Best Buy 's Top Three Executives

Best Buy’s History & Main Characters: Best Buy is Minneapolis-based and is North America's leading specialty retailer of consumer electronics, personal computers, entertainment software and appliances. Throughout Best Buy's 37-year history, the company has maintained the tradition of making life fun and easy for customers and employees, while providing a significant return to partners and investors. It has 80,000 employees and over 550 stores in the U.S., in addition to the brands Best Buy Canada, Future Shop and Magnolia Hi-Fi. Their leadership is led by Dick Schulze, Founder and Chairman, Brad Anderson, Vice Chairman and CEO, Al Lenzmeier, President and COO, and Darren Jackson, Executive Vice

Best Buy Co., Inc. is a multinational company in the United States and it deals, with consumer electronics, and accounts 19% of the business. The company also operates in Mexico, Puerto Rico, China, and Canada. Some of the subsidiaries of the company include CinemaNow, Geek Squad, Pacific Sales, and Magnolia Audio Video and operates in both Future Shop label, and Best Buy in Canada. Best Buy Co. Inc and its subsidiaries operate more than 1,150 stores internationally and domestically. The company also operates more than 100 “ZoomShops” or Buy Express Automated retail Stores, operated by the Zoom Systems, in both malls and airports in the entire country of the U.S. The company is headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota, U.S (Scott,

Best Buy Co., Inc. is the largest electronics retailer in United States with international presence in Mexico, Canada and China. Best Buy Co., Inc. is headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota and currently operates more than one thousand brick & mortar stores. Founded in 1966 as “Sound of Music”, Best Buy Co., Inc. evolved from a small regional audio specialty store to a multinational consumer electronics retail chain within a short span of time. The company’s current name “Best Buy” was adopted in 1983 with an aim to emphasize a greater consumer electronics branding. Best Buy Co., Inc. went public in 1987 when it got listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Furthermore, Best Buy’s rapid expansion(s) did brought with it, usual high debt levels and uncommon low profit margins that eventually forcing Best Buy (the firm) into slowing down the firm’s expansion and reconsidering few-to-some of its low-cost strategy or strategies.

Best Buy is a company that has 40 years of history with a very accomplished sense of success. In 1966 Best Buy was a small electronics store in that originated in St. Paul Minnesota by Richard Schulze and an acquainted business partner. Considering that technology changes so rapidly, Best Buy has had to transform from just being the little electronics store down the way into a competitive, customer-driven, talent-powered company that emphasizes on pleasing the customers as it pertains to the life of technology. In 1993 Best Buy was recognized as the nation’s second largest electronics retailer and was recognized by

The Headquarters of Best Buys is found in Richfield Minnesota. It is a large company with approximately 155,000 employees and 1,100 stores in the United States alone. It also has about 2,800 stores in other countries outside the Unite States. These countries include: Canada, Mexico, China and Turkey. To add on to this, it has a number of subsidiaries namely the Geek Squad, Pacific Sales, Future Shop and Magnolia Audio Videos. Its mission is making life fun and easy by making technology solve customer needs and helping the same customers to appreciate the benefits of technology. It also aims attaining sustainable growth and earnings through constantly changing its business model to suit the needs of the customers (Lal, 2006). It also strives to sell quality products along with maintaining a high level of employee training program in order for them to have extensive product knowledge.

A man named Richard M. Schulze and his partner started Best Buy in 1966. The original store was called “Sound of Music” which was an electronics store that specialized in stereo systems. In 1967, Sound of Music purchased Bergo Company and Kencraft Hi-Fi and pulled in about $1 million in revenue. In 1969, Schulze took his partners half and decided to become a public company on the NASDAQ exchange. What started as a single store in Saint Paul, Minnesota became a chain of nine stores by 1978. In the 1980’s, Sound of Music was left with seven stores because of unfortunate accidents caused by a tornado. In 1983, Sound of Music was renamed to Best Buy Company. Along side changing the name of the company they also decided to expand on business by selling other at home appliances such as VCRs.

Best Buy is a household name that is well-known for selling consumer electronics accompanied with in store technical services. They offer a variety of related merchandise that includes software, appliances, music, movies, mobile phones, and car stereos.

In 2002 Best Buy opened 8 new stores In Toronto, this was to expand the company into Canada. While all this was happening, Schulze turned over his CEO job to Vice-Chairman Brad Anderson. Anderson also was the president and chief operating officer since 1991 and was with the company since 1973. Schulze remained involved with the company he created as chairman and he was still the largest shareholder owning nearly 17 percent. Best Buy opened many stores around the world, and in 2003 they had more than 600 stores around the world. Their store sales increased 7.1 percent in 2004 making their revenue rise 17 percent, reaching $25 billion, and a net income of $705 million.

The results from the first 32 Best Buy lab stores had a quarterly sales gain of seven percentage points higher compared to other U.S. Best Buy stores (3). As important to any financial impact was the impact on customer service and employee satisfaction. For customers having the store layout modeled to your shopping behaviors will improve their buying experience and will be apt to return.

The consumer electronics giant, Best Buy, was first established in 1966 with a single location and a staff of three in St. Paul, Minnesota, selling audio equipment targeted at 18-25 year old males. Initially Sound of Music/Best Buy grew through acquisition, expanding to nine locations in the Twin Cities area by 1978. The name, Best Buy, and expanded product line, ranging from audio and video equipment to large appliances, were a result of a “best buy” sale of damaged inventory at bargain prices in 1981. In the mid-1980s, Best Buy launched superstores similar to those of their main competitor, Circuit City and expanded by 15 stores between 1985-86. In 1989, Best Buy launched itself as a

Paul, MN. The original founders were business partners Richard M. Schulze and Gary Smoliak. Schulze bought out Smoliak, and began building it into a superstore. He then expanded to include VCRs and other home appliances, and in 1985, Best Buy went public. By 1987 it gained a listing on the New York Stock Exchange and revenues reached $239 million from 24 stores. Growth was incessant. At the time, the market was fresh for such a unique store. Its current logo, a yellow sales tag, and its “pick-up and go” style setup was introduced around 1990. (Company History)

Richard M. Schulze founded Best Buy with business partner James Wheeler when they opened “Sound of Music,” an audio specialty store located in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1966. In 1967 Sound of Music acquired Kencraft Hi-Fi Company and Bergo Company, which led to a second and third store opening near the University of Minnesota and in downtown Minneapolis. The Sound of Music ended its first year with gross sales of $173,000(USD). In 1969 Sound of Music stock was first traded as a publicly held company and in 1970 they hit the $1 million mark in annual revenues. In 1983, Sound of Music’s board of directors approved a new corporate name: Best Buy Co., Inc. The name resembled its marketing strategy: Whatever the product, it

In 1966, Richard Shulze opened a small business in St. Paul, Minnesota called Sound of Music. In the next 17 years Shulze's small store rapidly grew into a multi-million dollar outfit. In 1983, Sound of Music changed its name to Best Buy Co., Inc and the first superstore was opened in Burnsville, Minnesota. With the new name the store also began carrying more name brands, appliances, VCRs and offering central service and warehouse distribution. Throughout the nineties Best Buy became pioneers in offering the newest technology such as DVDs and high definition TVs. In 1999, Best Buy and Microsoft combined to cross promote each other and also offered a two for one stock split. Now in 2005, almost 40 years after the first store

Best Buy is a company that is a financially strong and profitable, that has generated a good few billion in cash flows from operating activities as is shown in its financial statements. They also delivered positive operating income through their trajectory. They grew total market share in the third quarter according to the most recent public data available. They have closed down certain operations that were not profitable (according to recent reports), which they expect to have a positive impact on their earnings going forward. And they are focusing the company on areas where they see the greatest opportunities for growth and profit: mobile devices and connection plans; enhanced digital and e-commerce strategies; growth in their services business; and expansion of their established business in China.