Best Buy is the outcome of Richard Schulze’s successes over the years. Originally, Best Buy was founded as a small electronics store in St. Paul, Minnesota, specializing in only home and car stereo equipment (Pederson, 2004). From 1966 to 1982, Schulze operated nine “Sound of Music” electronics stores, until a tornado hit one of his most profitable locations. This led to Schulze hosting a “tornado sale” where he sold off excess and damaged stock (Stych, 2011). He saw more money come in during that four day sale than he normally did in a month, so he converted his current stores to this high-volume, low price model. By the end of the year, Schulze was to generate nearly 9.5 million dollars in revenue from this layout. In an effort to rebrand
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In 1998, they introduced Concept 4 stores (Pederson, 2004). These were a little bit smaller sized with an open layout organized by product, and cash registers located throughout the store for easy checkout. The demonstration areas introduced in Concept 3 stores were expanded and used widely throughout Concept 4 stores. In July of 2002, Brad Anderson succeeded Richard Schulze as Best Buy CEO, however, Schulze remained Chairman. In October, Best Buy acquired Geek Squad and launched their “Reward Zone” loyalty program. They had surpassed the 600-store mark in the U.S. alone and opened the first global-sourcing office in Shanghai, China in 2003 (Business Wire, 2003). Eventually, they went on to revamp their online presence, segmented stores according to customer profile rather than product category, and had Geek Squad precincts in every American Best Buy store by 2004. Best Buy took charge of the partnership with they had with The Carphone Warehouse and launched Best Buy Mobile and opened nine stores in the Manhattan area throughout 2006 (Pederson, 2004). In 2007, they became the first third-party retail seller of Apple’s iPhone. As of 2008, the company was operating 3,953 stores of all types worldwide. Of these, 25.9 percent were outlets located throughout the United States. Anderson retired and Brian Dunn replaced him as the company’s CEO in 2009 (Pederson, 2004). This
In 1998, they introduced Concept 4 stores (Pederson, 2004). These were a little bit smaller sized with an open layout organized by product, and cash registers located throughout the store for easy checkout. The demonstration areas introduced in Concept 3 stores were expanded and used widely throughout Concept 4 stores. In July of 2002, Brad Anderson succeeded Richard Schulze as Best Buy CEO, however, Schulze remained Chairman. In October, Best Buy acquired Geek Squad and launched their “Reward Zone” loyalty program. They had surpassed the 600-store mark in the U.S. alone and opened the first global-sourcing office in Shanghai, China in 2003 (Business Wire, 2003). Eventually, they went on to revamp their online presence, segmented stores according to customer profile rather than product category, and had Geek Squad precincts in every American Best Buy store by 2004. Best Buy took charge of the partnership with they had with The Carphone Warehouse and launched Best Buy Mobile and opened nine stores in the Manhattan area throughout 2006 (Pederson, 2004). In 2007, they became the first third-party retail seller of Apple’s iPhone. As of 2008, the company was operating 3,953 stores of all types worldwide. Of these, 25.9 percent were outlets located throughout the United States. Anderson retired and Brian Dunn replaced him as the company’s CEO in 2009 (Pederson, 2004). This