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What are the challenges of doing business in today's marketplace? A sampling of senior executives would probably come up with the same list: Competition is global. Companies are increasingly competing for the same wallet. With more choices and information, customers are choosing mostly on price. Even before the recent downturn, what former IBM boss Lou Gerstner called "commodity hell" was pretty much every business's nightmare.

That sampling is also likely to agree on the solutions: Embrace your market and become "customer-centric." That said, it would be hard to find a CEO who would tell you that his or her firm isn't customer-centric already. And that's exactly where mass delusion begins for most companies.

To be sure, most major enterprises do have departments devoted to surveying their customers. But the truth behind "garbage in, garbage out" still applies. Ask about your business only through the lens of your offerings - How do you like product X? How can we improve service Y? How receptive would you be to new product Z - and you may learn something about them, but you will discover almost nothing significant about your customers.

Becoming customer-centric means looking at an enterprise from the outside-in rather than the inside-out - that is, through the lens of the customer rather than the producer. It's about understanding what problems customers face in their lives and then providing mutually advantageous solutions.

It's the approach Best Buy took and it's a key reason why the company has survived in the tumultuous consumer-electronics marketplace, while Circuit City is gone. Best Buy took the time to understand who its customers are and what they need and then started selling solutions instead of products. As part of its research, for example, Best Buy discovered that 55 percent of its customers were women, and that for the most part they loathed their shopping experience at the retailer. Men look for a specific product at a discount price. Women want not just a digital camera, but a printer, cable, and other accessories-and they care far more about these things than price. Equally important, they want help with installation, while most men prefer to try to put things together themselves.

Accordingly, Best Buy adopted mostly common-sense solutions once it understood the issues involved. Related products were bundled together. In many stores, kids now have special play areas while their moms browse. To help with installation, the company acquired Geek Squad. Buy a flat screen TV and they'll have it running before your favorite show airs.

Getting from awareness to action, however, was anything but easy for these companies. And that illustrates the final - and most critical element - of customer-centricity: implementation. Owning customers' "problem spaces" doesn't just happen. It takes lots of work.

Even when a company and its employees try to make sense of what they are hearing from their customers, they often find themselves immobilized by their own organizational architecture - the internal "silos" that inevitably grow around specific units and functions. I hasten to add that there is nothing intrinsically wrong with silos. Division of labor, specialization, and departmental responsibility are necessities in any operation. But most firms today are still structured around product and geography. They have excellent perspectives on what they make and where they distribute and sell it, but poor views of customers and their problems. And these inadequate sight lines impede coordinated action toward solving these problems.

For Best Buy, bundling related products was an obvious answer, but that required separate merchandisers to work together. It necessitated adjusting distribution schedules, creating new store space, and training front-line employees to serve as personal shopping assistants. These aren't "division reorganization" issues &38212; division reorganization is basically musical chairs for adults. This kind of reorganization is enterprise-wide. It requires connection and cooperation across broad swaths of the organizational terrain. Sometimes to get there you have to blow up silos. More often you can bridge them with some persuasion and cajoling. But however you get there, you are traveling into the very heart of what you do, and that takes determination and more than anything else, strong and sustained leadership.

For most firms today, customer-centricity is a necessity for survival - the only sure way to ensure the organizational resilience that will keep a company out of the jaws of commodity hell. Getting there is not for the faint of heart, but the process makes - and keeps - the company competitive.

Ranjay Gulati is the Jaime and Josefina Chua Tiampo Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and the author of Reorganize for Resilience: Putting Customers at the Center of Your Business (Harvard Business Press, 2009).

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Inside Best Buy's Customer-Centric Strategy

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What are the challenges of doing business in today's marketplace? A sampling of senior executives would probably come up with the same list: Competition is global. Companies are increasingly competing for the same wallet. With more choices and information, customers are choosing mostly on price.

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Finally there's some good news for Best Buy ( BBY) shoppers -- and perhaps, eventually, its shareholders.

Lost in last week's dreary announcements of job cuts, superstore closures, and potentially problematic employee incentive programs was a mandate to beef up its customer loyalty programming.

Reward Zone Silver -- the program that Best Buy reserves for customers spending at least $2,500 a year at its stores -- already offers some enhanced features that include free ground shipping on most BestBuy.com orders and relaxed terms on returns and reward point expirations.

Last week's quarterly report promises even more advantages to Reward Zone Silver members, who already account for a significant chunk of the company's business.

Reward Zone Silver customers will soon be upgraded to free expedited shipping on their BestBuy.com orders.

Members will receive "premier access to many of the most popular products and major sales events" at the store.

Silver members currently have a 45-day window for returns, slightly longer than the 30 days that other buyers have. The new policy will offer "no hassle" returns and price matching for up to 60 days.

The beefed-up plan will include a free house call from Geek Squad, Best Buy's tech support arm. The current plan already offers a complimentary home theater consultation, so one would think that this is related to other home tech issues.

How to Keep Shoppers From Straying

One can always argue that there aren't too many people spending $2,500 a year at Best Buy, especially these days, when lower prices are typically easy to find online.
However, customer loyalty plans work. Just ask members of frequent flier programs whether they even bother to check the fares at rival carriers when they need to book a flight. The same can be said for lodging chains with their customer reward programs. You'd be surprised how the promise of free WiFi or in-room amenities will keep travelers ignoring cheaper rates at nearby hotels.

Video game retailer GameStop ( GME) has been able to hold its own during the past three years, which have been disastrous for the sale of games and gear, by growing the number of its PowerUp Rewards members.

PowerUp Rewards is a free program that offers GameStop shoppers points on purchases which can be used for discounts, exclusive game codes, and more. There is also a $15-a-year PowerUp Reward PRO option that includes even more goodies, 10% discounts on pre-owned purchases, and a magazine subscription.
Taking a Page Out of the Amazon.com Playbook
If some of the new Reward Zone Silver initiatives seem familiar, it may be because the meandering consumer electronics giant is eyeing some of the ideas that have been working for Amazon.com's ( AMZN) Prime program. (As far as companies to emulate, Amazon's a good choice: Motley Fool analysts named it one of the cash kings changing the face of retail.)

There are reportedly millions of Prime members paying $79 a year for the program, which provides free two-day shipping on all of the Amazon.com-warehoused goods. Yes, that's the "expedited" shipping that Best Buy appears ready to roll out to Reward Zone Silver members.

Amazon also offers Prime customers some unique digital perks. They get a free Kindle "rental" once a month from a select group of titles. Amazon also has growing video catalog of 17,000 titles that can be streamed at no additional cost.

Best Buy obviously doesn't have an e-reader platform to promote. It does have a digital movie service, but CinemaNow doesn't appear to be gaining any kind of traction. However, Best Buy is giving Reward Zone Silver members some neat perks that regular shoppers are certainly not getting.
Saving Best Buy -- Is There a Chance?
Is Best Buy the next Amazon.com or the next Circuit City? Negative store-level sales in four of its past five quarters, layoffs of hundreds of employees at the corporate and support levels, and plans to close 50 of its superstores this year may indicate that Best Buy is walking the path of Circuit City and smaller failed retail concepts.

However, Best Buy's resilient profitability gives it time to tweak the model and see if something works.

It may be too late. There are already too many ex-Best Buy shoppers with unpleasant memories of buying in the store, only to find the same thing elsewhere for less. Others are simply turned off by the litany of insurance protections and services that employees try to attach to merchandise sales.

We still can't underestimate the value proposition of a strong loyalty program. If Reward Zone and Reward Zone Silver can be magnetic enough to turn buyers to Best Buy the next time they need a printer cartridge or a washing machine, the company's prospects may not be as dim as last week's stock hit would seem to suggest.

For a free Motley Fool report about the cash kings changing the face of retail,click here. Motley Fool contributor Rick Munarriz does not own shares in any of the stocks in this article. The Motley Fool owns shares of Best Buy, Amazon.com, and GameStop. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Amazon.com. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended writing covered calls on GameStop.

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What Best Buy Is Doing Right: Rewarding Loyal Customers

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Finally there's some good news for Best Buy ( BBY) shoppers -- and perhaps, eventually, its shareholders. Lost in last week's dreary announcements of job cuts, superstore closures, and potentially problematic employee incentive programs was a mandate to beef up its customer loyalty programming.

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Three years ago, consumer-electronics retailer (( Best Buy NYSE:BBY) was in a tough spot. Former CEO Brian Dunn resigned in early 2012 amid an investigation into his personal conduct, online retailers such as Amazon.com NASDAQ:AMZN) were stealing market share, and the company's e-commerce efforts were at best an afterthought. Best Buy was assumed to be going the way of Circuit City, a former competitor that went under in 2009.

Fast-forward to today, and the story has shifted dramatically. CEO Hubert Joly, who took over about three years ago, has transformed the company into a leaner, more nimble retailer. One only has to look at Best Buy's most recent earnings report to see how far the company has come: Comparable-store sales rose 3.8%, profits soared, and online sales jumped 17% year over year.

Joly and his management team still have plenty of work to do, but the turnaround at Best Buy is one of the most impressive in the history of retail.

Table stakes
When Joly took over, Best Buy's prices simply weren't competitive. The concept of showrooming, where customers browse in-store but then buy online, often getting a better price, was widely seen as an insurmountable challenge in the age of Amazon. Joly had a very simple strategy to counter it: "We believe that price competitiveness is table stakes. The way we want to win is around the advice, convenience, service.

The only way to combat showrooming is by ensuring that a better price can't be found online. Best Buy implemented a price-matching policy, both in-store and online, while also lowering its prices to be more competitive against both online retailers and discount retailers such as Wal-Mart. The result of these moves has been a contraction in the company's gross margin, which fell from 25.1% in 2010 to just 22.4% in 2014.

If this had been the only initiative Best Buy had undertaken, the company's profitability would have collapsed. But another part of Joly's plan, dubbed Renew Blue, was to drastically cut costs. By the end of 2014, Joly had removed a little over $1 billion of costs from the company. Layers of management were removed, processes were streamlined, and the supply chain was made more efficient.

It's important to understand that Best Buy didn't simply cut costs across the board. Circuit City, in the lead-up to its bankruptcy, slashed costs and fired scores of employees in an effort to remain profitable. These cost cuts backfired, as the lack of experienced store employees took a major toll on sales and the customer experience.

Despite the more than $1 billion of costs taken out of the business, Joly stated in Best Buy's most recent conference call that the amount of customer-facing labor has increased. The company's rounds of layoffs have mostly targeted middle managers and staff at the company's headquarters, an approach that ensures that the customer experience doesn't take a hit for the sake of cutting costs.

These cost cuts largely haven't flowed through to the bottom line, as Best Buy has taken the savings and invested them in various initiatives. Cutting prices is one of those initiatives, and increased employee training is another. But e-commerce may be the most important.

Competing with Amazon
Amazon operates a network of online order fulfillment centers that no other retailer can rival. Best Buy runs 23 distribution centers in the United States, but most of them are dedicated to feeding its stores, not fulfilling online orders. This difference created a major problem for Best Buy: An item had to be in stock at a distribution center set up for online fulfillment for a customer to be able to buy it online.

Best Buy's online conversion rate was downright awful in 2013. In that year, 1 billion website visits translated into just $2.3 billion of sales. A website redesign 2013 helped the cause, but product availability was still an issue.

Best Buy's solution was the implementation of a ship-from-store initiative, with which its 1,000-plus retail stores act as mini-distribution centers, with store employees packing and shipping online orders. This approach isn't as efficient as Amazon's giant fulfillment centers filled with robots, but Best Buy's plan used its current assets, turning its network of stores into an advantage.

This program accomplished two things. First, it opened up store inventory to the online channel, vastly increasing product availability on the website, including clearance items and returns that would have previously been stuck at an individual store. Second, it reduced shipping times substantially. According to StellaService, in October 2013, after many of Best Buy's stores had begun shipping online orders, the company's average shipping time was faster than that of Amazon.

One thing working in Best Buy's favor is that Amazon collects sales tax in more states. For years, Amazon had a built-in price advantage over national retail chains, since it didn't collect sales tax in states where it had no physical presence. Joly stated during Best Buy's most recent conference call that 89% of the U.S. population now lives in states where Amazon collects sales tax, up from less than 50% three years ago.

Why Best Buy is succeeding
Best Buy provides a service that an online-only retailer can't match: the ability to see, touch, and try a product in person. That's extremely important for the large swath of the population that isn't particularly tech savvy. Combine this advantage with prices that are competitive with online retailers, and customer service that's superior to discount chains such as Wal-Mart, and you have the recipe for Best Buy's long-term success.

Best Buy has come a long way over the past three years. The company is winning market share, growing sales even as NPD reports industrywide declines in consumer-electronics sales. Its e-commerce efforts are bearing fruit, and a renewed focus on selling appliances is helping to drive in-store sales growth. During the latest quarter, comparable-appliance sales jumped by more than 20%, now accounting for 10% of Best Buy's sales.

There's plenty of work left to do, and plenty of additional costs to wring out of the company. But Best Buy, just three years ago on a path that would have probably led to its demise, is now a force to be reckoned with.

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Best Buy's Turnaround Is One for the Ages

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Three years ago, consumer-electronics retailer (( Best Buy NYSE:BBY) was in a tough spot. Former CEO Brian Dunn resigned in early 2012 amid an investigation into his personal conduct, online retailers such as Amazon.com NASDAQ:AMZN) were stealing market share, and the company's e-commerce efforts were at best an afterthought.

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BEST BUY BUSINESS STRATEGY REPORT, PESTEL, PORTERS 5, Implementation, Strategic Recommendations, SWOT, BUDGET, Internal Analysis, External Analysis

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In a very tough category, consumer electronics, is thriving. Best Buy's better than anticipated second quarter 2016 sales and earnings report reflects its focus on controlling what it can control. Aggressive marketing is also making a difference. The company was able to beat the competition by establishing leadership in health and wearables, home theater, major appliances and computing. Only mobile phones and gaming declined in the quarter.

Best Buy was able to report domestic comparable store sales increase of 0.8% after reporting a 3.8% increase in the same quarter in the previous year. Key competitors such as and Sears reported weaker sales in the quarter. While domestic revenues were flat comparable online sales increased 23.7%. This is a very strong showing. No doubt the company benefited from its ability to quickly deliver major appliances and televisions just before the Olympic Games.

I believe that Best Buy's strong promotions helped it maintain market share in the face of Amazon's very strong Prime Day promotion on July 12. Prime Day netted Amazon an estimated $750 million in revenues in the single day. Underscoring the successful quarter is the fact that management raised its domestic sales estimates to +1% for the third quarter. I expect a slight increase for the full year. The introduction of new Apple iPhone 7 in September and the new Samsung Galaxy North 7 phone are both important events. In addition, the possible Presidential election debates in September and October, plus general election in November may boost sales by stimulating buying in several merchandise categories.

International revenues on a constant currency basis sales were up 4.1%. but were down 1% due to currency fluctuation. This trend is likely to continue for the rest of the year. Overcoming the currency drag, management has raised third and fourth quarter expectations. The full year forecast is for an increase in the low single digits. Beyond sales growth, Best Buy is looking for its cost reduction program and gross profit optimization initiatives to pay off this year.

Best Buy stresses convenience for customers. The company has ancillary programs such as running vendor managed concessions in stores and vending machines in key traffic locations such as bus terminals, airports, and other travel hubs. A customer centric focus combined with the winning smiles of helpful associates will make this year a success for Best Buy once again.

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Best Buy Beats The Competition And Gains Momentum

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In a very tough category, consumer electronics, is thriving. Best Buy's better than anticipated second quarter 2016 sales and earnings report reflects its focus on controlling what it can control. Aggressive marketing is also making a difference. The company was able to beat the competition by establishing leadership in health and wearables, home theater, major appliances and computing.

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On Black Friday morning I wasn't feeling well, so cancelled my plans for the rest of the day, and went back to bed. When I turned on the TV, nothing happened. Sick as I was, I needed a working television. Somehow, I got myself together and walked over to Best Buy. To buy a new TV. On Black Friday in Manhattan. What was I thinking?

It was midday, and the store was crowded with shoppers clutching their circulars, competing for what was left of the doorbusters. There were lines everywhere. I was not looking for a doorbuster, just a basic television at a reasonable price, which I knew I could get at Best Buy. I'd looked online before leaving home just to get a sense of how much this outing would cost. I got to the store, commandeered a sales person, asked a couple of questions, chose a television that seemed to be the right size and price and told the sales person I needed to get out of the store quickly. The sales person escorted me to a counter, the TV boxed and in hand, and told me I'd be the next customer. My transaction completed, I was in and out of the store in ten minutes. Ten minutes.

I'd been to Best Buy many times before, both in store and online, but never really thought much about it. It is a place to buy consumer electronics - a category that is not particularly exciting for me. It is convenient, the assortment is good, and the brand image is OK - neither compelling nor negative. It never occurred to me to think of Best Buy as a store with good customer service. I know from my experience working with retailers that good service can be a distinct competitive advantage. Now I was both intrigued and impressed with Best Buy. How did customer service fit into its strategic mix?

Standard and Poors recently described Best Buy as the "best-of class U.S. consumer electronics retailer based on its digital product focus, knowledgeable sales staff and effective marketing campaigns." I decided to do some stealth shopping to see how Best Buy was delivering on "knowledgable sales staff" and other parts of the value equation, and talked with dozens of customers and associates about their experience at Best Buy.

My overall impression was good. The sales associates I spoke and shopped with were energetic, fairly knowledgeable, upbeat and helpful. Many of them were relatively new to Best Buy and had been on the floor for three months or less. Several approached me as I was looking around and asked, "Can I help you?" None were disappointed or disconcerted when I said I'd like to think about it. One associate was pleased to be in television/home electronics because it accounted for the most significant percent of the store's sales. She was not on commission, but her management knew how much she was selling.

One associate who helped me had only been on the floor for three days, but she was smiling and knew the key talking points: "LEDs have a clearer picture than LCDs, it is a newer technology, LEDs are thinner, use less energy, last longer..." "Samsung is the best television made today." DeIivery options were explained clearly and cheerfully. I could "take it with me, have it delivered free, which would take a few days, or have it delivered immediately for $30."
Best Buy associates get a week of training. Most work part time. Many are students, and have flexible, school-friendly schedules. During training they are taught category essentials and general customer service tactics. Most did not see themselves on a career path at Best Buy or in retail, but, were positively affiliated with and proud to be working at Best Buy.

One associate in Best Buy Mobile was especially knowledgeable. In addition to her engaging performance about why I should shop Best Buy for a phone vs. Verizon or other mobile retailer - she explained perkily that Best Buy has a better selection, non-commissioned staff, competitive pricing and back up service and protection. She then checked my Verizon contract on the spot to tell me when I was due for a new phone. She explained the difference and some feature benefits between a Droid and an iPhone. She had started in security just a few months before, but her manager "pulled her out" because she had "too much personality not to be on the floor." In addition to personality, she had sufficient knowledge (which she got in a one week training program in Boston.) Ten minutes with this young woman convinced me that I was better off buying a new mobile phone at Best Buy than I ever would be at Verizon.

Customer service as a competitive advantage in the computer department was more difficult to assess. One shopper told me he buys all of his Apple products at Best Buy because of the convenience and service warranty back up. Two women I spoke to had just purchased a laptop and were waiting 30 minutes for the installation of software. They were happy to wait and preferred Best Buy to online shopping of any kind because they wanted to see, touch and feel the products. For them, Best Buy was a destination. "They have everything." Yet another loyal Best Buy customer suggested that I shop at the Apple Store but buy at Best Buy. He told me that I'd get better prices, service and protection at Best Buy.

A UPS guy in his neat brown uniforms told me he shopped "by SKU" at Best Buy to search for the best price, then purchased at Amazon, letting UPS deliver it to his house. For him, Best Buy is a mere laboratory to search and research items. Another consumer agreed: "I buy everything at Amazon. It's cheaper. And, because I always go above the $25 minimum, I have it all shipped free to my sister's house in New Jersey so I don't pay sales tax."

Surprisingly, none of the customers or associates I spoke with mentioned the Geek Squad, Best Buy's technical service and support department which pre-dates Apple's Genius Bar. Geek Squad is a store within a store at Best Buy. It's branding - logo, typeface, associates uniforms, and overall identity is completely separate and distinct from Best Buy. If you see a Geek Squad trademark vehicle on the road you might not recognize it as a part of Best Buy. The Geek Squad website includes the Best Buy logo only at the very bottom of the home page. There was only one tiny promotional offer for the Geek Squad, "Bundle and Save," in this week's pre-Christmas Best Buy circular.

Geek Squad agents, who are self-taught and have technical certification, arrive at Best Buy with significant technical knowledge, so no special training is either required or provided by Best Buy. Each one I spoke with seemed confident and competent ("we can fix anything!") and invited me to bring my computer in for a free diagnosis. Most customers seemed generally trusting and appreciative of the Geek Squad, although one was concerned that they would be overly expensive and might even invade computer privacy. Geek Squad agents assured me that while they might be able to see files in my computer, they are not able to open files. Overall, the Geek Squad did not appear to be a significant factor in either destination or purchase decisions.

Best Buy has stiff competition in price sensitive categories and therefore currently faces distinct challenges. It has had to cut prices just to remain competitive and to draw traffic. It recently adjusted its earnings estimates after third quarter net income fell 29%, missing analyst expectations.

The question remains: in an era of ever increasing price, can superior customer service translate to increased profits at Best Buy? As consumer electronics, mobile phones and computers become increasingly complex, there is a need for a better shopping experience and supporting technical service which can engage consumers at the store level and give them the knowledge they need to select the product that is right for them. Superior customer service is just one part of an overall good shopping experience. And, it is the most difficult part to deliver consistently and across a store network. Morningstar noted recently that "Best Buy provides a shopping experience that mass merchants and online retailers cannot presently match..."

Good customer service is one key to distinction for Best Buy going forward. Whether it can translate to increased profit and value over time is unclear. But, for now, I can say that Best Buy has me convinced. My stealth shopping suggests that Best Buy has a good training model. In this difficult economy, there is an abundant pool of capable people who are willing to work part time, are engaged with technology and anxious to learn. Certainly there will be a significant segment of consumers who need and appreciate service and will form bonds with a store who can deliver it consistently. Will they pay more for it? Likely not too much. And there's the rub.

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Customer Service Makes Best Buy a Better Buy - The Robin Report

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On Black Friday morning I wasn't feeling well, so cancelled my plans for the rest of the day, and went back to bed. When I turned on the TV, nothing happened. Sick as I was, I needed a working television. Somehow, I got myself together and walked over to Best Buy.

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The consumer electronics market has gone soft.

The sale of TV's, computers, tablets, digital imagining and more has dropped 5.3% across the board. Although, Best Buy is not immune to this trend the retailer continues to perform well in the struggling segment thanks to investment in additional revenue streams.

The electronics retailer is supplementing decreased sales in some electronics categories with an increased emphasis on appliances and service contracts. Thanks to the increased push in these growth areas, the company was able to post a revenue figure of $8.6 billion for Q1 2016. Although, that total signifies a .9% drop year-over-year it beat company expectations and outpaced the electronics market as a whole.

CEO Hubert Joly credits Best Buy's multi-channel approach and its ability to interact with customers in their homes thanks to the company's lucrative installation and service business as a key driver of their market leading success.

"Today, we interact with customers in three distinct and complementary channels: online, in-store and in-home," Joly said in a recent earning call. "We believe our ability to do this particularly in-home is a strategic competitive advantage that with these investments will further differentiate Best Buy from the competition and allow us to deliver uniquely personalized experience to our customers where, when and how they want to be served. As we invest, we will keep the obsessive focus on the customer experience that forms the core of our strategy."

Best Buy is focused on a number of investment areas focused on key product categories, life events services, and customer experience:

As the tablet and personal computer market continues to shrink the electronics retailer is increasing its commitment to the growing appliance segment. In Q1 2016 Best Buy rolled out 11 of the 60 additional specific kitchen and home stores within the store planned for fiscal 2016.

Mobile phones continues to be a strong revenue driver for the retailer and it is extending its mobile phone installment billing selling capability online with AT&T, and plans to add additional carriers this summer.

Best Buy continues to invest in what it calls its life events categories. Its newly launched wedding and gift registry is beginning to grow, while its new mover program is driving significant revenue growth - especially in the highly profitable television segment.

The connected home is also an area the retailer is watching closely. Joly reports that there is "a gap between what customers understand they can do with technology and what technology can do. So we are there to close these gaps."

In Q1 2016 Best Buy launched a new mobile app that includes Apple Pay acceptance.

The retailer launched new search capabilities, including the ability to search opened box items across the enterprise. Best Buy is currently in the recruitment phase for a technology development center in Seattle. Which Joly believes "will be instrumental in continuing the transformation of our e-commerce technology platform and mobile customer experience."

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Best Buy Continues to Outperform the Struggling Electronics Market

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Despite a slight downturn in the consumer electronics market, Best Buy continues to outpace the competition and beat company financial expectation thanks to investment in a number of key growth areas. See how the retailer is staying one step ahead.

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Since Best Buy is one of the last remaining category killer big-box retail chains, and one of the largest retail companies in the world, the Best Buy corporation falls under scrutiny from a particularly powerful retail microscope. The overarching question is whether one of the last remaining niche big-box retail chains can survive, and if so, what is the Best Buy corporate mission statement, vision, and values, that could make that survival possible?.

The Best Buy corporation has not stood behind an official company mission statement for years, at least not publicly. Seemingly this lack of a strong, clear, inspiring mission could be one of many reasons why the Best Buy consumer electronics retailing big-box retail chain has been focused on surviving rather than thriving in recent history.

The Best Buy corporation does have several official and publicly available documents which detail its Guiding Principles and Company Policies, however. The company has an official Best Buy Environmental Statement, a Best Buy Ethics Code, a Best Buy Political Engagement and Government Affairs Policy, a Best Buy Supplier Code of Conduct, and a Best Buy Diversity and Inclusion Policy.

As if that doesn't define Best Buy specifically enough, there is also a Best Buy Carbon and Energy Statement, a Best Buy Paper Procurement Statement, a Best Buy Standard for Recyclers, a Best Buy Conflict Minerals Statement, and a Best Buy Human Rights Statement. So while Best Buy leaders seem to be crystal clear about how the company interacts with global suppliers and the U.S. government, it doesn't seem to have the same kind of clarity about how to guide its employees to make decisions that will help the company fulfill a specific retail mission.

Which leads back to the most fundamental and frequently asked questions about the Best Buy corporation:

Does the Best Buy Stores Company have a Mission Statement? And, if so, what is it?

What Is the long-term, overarching, philosophical vision for the Best Buy electronics retail stores?

What are the values of the Best Buy corporation leaders and employee team?

Which principles create and guide the Best Buy employee culture?

In recent years, Best Buy has worked to define some guiding principles for its employees and a brand promise for its customers. Perhaps these things have existed all of this time, but if so, Best Buy has kept them top secret.

In place of a mission statement, Best Buy has a list of what it refers to as Core Values, which it claims on its website will never change. These Best Buy core values are:

Unleash the Power of Our People

Learn from Challenge and Change

Show Respect, Humility, and Integrity

Have Fun While Being the Best

While these Best Buy core values were designed to create an internal corporate employee culture, Best Buy has also created what it calls itsUnique Customer Promise which entails having or offering:

The Latest Devices and Services, All in One Place

Impartial and Knowledgeable Advice

Competitive Prices

The Ability to Shop When and Where You Want

Support for the Life of Your Products

Since Best Buy is the only national big box brick-and-mortar U.S. retail chain still focused exclusively on consumer electronics, there's no other consumer electronics chain with which to compare its corporate values and customer promise. The largest competing retailers of electronics products have now become department stores, Internet retailers, and office supply retailers.

In order to survive as a niche big-box category killer, retain its retail relevance, and compete with Internet retailers, Best Buy is embracing the store-within-a-store concept wholeheartedly. Inside the Best Buy retail stores, retailers like Samsung and Apple operate their own departments.

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Since Best Buy is one of the last remaining category killer big-box retail chains, and one of the largest retail companies in the world, the Best Buy corporation falls under scrutiny from a particularly powerful retail microscope.

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Best Buy is the largest retailer of consumer electronics in the US and Canada, valued at around $20.5bn and with an annual revenue of $40bn, it sells electronic goods, home-office products, entertainment software, appliances and related services to a global market.

Together with subsidiaries Geek Squad, Magnolia Audio Video, Speakeasy, Audiovisions, Pacific Sales, Jiangsu Five Star Alliance and Future Shop, Best Buy operates in around 1,300 stores in the US, Canada, China and Puerto Rico.

The company announced a 40pc increase in its operations in 2007, with plans to operate more than 1,800 stores worldwide, including 1,400 Best Buy stores in the US.

Founded in St Paul, Minnesota, in 1966 as the Sound of Music store, it was rebranded as Best Buy in 1983 with a flagship store in Burnsville, Minnesota.

By 1993, Best Buy had become the USA's second-largest consumer electronics retailer, breaking into Fortune magazine's annual ranking of America's 500 largest corporations two years later at number 373.

A partnership with Microsoft in 1999 boosted the company's profile, leading to the opening of its first global sourcing office in Shanghai, China, in 2003. Its first retail store in Shanghai followed in 2007, with pilot stores now scheduled for both Mexico and Turkey.

The company was the first retailer in the US to sell DVD hardware and software in 1997, and ten years later it became the first major retailer to call time on the analogue television market with the decision to sell digital products only.

Sometimes called the "Big Blue Box" owing to the design of the company's warehouse-style stores, Best Buy was named as Forbes magazine's Company of the Year in 2004.

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Best Buy is the largest retailer of consumer electronics in the US and Canada, valued at around $20.5bn and with an annual revenue of $40bn, it sells electronic goods, home-office products, entertainment software, appliances and related services to a global market.

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In a statement, Mr. Schulze said, "I understand and accept the findings of the audit committee."

He will remain on the board through June 2013, when his current term expires, the company said.

It is a major change for Mr. Schulze's role at Best Buy. He started the company as a small music retailer in 1966 and expanded it into the nationwide electronics chain it is today. He was chief executive of the company for almost 40 years, resigning in 2002 and becoming chairman.

Recently, Best Buy has struggled with how to make its fleet of giant stores relevant as online competition has increased, and Mr. Schulze has advised it. But the company lost $1.23 billion for its 2012 fiscal year, which ended March 3, at which point it outlined "major" changes. Mr. Dunn's sudden resignation days later added to Best Buy's troubles. The company's fumbling of his departure, first casting it as a standard resignation then, hours later, revealing that Mr. Dunn had left midway through a personal conduct investigation, did not help matters.

Analysts said Mr. Schulze's departure would make big changes easier. It "will remove a heavily influential voice from the board of directors," Colin McGranahan, an analyst for Sanford C. Bernstein & Company, wrote in a note to clients, which "could lead to a cleaner break with history and could result in more strategic flexibility going forward."

Mike Mikan, a board member, is the interim chief executive, and the company has started a search for a new chief. The audit committee's report contained many details about Mr. Dunn's behavior that raised red flags within Best Buy.

"The female employee spoke openly and frequently in the workplace about her friendship with the C.E.O. and the favors he provided to her," the report said, and Mr. Dunn gave her tickets to at least seven concerts and sports events.

Although Mr. Dunn violated company policy by asking a vendor to give the employee a free concert ticket in Las Vegas, there was "no misuse of company resources" the report said.

"A significant amount of communication by text and cellphone for which there was no identifiable business purpose" occurred, the report said. During nine days of overseas travel in 2011, "the C.E.O. contacted the female employee by cellphone at least 224 times, including 33 phone calls, 149 text messages and 42 picture or video messages," the report said.

The report said that Mr. Dunn and the female employee had said their relationship "was a close friendship that was not romantic or otherwise improper." But it said that, "Even accepting those statements as true, the relationship nevertheless reflected extremely poor judgment by the C.E.O."

The report cited the effects of the relationship, including disruption in the workplace, damaged employee morale and perceived favoritism that undermined the employee's supervisor's attempts to manage her.

"Further, the C.E.O.'s relationship with this employee led some employees to question senior management's commitment to company policy and the ethical principles the company champions," the report said. "During interviews, some employees said that they felt that the rules appeared to apply to every employee except the C.E.O.," it said.

Best Buy said in a statement that the audit committee would review and enhance Best Buy's relevant corporate policies and procedures, and that the board was supporting a shareholder proposal that directors should stand for re-election each year.

"Each of us - with no exceptions - will be subject to approval by the shareholders on an annual basis," Hatim Tyabji, the chairman-elect, said in the statement. Best Buy also disclosed the severance terms for Mr. Dunn on Monday. He will get compensation worth about $6.6 million, made up of his $1.1 million bonus for the 2012 fiscal year, a severance payment of $2.85 million and $2.5 million in stock. Mr. Schulze will be get the honorary title chairman emeritus when he officially leaves the chairmanship in June. Mr. Tyabji, a board member, will replace Mr. Schulze as chairman effective June 21, the company's annual meeting.

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suspensions  dismissals and resignations

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Chairman of Best Buy, Richard Schulze, to Step Down

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In a statement, Mr. Schulze said, "I understand and accept the findings of the audit committee." He will remain on the board through June 2013, when his current term expires, the company said. It is a major change for Mr. Schulze's role at Best Buy.

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Richard Schulze founded Sound of Music in 1966, which he eventually transformed into a chain of superstores and renamed it Best Buy.

Schulze served as the company's CEO from 1983 to 2002 and stepped down as chairman in 2012, when a scandal erupted around his hand-picked CEO.

A former Minnesota Air National Guard, he worked as an electronics components salesman before opening his first stereo equipment shop.

In 2012, 27 years after Best Buy went public, Schulze explored a buyout bid to take it private, but was not able to make it happen.

Source of Wealth Best Buy, Self Made

Residence Bonita Springs, Florida

Marital Status Widowed, Remarried

Education Diploma, High School

Still Best Buy's biggest individual shareholder, Schulze aims to give away $1 billion of his fortune in his lifetime, through his family foundation.

Though he never went to college, he became a trustee and donor to the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, where he enrolled before joining the Air National Guard.

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Richard Schulze founded Sound of Music in 1966, which he eventually transformed into a chain of superstores and renamed it Best Buy. Schulze served as the company's CEO from 1983 to 2002 and stepped down as chairman in 2012, when a scandal erupted around his hand-picked CEO.

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Background on Founder, Richard M. Schulze

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Best Buy down? Current outages and problems

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Real-time outages and problems for Best Buy

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check it out

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is back in the news again. Apparently it's updating its web site to get on par with Amazon and other competitors selling consumer electronics and appliances. While the company acknowledges it will take some time to get there, it has bigger issues in the terrestrial world. The company has a LOT of stores and they have fallen into irrelevancy. New CEO Hubert Joly has certainly taken some steps to undo damage done over the past seven years, but there's a lot more work to be done. I believe if the chain can't return its stores to relevancy, it is in serious trouble. But on the flip side, if it can, it will ultimately survive and even thrive again.

To put it in perspective, Best Buy maintains a total of 2001 stores under several names, with 1,512 in the U.S. and another 489 around the world. It's unclear to me from reading the company's store count whether or not it includes stand-alone kiosks in the count, but either way, that's a lot of stores. And while it's easy to call those stores albatrosses around the company's neck, I contend that it's those very entities that hold the key to Best Buy's potential success. And that success will not come by under-cutting 's prices by a few bucks. It will come when Best Buy employees can actually provide REAL assistance to shoppers, and turn shoppers back into customers again. It will come when the stores are truly shoppable.

It's easy to cite poor or low investment in web site improvements, or the term that Best Buy made famous, "Showrooming" as the roots of the company's problems, but I suspect CEO Joly knows the real issue: knowledgeable employees have been systematically removed from store payroll and replaced with...not much. Couple that with complete inconsistency between the web site and the store on both prices and products and you've got a big problem. Personally, I didn't stop shopping at Best Buy because its prices were high on its web site. I stopped shopping there because I'd go to a store and either an item promised on its web site wasn't really in stock, or I couldn't find anyone to talk to.

I believe (and I know I am in the minority here) that Showrooming is mostly the last resort of a frustrated consumer. Sort of like "I've been hanging around in this store for 15 minutes, and I can't find anyone to help me. Let me see what people on line think." And that leads the shopper to..."Oh my, and I can get the item for $20 less to boot. I'm outta here." Boom!

But I'm not naïve. People do comparison shop. In fact, I contend that shoppers have checked for a good price on big ticket purchases since the dawn of retailing. How many of us have gone from car showroom to showroom, waiting to find the best deal? Or mattress store to mattress store? I can remember going back and forth between two mattress stores way back in the late 80's, letting them each mark down the price of an identical mattress, until I finally got bored with the game and bought one - at a price 30% less than we started at. Thank goodness we've gone beyond THAT.

And that's where the showrooming metaphor comes to its logical end. If I'm in the store, and I see something I like, and I trust the seller, will I pay a few more bucks just to be done with it? Yes, I will. I know I've talked about this in these blogs before. I likely will again. Because I just don't buy it.

Mr. Joly has begun taking steps to add employees back into the store mix, and has also instituted a price match guarantee. The price match guarantee is smart for now, given the bad rap the company has. But it's employees that are going to matter. Putting stores/within a store might help use space that used to be taken up by DVDs and CDs, but it's not the only answer. Best Buy has to invest in people.

And there's one other thing. Even if its ecommerce technology is a decade out of date (which I don't think is quite right anyway), it's imperative that prices and products be in synch across all selling channels. What that means in English is, if I see it on the web and the web says it's in the store, it had better be there, and it also should be easy to find. If I see a price on the web, the price in the store has to be the same. That's what retailers call " omni-channel consistency." It's a phrase that can sound like gibberish to an actual customer, but that's what it means. Wherever we find information on a retailer's products and services, that information better be consistent. That includes price, availability, product number, features, benefits...the whole 9 yards.

I think if Best Buy can get its stores in order, it has an excellent shot at success. Like before it, it started from a very dark place. But also like Home Depot before it, it can return to prominence with some TLC in its stores. That doesn't mean customers don't want a good experience on its web site. It means they ALSO want a good experience in its stores. I'm getting close to willing to visit one again (after a two year hiatus caused by broken promises and lack of the consistency I described above). I hope when I do go, I find helpful employees and easy access to the products I've come to buy. I honestly don't think that's too much to ask for.
Correction: 11:04 August 12: Hubert Joly's first name was incorrectly spelled as "Herbert." Best Buy Responds
"With our 'Renew Blue' initiative, we are working hard to give our customers a wonderful in-store experience. While we are not perfect, the feedback we have received thus far has been quite positive."

Jon Sandler

Spokesman, Best Buy

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Can Best Buy Survive? Yes, If It Doesn't Forget To Fix Its Stores, Not Just Its Site

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Best Buy is back in the news again. Apparently it's updating its web site to get on par with Amazon and other competitors selling consumer electronics and appliances. While the company acknowledges it will take some time to get there, it has bigger issues in the terrestrial world. The company [...]

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How can we solve them?

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The problems for Best Buy ( BBY) are quietly mounting.

On Thursday, the electronics retailer reported earnings adjusted for one-time items of $1.53 a share, beating Wall Street forecasts for $1.39 a share. The company's bottom line was juiced by two factors. First, the company continued to benefit from a cost-cutting program unveiled in 2012 called "Renew Blue." Last year, Best Buy's costs of goods sold fell a whopping $958 million year over year, $510 million in the fourth quarter alone, providing a nice cushion to profits.

Also offering a cushion to profits? Gobs of share repurchases.

In FY16, the company achieved what was a three-year goal set forth on March 2015 to repurchase $1 billion of its stock. Best Buy repurchased 32.8 million shares for a total of $1 billion last year, of which 21.5 million shares, or $615 million, were repurchased in the fourth quarter. And the share repurchases won't be stopping anytime soon: execs outlined today a new $1 billion in share repurchases to take place over the next two years.

But, Best Buy's top exec may have said it all about the near-term issues the company is poised to face. "In the short-term, we will be characterized by our strong cash-flow-generating capabilities and our intent to regularly return excess free cash flow to shareholders," said Best Buy's chairman and CEO Hubert Joly in a statement.

That's not exactly a ringing endorsement for a business that badly needs to start growing revenue -- after all, there are only so many costs a company can cut to make an earnings number.

Shares of Best Buy initially fell about 3% in pre-market trading on Tuesday, but subsequently recovered and are up slightly.

TheStreet takes a look at three of the most glaring problems Best Buy exposed with its latest results.
1. Online sales badly lagged Amazon.
Best Buy has worked hard under Joly to upgrade its online shopping experience. For instance, it has made it faster to checkout and has allowed inventory sitting in a store to be shipped to an online shopper. Yet, despite its efforts digitally Best Buy continued to lag its chief online foe Amazon ( AMZN) last year.

Best Buy's domestic online sales for the fourth quarter rose 13.7% year over year, and were up 13.5% for all of 2015. Meantime, Amazon saw its fourth quarter and full year North America sales rise 24% and 25%, respectively. As a real kick to Best Buy's face? Amazon's sales of electronics and general merchandise increased 28% in the fourth quarter, about two times the rate of growth delivered by Best Buy.
2. Profit margins are quietly under siege.
Best Buy's fourth quarter gross margin improved to 21.6% from 21.2% a year earlier. The company pointed out that it benefited from a "65-basis point impact from a periodic profit sharing payment based on the performance of the company's externally managed extended service plan portfolio and improved rates in the mobile and computing categories primarily, driven by our more disciplined promotional strategy." Whatever that means.

The more pressing issue at hand was profit margin pressure in the important items Best Buy needs to make money on during its critical holiday season.

According to Best Buy, its profit margins were hurt in the holiday season by selling more lower-margin wearable devices and fewer higher-margin digital imaging products, as well as declining prices for TVs. Best Buy also made an investment in offering better prices on its services such as computer repairs and home installation that apparently didn't pan out -- comparable store sales for services fell 11.9% in the quarter. For the year, same-store sales of service declined 11.4%.
3. Sales remain under pressure.
On Jan. 14, Best Buy said its U.S. same-store sales for the nine-weeks ended Jan. 2 fell 1.2%. The sales trend didn't get any better the remainder of the month. Fourth quarter domestic same store sales ended up declining 1.7%.

And based on Best Buy's first quarter outlook, sales still haven't stabilized.

Best Buy expects total revenue in the first quarter to decline 2.4% to 3.6% year over year. Same-store sales are seen down 1% to 2%. Underscoring the profit margin pressure on many of its products, Best Buy forecast first quarter earnings of 31 cents a share to 35 cents a share. A year ago, earnings came in at 37 cents a share.

For the year, Best Buy anticipates "flat" revenue and "flattish" operating income growth.

"From a financial perspective for fiscal 2017, based on current industry dynamics and how we see the various product cycles playing out in our domestic business, we are expecting revenue declines in the first half followed by growth in the back half," said Best Buy executive vice president and CFO Sharon McCollam in a statement.

With respect to the first quarter, McCollam added, "in the domestic business, we believe that the softness that we saw in the NPD-tracked categories and mobile phones will continue."

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Problems mounting for Best Buy despite earnings beat

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The problems for Best Buy ( BBY) are quietly mounting. On Thursday, the electronics retailer reported earnings adjusted for one-time items of $1.53 a share, beating Wall Street forecasts for $1.39 a share. The company's bottom line was juiced by two factors. First, the company continued to benefit from a cost-cutting program unveiled in 2012 called "Renew Blue."

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Although we may be a Fortune 500 company, our employees value our customers

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Although we may be a Fortune 500 company, our employees value our customers

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MUST WATCH

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Employees at a Best Buy on Long Island decided to chip in to buy a WiiU for a child after they noticed he was coming into the store daily to play the free display.

Video posted to YouTube by Rahiem Storr, a man who identified himself as a manager at Best Buy, shows an employee approaching a child who is playing a WiiU at a Best Buy in Valley Stream.

"On behalf of all of us here at Best Buy, we got you a WiiU," the employees told the child. "This is something we did for you. Everyone here that you see, we all got together and chipped in so you could have it."

The child appeared to question the kind gesture at first, but the employee assured him it wasn't a joke.

"No for real, this is for you. Consider it an early Christmas present," the employee said.

Storr wrote on YouTube that his employees also bought him the new Super Smash Bros. game and then gave the child a ride home so he wouldn't have to walk along the streets with his new WiiU.

"The employees in this store saw an opportunity to make a child smile and did just that," Storr wrote.

He also said the child's parents took him back to the store the following evening and it appeared he truly enjoys going to the Best Buy.

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Valley Stream Best Buy employees buy WiiU for kid who kept visiting

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Employees at a Best Buy on Long Island decided to chip in to buy a WiiU for a child after they noticed he was coming into the store daily to play the free display.

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I strongly enforce it

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what!!! that is awesome!!

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Harness the power of STEM subjects with the right technology tools. Visit Best Buy® Education at FETC, Booth 1135 to experience how technology turns education into career launch pads.

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Check out how!!

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Best Buy Education: Technology For Schools

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See how $10,000 from Best Buy Education transformed a Florida classroom, with technology.

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It's worth it!

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Best Buy Story - Profile, History, Founder, CEO | Electronic Companies | SuccessStory

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The Best Buy Company., Inc. was started by Richard M. Schulze and his partner in the year 1966. The first store was named 'Sound of Music' and sold only home and car stereo equipment.

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don't know what that is? Well check it out!!!

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If you're reading this, you probably know how impossible it is to find a NES Classic Edition anywhere right now. Amazon, Target, Walmart and anywhere else you can think of is out of stock, and when consoles do drip-drip into local stores, they're snapped up before they even go on shelves.

Best Buy is having the biggest in-stock event of the holiday season tomorrow, which is probably your best (and last!) chance to get a Classic Edition before Christmas. The company will have stock in 1,000 stores, but according to a blog post, you'll have to be fast and prepared to get any.

In the post, the company confirms that stock is coming to "over 1,000" stores nationwide. Best Buy hasn't confirmed which, but an SEC filing from October reveals that the company has 1,026 stores nationwide. In other words, there should be some NES Classic Edition stock at every single store. I'm guessing that Best Buy isn't saying this so that if stock is delayed or not delivered to a couple particular locations, it won't be blamed.

The stock is going to be limited, and sold on a first-come-first-served basis. Best Buy is planning for anticipated demand by using a ticketing system. People will almost certainly be waiting in line long before the store is opened, so they'll be given tickets for a purchase after opening. There will be limit of one ticket (and one NES Classic Edition) per customer, so don't think you're going to be getting any to scalp on eBay.

In short: get there early (perhaps even overnight), it shouldn't matter which store you go to, and be prepared to wait for a very long time. You also won't be able to make resale money off this sale - it's strictly intended for last-minute Christmas shopping.

If plans don't work out tomorrow, we've compiled tips from NES Classic Edition shoppers who have been successful. Mostly, it involves stalking stock at Target, waiting for consoles to show up, and then waiting in line from the very early hours of the morning.

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Everything you need to know about Best Buy's NES Classic sale tomorrow

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If you're reading this, you probably know how impossible it is to find a NES Classic Edition anywhere right now. Amazon, Target, Walmart and anywhere else you can think of is out of stock, and when consoles do drip-drip into local stores, they're snapped up before they even go on shelves.

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Check out this website!!

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Shane KitzmanStaff Writer
Test Drive the New Samsung Galaxy S 5 and All Three Gears
You're busy. We get that.

From helping you save serious cash, to getting your hands on the Galaxy S 5 for a test drive weeks before it's for sale - here are five highlights from Best Buy this week.
iPhone 5s is Free - with iPhone Trade-In
Only at Best Buy can you take the Samsung Galaxy S 5 smartphone and any of the three new Gear wearable devices for a spin in select Samsung Experience Shops. Head to BestBuy.com/TheNextBigThing to find out which stores are offering a sneak peek.

Pre-orders are available on all the Gear devices, and AT&T and Sprint customers can pre-order the GS5 here - with the bonus of a $10 e-gift card.
Believe It. PlayStation 4 Now Available

Now through March 29, Best Buy customers who trade in a working iPhone 4s or iPhone 5 will receive a guaranteed minimum $150 Trade-In credit, making the iPhone 5s 16GB free.

And if you're worried your iPhone is worth more, Best Buy will cover the difference. Check out what your iPhone - or any old device you have lying around - is worth by visiting www.bestbuy.com/tradein.
HTC One M8 Debuts on Tuesday
Best Buy will have tens of thousands of PlayStation 4 consoles available over the coming weeks. You can find a console at a nearby store, order online and pickup at a store near you, or buy online and get free shipping to your home.
Windows XP Heads Up
Head to BestBuy.com/PS4 for more.

The all new HTC One is available online at Best Buy on Tuesday, March 25 and HTC aims for its newest addition to improve yet again after CNET called it a "near-ideal smartphone" back in 2013. Oh, and Best Buy will be at the New York launch event, so follow along on @BBYNews for up-to-the-minute updates.

Are you rocking a Microsoft XP operating system on your computer? If you are, then your computer won't be rocking much longer. Just two weeks from tomorrow - on April 8 - computers running Microsoft XP no longer get the security updates and will be exposed to potential data breaches. Plan accordingly.

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5 Things You Want to Know from Best Buy This Week, Starting with Free iPhones and PS4 Availability - Best Buy Corporate News and Information

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Shane KitzmanStaff Writer Test Drive the New Samsung Galaxy S 5 and All Three Gears You're busy. We get that. From helping you save serious cash, to getting your hands on the Galaxy S 5 for a test drive weeks before it's for sale - here are five highlights from Best Buy this week.

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Informing you with interest

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We at Best Buy work hard every day to enrich the lives of consumers through technology, whether they come to us online, visit our stores or invite us into their homes. We do this by solving technology problems and addressing key human needs across a range of areas, including entertainment, productivity, communication, food, security and health.

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About Best Buy - Best Buy Corporate News and Information

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We at Best Buy work hard every day to enrich the lives of consumers through technology, whether they come to us online, visit our stores or invite us into their homes. We do this by solving technology problems and addressing key human needs across a range of areas, including entertainment, productivity, communication, food, security and health.

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where did it start?

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History of Best Buy Co., Inc. - FundingUniverse

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Read about the history of Best Buy Co., Inc. Explore the company's history, profile, and timeline. Find the key facts you're looking for!