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San Antonio — The Progressive Retailers Organization was at the Westin La Cantera Hill Coun
Minneapolis — Best Buy is anticipating a big payoff from better supply-chain processes and floor-space utilization, which will offset huge investments in lower pricing and multichannel sales.
On an earnings call this morning after reporting a first-quarter loss, president/CEO Hubert Joly and chief financial officer Sharon McCollam said they will continue to cut costs and improve operational efficiencies, which have resulted in annualized savings of $325 million to date.
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Minneapolis — Best Buy reported an $81 million loss for the first fiscal quarter, ended May 4, compared with year-ago profits of $158 million, as promotions and more competitive pricing took their toll.
Total revenue fell 9.6 percent to $9.4 billion and comp-store sales slipped 1.3 percent for the three-month period.
Minneapolis – Sony Electronics’ three-step line of 4K Ultra High-Definition TVs are rolling out to Best Buy stores this week.
Nearly 750 locations will carry the XBR-X900 series, which includes Sony’s 84-inch flagship and recently-released 65- and 55-inch displays.
The LED TVs are Best Buy’s first Ultra High-Definition models.
The 4K sets will formally go on sale this Sunday, and BestBuy.com is already taking pre-orders for the 55- and 65-inch models, a Best Buy spokesperson told TWICE.
Proxy statements have been sent to Best Buy shareholders, who, among other pieces of business, are being asked to vote in a new slate of directors, including Dick Schulze’s nominees Brad Anderson and Al Lenzmeier.
The board has endorsed the former senior officers as part of its rapprochement with Schulze, and they are expected to retain their two-month-old directors’ seats.
I read a blog online the other day about Best Buy’s turnaround in recent months, but halfway through, its author began to go down the road of gloom and doom.
I didn’t keep the link so pardon me if I don’t give the proper credit (or blame) to the author, but one line in the piece went something like this: “If Best Buy’s revival doesn’t succeed, consumer electronics will no longer have a national retail presence.”
Calabasas, Calif. – Advanced home theater technologies developer DTS, CE maker Samsung Electronics and the Best Buy-owned media streaming service CinemaNow have partnered to deliver the first multi-channel DTS-HD audio soundtracks to accompany streaming HD media titles, company executives said Tuesday.
Under the plan Best Buy’s CinemaNow, which is enabled by Rovi’s cloud streaming technology, will begin offering the DTS-Express encoded movies in its menu system along with the versions available today for other equipment brands and capabilities.
Minneapolis — Best Buy is selling its 50 percent investment in Best Buy Europe, a five-year-old joint venture with Great Britain’s Carphone Warehouse.
The British cellular chain, which helped launch Best Buy Mobile in the U.S., will purchase the balance of Best Buy Europe for about $775 million in cash and stock, less $45 million in contractual obligations to be paid by Best Buy.
The European joint venture operates stores in eight countries.
New York — Samsung and Best Buy marked the launch of their in-store Experience Shops — and the debut of the Galaxy S 4 smartphone — with a gala event last night at Cunard Hall in Lower Manhattan.
The evening was highlighted by a private performance by singer Bruno Mars, who serenaded executives, celebrities and 300 customers who were first on line to receive complimentary tickets.
New York – Best Buy and Samsung officially kicked off their much ballyhooed in-store boutique program at a Manhattan launch event this morning.
On hand at the chain’s Union Square store were Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly, Samsung IT and mobile president/CEO JK Shin, and other senior executives.
The new Samsung Experience Shop, like the first 200 mini stores that preceded it, features an edited assortment of Samsung cellphones, tablets, laptops, cameras and accessories.
In going through the many news and blog alerts in my email address this morning, much has been written since late last week about Samsung’s deal to open departments of its products in Best Buy.
I could bore you with the many links, but the stories/blogs fall in the following camps: It is a brilliant move by both Best Buy and Samsung; it is a move by Samsung to threaten the Apple departments in Best Buy; it is a terrible move for Samsung due to all the added expense; and it is an old-fashioned idea taken from department stores that will never work.
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