Los Angeles – Best Buy provided more details about the expansion of its Geek Squad and Magnolia Hi-Fi operations during its analysts’ meeting outlining its Consumer Centricity initiative.
Ron Boire, executive VP/GMM, said that the chain’s Geek Squad, the 24 hour computer support task squad, will be expanded to all Best Buy stores by the Back To School season this year. Previously Best Buy planned to have it expand to 427 stores by that time, Boire said.
He noted that for Best Buy “complexity is our friend” and that the Geek Squad will be able to solve consumer problems nationwide. The Squad is a key service feature of the Consumer Centricity effort to identify and sell existing and potentially lucrative demographic segments nationwide. (Also see Best Buy Gives Details On ‘Customer Centricity’for more details
At the same meeting Tuesday Phil Schoonover, executive VP/segments, who is responsible for identifying and supporting these demographic efforts of the plan, announced that Best Buy will open two Magnolia Hi-Fi “store-within-a-store” departments in San Francisco and Costa Mesa, Calif. by May 10.
These departments will provide the upscale audio/video products and expertise that the full-fledged chain of the same name provides in its own locations.
For more on the Best Buy Consumer Centricity effort see the upcoming May 17 edition of TWICE.
