That’s the headline of a blog posted today by Herb Greenberg, CNBC senior stocks commentator, where he makes the case that consumers really need to see, touch and try CE products and major appliances before buying.
Amazon buying Best Buy will give it 1,000 or so Internet showrooms, and Greenberg quoted an anonymous retail exec that the move could “attack these [brick-and-mortar] guys where they live.”
He makes the point that whether Amazon buys the chain, the existing management stays and makes changes, or founder Dick Schulze succeeds in taking Best Buy private, the chain has to be radically restructured. (I think Schulze succeeding is a long shot, but that is a discussion for another day.)
Of course, Greenberg is looking at this as a stock trader and not a merchant. But even he admitted that Amazon is still a retailer and its “sales growth and operating margins are decelerating.”
So what better way to spend your money than to buy a national chain and restructure it, right? That will surely help the bottom line.
One thing he doesn’t mention: Like “Amazon” which could mean anything “Best Buy” does not have to mean CE and major appliances. If Amazon did acquire Best Buy, with that name it could carry any product category.
Think about it.
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