1966:
Richard Schulze opens Sound of Music stereo
store in St. Paul, Minn.
1981:
The chain hits on a low-price, no-frills format following
a fire sale at a tornado-ravaged store
1983:
Sound of Music changes name to Best Buy;
opens first superstore
1985:
Brian Dunn joins Best Buy as sales associate
1989:
Best Buy employs “grab-and-go” merchandising
within a non-commissioned, warehouse-style environment;
introduces yellow tag logo
1993:
Best Buy becomes No. 2 CE retailer behind Circuit
City
1995:
Best Buy implements standard operating platform
(SOP) to standardize and manage operations
1999:
adds CE
2000:
Best Buy acquires Magnolia Hi-Fi; launches
2001:
Best Buy acquires Canada’s Future Shop, its first
international venture
2002:
Brad Anderson succeeds Schulze as CEO; acquires
Geek Squad
2003:
Best Buy dumps ill-fated Musicland music store
acquisition
2005:
Best Buy acquires Audiovisions, a California integrator;
begins national roll out of customer centricity
model
2006:
Best Buy opens first stand-alone Mobile store with
Carphone Warehouse; opens first in-store Magnolia departments;
opens Geek Squad City, a 165,000-squarefoot
IT repair depot; acquires Pacific Sales home improvement
chain; acquires Chinese CE and appliance
chain Five Star
2007:
Dunn promoted to president
2008:
Best Buy acquires Napster; enters European venture
with Carphone Warehouse; Lehman Brothers collapses,
economy follows
2009:
Dunn succeeds Anderson as CEO, reorganizes
management structure, cuts content delivery deals with
TiVo and Sonic Solutions, develops connected store
format, begins tests of electric car sales; Circuit City
liquidates
2010:
Best Buy launches private-label wireless-broadband
service, tests Shopkick location-based mobile
shopping apps, adds iPad and Kindle, extends IT products
and services to physicians, tests electric vehicle
charging stations
2011:
Best Buy plans reductions in store square footage
and expansion of online SKUs, rolls out in-store
gaming centers, adds third-party resellers to site, closes
Best Buy stores in Turkey and China; fiscal 2011
earnings fall 3 percent; full-year comps projected at
flat to negative 3 percent. The chain begins rollout of
Pacific Sales majap departments and launches holiday
shopping enhancements.
