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NEWS: U.S. Store Chain Best Buy to Close 50 Stores


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Jackstick



Joined: 20 Mar 2011
Posts: 92
PostPosted: Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:15 pm Reply with quote
Yeah, I've noticed that there's basically no anime section anymore at my Best Buy. It's lumped together with children's cartoons. Kinda weird to see Sekirei sitting right next to Dora the Explorer.
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zr2008



Joined: 05 Aug 2008
Posts: 31
PostPosted: Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:44 pm Reply with quote
They dug their own grave. Once they put Circuit City out of business they thought they could do no wrong. They didn't adapt, and now are a dinosaur. It will be sad to see them go
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shadow13



Joined: 02 Dec 2010
Posts: 111
PostPosted: Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:45 pm Reply with quote
So they want to become more like Radio Shack?
We are all screwed.
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walw6pK4Alo



Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 9322
PostPosted: Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:50 pm Reply with quote
Their terrible sales attitude and pushing of warranties likely drove sane people to Costco, Brandsmart, or other stores to buy TVs and such equipment. Hell, Costco is the best place with their 90 day "whatever, we don't give a hoot what you do with it" return policy about electronics. That's some serious piece of mind when buying cameras and harddrives. There's also stuff like Best Buy charging 60 dollars for HDMI cables when you can get them for 2 bucks on Amazon. The chain just had some really bad practices and I hope they reflect on it and actually strive to make progress to win consumers back from shopping online.
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Teriyaki Terrier



Joined: 26 Mar 2008
Posts: 5689
PostPosted: Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:59 pm Reply with quote
Truthfully, Walw6pk4Alo is telling the truth with Best Buy's horrid sales attitude and lack of warranty support, actual warranty work in some cases as well.

However, Best Buy has essentially removed most their anime line and hasn't changed with the times and their business model has been well out of date for quite some time.

I am not even going to talk about the snarky attitudes of some of Best Buy's employee's with anime and other products they sold.

Frankly, I much rather buy online than brick and mortar shops these days. Amazon is much better with prices as well.
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Surrender Artist



Joined: 01 May 2011
Posts: 3264
Location: Pennsylvania, USA
PostPosted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 12:03 am Reply with quote
This has been foretold once and again. I haven't been to a Best Buy in a very long time; I hate those stores and Best Buy was the pushiest, more inhospitable and most assaultive to the senses.

Last edited by Surrender Artist on Sat Mar 31, 2012 12:06 am; edited 1 time in total
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Jackstick



Joined: 20 Mar 2011
Posts: 92
PostPosted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 12:05 am Reply with quote
Teriyaki Terrier wrote:
I am not even going to talk about the snarky attitudes of some of Best Buy's employee's with anime and other products they sold.


Please do. I want to hear this. I only buy anime from Amazon or Rightstuf, but I'd love to hear some in-store stories if you don't mind sharing. Anime smile
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crazychild



Joined: 27 Jul 2003
Posts: 79
PostPosted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 12:08 am Reply with quote
I wouldn't be surprised if the BB in my town was on the chopping block. They always go in my town before the whole company goes bankrupt. It happened to KB Toys, Waldenbooks, Blockbuster, K-Mart several times.

When a Best Buy opened in my town in 2003 or 2004, they had a much better selection and atmosphere than department stores or Game Stop and F.Y.E. (both of which were rebrandings after they had gobbled up other chains in the past few years; we actually had 2 F.Y.E.'s in the same mall for a while; every time I go there I'm surprised they're still in business), but it's just so much cheaper buying stuff on Amazon. Even with games that are full-priced on Amazon, I'm patient enough to get free shipping and wait a few days to save a few bucks on sales tax. I'm not looking forward to the day when every state starts hitting up online retailers for taxes, but I'm sure it'll still be better than rifling through the same unsold inventory (I swear to God, my Best Buy has at least 30 copies of Metroid: Other M) and saying, "No, I don't want a membership card or extended warranty, I just want to get the hell out of here!"
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domino



Joined: 25 Nov 2004
Posts: 373
PostPosted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 12:19 am Reply with quote
Every section worth shopping in has shrunk so much that there isn't a point going there any more. I even feel bad giving people their gift cards now because the selection of goods is so limited.
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Ryan227



Joined: 03 Dec 2004
Posts: 43
PostPosted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 12:32 am Reply with quote
^ Eh there's still the website which has a lot of stuff.

I've always had a bit of a grudge against Best Buy even though I have shopped there a lot in the past. I just remember when the mall where I live had Best Buy and a chain video store (which had a nice Anime section and even some manga). Best Buy was always cheaper than the video store and eventually the other store went out of business. And yup right after the other store went out of business Best Buy raised it's prices right up. It really ticked me off...
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Kit-Tsukasa



Joined: 16 Mar 2006
Posts: 930
PostPosted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 1:59 am Reply with quote
This is old news. They missed on their earnings report this week, stock is down 10% and on average haven't been doing so well mostly due to the online retail space, particularly Amazon as the main competitor. They've been masking their failures by claiming huge dividends and buybacks every now and then but in reality, they were just bottling up the truth until it explodes.

Their tech stuff is also not as good since Newegg does it better for the most part. At the end of the day, Best Buy is another Office Depot, or worse, Circuit City. It's simply another store where consumers go window shopping to look and feel the product and then go home and buy it online from a cheaper retailer.
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tangytangerine



Joined: 28 Feb 2010
Posts: 439
PostPosted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 2:03 am Reply with quote
It's their own ignorance and failure to adapt in recent years that is causing them to lose revenue. Once Circuit City went bankrupt, they figured everyone would come to them. But a lot of people only went to them because they were basically becoming "Amazon's display floor", where they only went to see the items physically and buying them for much less from Amazon.

They've burned so many customers in recent years with their warranty issues and poor customer service. Just look what they did last black friday through their website. They oversold their stock of items, had customers wait weeks with nothing shipped and then get the order cancelled right before christmas. Of course that's going to hurt sales and prevent customers from buying from them again, but they don't understand that.

As for anime, their selection is a joke. Mine has what anime they have left thrown in with the regular movies/shows, which is a pain to find. It drove me years ago to buy directly from Amazon or Rightstuf, where I can usually get it for cheaper anyway.
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Kruszer



Joined: 19 Nov 2004
Posts: 7994
Location: Minnesota, USA
PostPosted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 2:25 am Reply with quote
I like Best Buy for the Rewards program. The trouble is that every time I go there it's getting harder and harder to find something to use the certificates on since they've downsized the music and movies sections. The anime section here isn't as bad as others have described theirs but it is pathetically small compared to how huge it used to be, and only has the ultra popular stuff now.

Last edited by Kruszer on Sat Mar 31, 2012 2:28 am; edited 1 time in total
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Mune



Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 382
Location: Minnesota
PostPosted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 2:26 am Reply with quote
My big issue was when I was regularly buying anime from their store. I think this was about 2007-2008, Hunter X Hunter had released. I wanted to buy it and they didn't carry set 1, but carried set 2 and 3. It was a best buy online only item. I was rather upset. Also, when my cousin was looking for limited edition Naruto DVDs, they were always in horrible condition, like someone had taken and kicked it a few times...

Kruszer wrote:
I like Best Buy for the Rewards program. The trouble is that every time I go there it's getting harder and harder to find something to use the certificates on since they've downsized the music and movies sections.

Uh, when I had a rewards program, I got a total of $10 for over $1000 worth of purchases...I felt ripped off and all I got was, "hmm, we'll e-mail them to you," and I never got them. This is why I stopped shopping there, their promotions seemed half-hearted.

The entire anime selection, which had gotten up to 3 shelves, to a mere 2-3 shows. But, I could guess it had something to do with the corporate office slashing titles to make room for other stuff and it could be due to the lack of sales. I guess 20-30 people in the entire city can't support the entire store all the time.

Oh, and as someone earlier mentioned about online prices being better, I do agree with this, as I do shop online almost exclusively. But, finding an item in a store is good too, mainly because you can look at the item's condition in person and convince others to buy it for you or themselves (I've done this with friends). This is also good for parents that don't want to shop online. If they can find it in a physical store, they will do so. They are stubborn like that.

So, I say good riddance in a sense because they are horrible now, but too bad because they were good years ago. It happens, life moves on.
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EricDent



Joined: 28 May 2008
Posts: 997
Location: Georgetown, TX
PostPosted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 3:01 am Reply with quote
The local stores around me actually still have an anime section, albeit a very small 8' section (the smaller stores only have 4').

Of course before the rather odd idea to change the layout to the very video game heavy set-up they have now, the 2 nearest stores had a entire aisle worth of anime.

Since I currently work at Fry's I barely ever go to the Best Buy anymore. Plus their prices are at least $5-$10 more than what the normal price is at Fry's. Though they do carry some stuff we don't (like K-ON! Anime Legends).

If any of the ones nearby shut down, I will be sure to get some stuff really cheap.
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