What if Best Buy goes out of business? (Eagan, Richfield: sales, credit card)

[Minnesota Spring]

The news coming out of Best Buy these days is sort of concerning. Has anyone thought what would happen to the Twin Cities if Best Buy was to go out of business? I am not even sure how many people work at the HQ's but I know there is alot of traffic coming to and from there during rush hour.
Do you think the Twin Cities would be able to absorb that shock? Would they start losing people like the Detroit and Cleveland metros? Would their huge new campus on 494 ever be put to use again?

Kind of scarry to think about IMO.

[uptown_urbanist]

Best Buy doesn't dominate the Twin Cities economy. It would be bad for those who work there, and it would presumably be bad for Richfield, but it's not a huge number of people in the context of the total Twin Cities workforce. There's really no comparison between Best Buy and, say, the auto industry in Detroit.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

See Best Buy CEO Resigns: Is the Company Going Under? | Breakout - Yahoo! Finance

The two talking heads on the above link think BB's goose is cooked.

[west336]

BBY's goose probably IS cooked, but the Twin Cities will be just fine. Losing Northwest airliines took out WAY more employees than losing Best Buy would, and we technically "merged" with Delta (it wasn't a bankrupcy). I don't think it would help the area though in the short run, and it'd be a shame for a company to go from elite to obsolete simply because it had physical stores when everyone and their mother is shopping online. There has to be a happy medium between the two, because physical shopping is NOT going away entirely. I hoope BBY finds a way to make the turnaround!

[moving123456]

Originally Posted by west336

it'd be a shame for a company to go from elite to obsolete simply because it had physical stores when everyone and their mother is shopping online. There has to be a happy medium between the two, because physical shopping is NOT going away entirely. I hoope BBY finds a way to make the turnaround!

Best Buy has more problems than just having physical stores. You can see from the reader comments on many news stories about Best Buy that they have been driving customers away for years with their pushy sales tactics on extended warranties, store credit cards, and ridiculously overpriced monster cables. Many people don't like their door guards either, they might deter a couple shoplifters, but they can also offend paying customers.

It seems like they don't even attempt to compete when it comes to pricing. Best Buy wanted about $500 more than Amazon for my newest TV and Amazon added free delivery.

[moving123456]

They are starting to lose 1 top executive per month...

The Chief Technology Officer/Geek Squad founder resigned in March.

The Chief Executive Officer resigned in April.

The Chief Marketing Officer resigned a few days ago.

[Ghengis]

I applied with them once and they didn't hire me, the hex I conjured took a while but it appears to be achieving it's intended result.

[golfgal]

When Delta came, 1500 people lost jobs with that merger, there are just shy of 8000 working at Best Buy Corporate, it would be a lot worse if BB went out of business. Best Buy isn't going to go out of business, however. They have much too large of a market share for the company to just fold. Someone will buy them out. They may not be known as Best Buy any longer but they are just too big/too profitable to go by the wayside. Sculling out of top executives isn't unheard of any any major company. If they were laying off people left and right from corporate, that would be different. They are closing some extraneous stores, etc. but they are overbuilt, especially in the Twin Cities Metro. They have 2 stores in Eagan, for example and are closing one of those.

[Kebinminn]

Best Buy is in real danger. A buy out wouldn't mean Minnesota jobs are retained. The problem with Best Buy is that they have not gained market share even though their competitors have gone under, that's a big red flag. People are going to Target and Amazon for their electronics.

They're trying to figure out who they are right now, they're focusing on one-stop-shop mobile phone stores but the same concept isn't working for Radio Shack. They're also focusing on aftermarket car accessories. They're putting a lot of hope into using the Geek Squad but, IMO, they've ruined the Geek Squad image.

I totally agree with movings assessment, Best Buy has been driving people away from years, until they admit they have a service problem they don't have a chance. They messed up big time last Christmas. It made a list of most hated companies in America. I think Best Buy can survive but they need to do far more than close a few stores. The loss would be huge for this area.

[ttaleg]

[quote=moving123456;24177040]Best Buy has more problems than just having physical stores. You can see from the reader comments on many news stories about Best Buy that they have been driving customers away for years with their pushy sales tactics on extended warranties, store credit cards, and ridiculously overpriced monster cables. Many people don't like their door guards either, they might deter a couple shoplifters, but they can also offend paying customers.

this is TRUE and i cant stand the door ppl.....i even hate how they have to say hello every time i walk in......its funny because whats even worse is that Wells Fargo has the same policy. they hard sell every time i walk in