, yes not everything that comes out, but pretty much every FUNi BD release. As well as a few other companies BD releases...

It's a shame, I love BB. They definitely have cut back their anime section, but I can still get most of what I'm looking for. And, I know I'm paying a little more than TRSI or Amazon. But it makes me feel better about my purchases, knowing I'm am support them as well as supporting the anime more by giving that little extra...
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15461
PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 8:57 am Reply with quote
Brass:
Quote:
these people are paid a heck of a lot sure, but it's because they have the weight of an entire company on their shoulders,


And apparently, that involves canceling X-Mas online orders, because they weren't able to fulfill demand for the holidays. Rolling Eyes

Quote:
Anyone who thinks the lower-level employees can even be compared isn't living in the real world


Tell that to the nuclear plant workers who got radiation at Fukushima, because TEPCO was too cheap to upgrade the reactor.

Quote:
more people need to try harder to get a better education and hopefully land jobs in skilled, non-retail sectors. The risk of you losing your job is lower if you're not as expendable.


There are no more skilled jobs, because they're being outsourced. And if you believe that, then my mom was a chemist at Boeing, and they still let her go, even though they got corporate kickbacks.
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V1046-R



Joined: 02 Dec 2011
Posts: 172
PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:10 am Reply with quote
Hopefully they turn it around. I have no personal feelings about Best Buy specifically, but it is a loss for consumers if we lose brick & morter electronics stores. There are some things I just don't want to buy over the Internet, such as TVs, game consoles, cell phones, etc. I want to buy things like that at a local store so there is an easy same day return or exchange if product is defective.
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Polycell



Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Posts: 4623
PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:21 am Reply with quote
Best Buy's problem seems to be more about their corporate culture, so they could definitely turn it around like Ford did, provided they don't pull a Kodak and spend all their cash on stock buybacks. And if they don't, there's always Fry's.
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Sorrior



Joined: 02 Aug 2011
Posts: 79
PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 12:37 pm Reply with quote
Polycell wrote:
Best Buy's problem seems to be more about their corporate culture, so they could definitely turn it around like Ford did, provided they don't pull a Kodak and spend all their cash on stock buybacks. And if they don't, there's always Fry's.


Too bad i don't have a Fry's where i live.

As for Best Buy. I for one don't buy anime there anymore not a very good selection(seriously i check i have over 3/4 of their stock). However i DO use them for TVs and Computers(premiere silver for over 3 years now so yeah that's over 75k spent there). But as for games and other such things not so much. They DO have some nice things but i tend to go gamestop for my games. Overall though i hope they can recover.

Oh and as for Brick and Mortar. I feel Brick and Mortar stores serve another purpose. ESPECIALLY say a hobby store. They can serve as a gathering place for those with that type of interest. So i guess you could say that i feel places like best buy could die out but that smaller ones specialized and local will probably be what remains/forms in the aftermath.
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Redlinks



Joined: 14 Feb 2010
Posts: 496
Location: America
PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 9:22 pm Reply with quote
At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if Best Buy ends up like Tower Records and Borders. It's a shame really.
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15461
PostPosted: Thu Apr 12, 2012 12:37 am Reply with quote
BTW, it says he never graduated from college. So why the hell was his pay worth it again?
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