Good sign things aren't good for Best Buy

[callthatgirl]

Just got this in my email.

Best Buy to lease out space at 46 stores

If they are needing to lease space, that means instead of closing stores, leasing out space is a good idea to keep them where they are. Smart move on their end, but I think there is a strong message here about how they are doing overall and with Geek Squad's $20 a month special, it's safe to assume things are not going well. I don't know, this is how I saw it. Thoughts?

Oh and here's a little story (actually a big story) that got a full pack page of the business section of the Star Tribune last summer. Of course, didn't make any of the local news stations. Guilty: Couple scammed Best Buy out of $41.6M

 

[kotarel]

What I think is: As people get more and more aware of IT stuff, they realise big shops aren't necessarely the best options. Hopefully it will help the smaller places get new clients as we are more "friendly" technically. Now the problem is, they will have trouble to differenciate the good ones from the bad ones...

 

[NWPhotog]

The way BB/Geek Squad mistreats its customer they deserve to go away.

 

[minc3d]

This kind of story doesn't necessarily mean trouble for the part of BB we associate as our biggest name brand competitor: Geek Squad. It could be that their retail front is merely losing a bit more money than they can handle (fighting Amazon, Buy.com, etc isn't easy) and are re-organizing. I wouldn't call this the initial death bell in any way.

Who knows - maybe Geek Squad will be branched off into their own locations? I don't know if that would be better or worse for us all. But let's not get caught making judgement on this too quickly.

I have little respect for Best Buy as a whole, especially GS, but I won't speculate too far into small fluctuations of their retail kingdom. Remember, these guys run thousands of stores in the USA and this is just a blip on the map.

 

[m5online]

Most people who shop at BB aren't the kind of folks who pay attention to stuff like poor service, tech know how, and good prices. They just want a TV a Camera or a DVD NOW and BB is the the usually the easiest and most convenient outlet. There will always be that caliber of customer to keep store's like BB in Business. I think they are trying different things to compensate for dwindling DVD and Music sales. I've read a few article about BB trying to get in early on being an EV dealer and service center. That's just weird.

 

[JAbbott]

Who would deal with people, parking, and bad service when you can just wait 2 days for shipping

I'd love some of their stupid services to go under, but ultimately stores like this need to survive for the economy, idiots, and just in case we need something last minute. I remember two years ago when all the compUSAs went down- that was a bad sign. Now I guess TigerDirect bought them out and renamed their retail outlets CompUSA again. I guess the name wasn't tarnished yet.

 

[1on1 Computer Services]

I wonder if they would lease out some space for my new shop???

 

[Tony_Scarpelli]

I don't think BB lives and dies on Computer sales/repairs alone. However if people are spending less on IT then they probably are spending less on appliances, TV's, surround sound, music devices and such.

However, as big as they are they can be a good barometer to the rest of us in the general state of the economy. To that extent what is bad for BB is bad for most of us.

I am thankful that BB is here. They make me look good. I can set my prices 75% of them and still make a very nice niche for myself.

 

[anonymous Mac Tech]

Leasing space plus the $20 a month service just means one very obvious thing to me. They are shifting their services more towards remote/phone support. That's the entire basis of the $20 offering.

 

[joydivision]

Dixons who own Curry's and PCWORLD (our Bestbuy) are also finding things very touch. Lower consumer spending is the main reason.

Also you Americians will notice things get much tougher if your government doesn't admit it has major debt issues.

The only way out of this recession is for consumers to spend, if they have no job security they are not going to spend.

So I am not sure if this is good news really.

 

[OldSchoolPC]

Also you Americians will notice things get much tougher if your government doesn't admit it has major debt issues.
.

While I take no offense to your post, nor do I want to start an argument, I must disagree. It is extremely evident and clear to all americans how dire the financial situation is. We borrowed a lot of money from the Chinese. That says a lot. U.S. government knows it's bad.

 

[nXtGenPC]

Wonder if I can rent space in BB for my shop

 

[RichmondTech]

That's funny, I just finished looking at a small place for lease right next to a local Staples and I felt even that was too close for comfort. I can't imagine actually being inside a Best Buy.

 

[callthatgirl]

I think it may be a good idea lol.

Your signage could we awesome, I would consider it

 

[ATTech]

Also you Americians will notice things get much tougher if your government doesn't admit it has major debt issues.

Why did I read this sentence as if some pissy French person was saying it?

 

[emsbronco]

One thing that a lot of people don't think about is that Best Buy stores are usually located in more expensive areas (per sq ft) and they need to maintain a certail level of sales to simply pay their leases. And, we all know how the economy is, so that has an impact.

Now, couple that with the fact that most of the BB stores were built out before LCD TVs and monitors took off and think about the amount of warehouse space each BB was set up with to store Regular Tube style TVs and Rear Projection TVs. I bet BB can fit 6 LCD TVs in the space that one rear Projection TV took up. So, in all probability, they have unused or poorly used space in the back that is costing them prime retail space sq ft rates.

 

[Paul Rodgers]

That's funny, I just finished looking at a small place for lease right next to a local Staples and I felt even that was too close for comfort. I can't imagine actually being inside a Best Buy.

Best Buy would never allow it. They will either cater to high end stores that can afford an expensive lease or they would write the contract in a way that by competing with their current (and/or future) products and services they can nullify the contract and kick you out.

My guess is that the locations that they will lease are under performing at the moment due to economic changes. They want to maintain their brand at those locations and to do so they will cut back on inventory. A half full store doesn't look very good to customers. Filling the empty space with other stores that may bring people to make an impulse buy at Best Buy is a logical idea.

 

[joydivision]

Please don't be offended at my comment, it is just a story which has been making the UK news papers lately. As you know much of Europe is already bust.

Here is one of the stories.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-13906274

 

[ATTech]

Please don't be offended at my comment

I'm not, the words you used made it sound like a pissy French person was saying it; that's all.

 

[joydivision]

I'm not, the words you used made it sound like a pissy French person was saying it; that's all.

Sorry .

I am not sure if you're aware whats going on in the UK, but there is mass job cuts in the public sector, 1000 police staff in my city alone are loosing their jobs for example. It is going to have massive impacts on any consumer to consumer business.

I am guessing if it hasn't already happened very similar things will happen in the USA and I know the USA already has a lot of unemployment due to the recession.