“Best Buy Co founder and largest shareholder Richard Schulze abruptly resigned as chairman and a director of the company on Thursday and said he was exploring options for his 20% stake, creating more uncertainty about the future of the beleaguered electronics retailer,” Ann Zimmerman reports for The Wall Street Journal. “Mr. Schulze, 71, said he was immediately leaving the company he had founded more than four decades ago. His sudden departure, and expressed interest in putting his 69 million shares valued at $1.36 billion in play, raised the possibility that Best Buy could become a takeover target.”
“‘This is just more drama and distraction for a company that needs a lot of focus right now,’ said Colin McGranahan, retail analyst at Sanford Bernstein. He characterized Mr. Schulze’s declaration as the equivalent of holding a ‘fire sale on the company’s front steps,'” Zimmerman reports. “The Richfield, Minn. retailer previously had said that Mr. Schulze would step down as chairman June 21 and leave the board in 2013 after an internal investigation found that he had learned of an alleged affair involving former Chief Executive Brian Dunn and a 29-year-old subordinate, but failed to notify other members of the board. Mr. Dunn resigned before the internal investigation was completed. Another board member, G. “Mike” Mikan, a former healthcare executive, is acting CEO until a search committee settles on a new leader.”
Zimmerman reports, “The drama comes amid an already rocky time for the world’s largest electronics retailer by revenue, which has been struggling to re-imagine its business model amid increasing competition from online retailers such as Amazon.com Inc. and the trendy gadget stores of Apple Inc. Best Buy has been one of the retailers hardest hit by showrooming, the consumer practice of checking out merchandise in stores, then buying it online. Best Buy named board member Hatim Tyabji its new chairman on Thursday and released a statement calling Mr. Schulze ‘an iconic entrepreneur’ who ‘changed the landscape of American retail.’ It declined to discuss the matter further.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Showrooming, sure, but it also doesn’t help that Best Buy’s customer service sucks donkey you-know-what or that their collection of blue-shirted morons — who mostly stand around in groups yakking with each other while ignoring customers — know next-to-nothing about most of the products they sell.
Related articles:
Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn call it quits – April 10, 2012
Best Buy posts $1.7b loss, to close 50 U.S. stores, cuts 400 corporate-level jobs – March 29, 2012
Best Buy forces customer to buy service plan to get an iPad 2 out of storage – April 11, 2011
I drive by 2 Best Buys to get to the Apple Store. Why? Because Apple Store employees are courteous, friendly, and know their stuff. Best Buy has kids who don’t know squat about the merchandise (can’t tell you how often I have asked a question and they check the shelf tag to get any info about a product) and are more interested in talking to each other than helping someone.
Rats fleeing the ship.
No one will buy that 20% for fear of being harassed for 10 minutes about buying an extended warranty at checkout… 🙂
Best laugh I’ve had in ages….
Thank you, jester, you are truly funny…
+∞!
The age of the one-stop big box retailer is giving way to the boutique shop, where, not surprisingly, the staff is much better training and the Company’s emphasis on service quality is emphasized.
Gee, that’s the way it was until about the mid ’80s, when the warehouse stores became fashionable.
The specialized store that is a chain can be just as inept if not made right.
It’s not all bad. Best Buy is now selling discounted iTunes cards online. This sale should last through Saturday.
“Best Buy Co founder and largest shareholder Richard Schulze abruptly resigned as chairman and a director of the company on Thursday and said he was exploring options for his 20% stake, creating more uncertainty about the future of the beleaguered electronics retailer”
so, he’s retiring? hell he’s 71, power to him.
Dam Yankee…
The keyword here, and the word that makes shareholders panic, is “abruptly”. Meaning, suddenly, without cause.
Oh, and “beleaguered”.
He see’s the writing on the Wall!!
Where will Microsloth sell its lame PC’s now?
Costco and Sam’s Club
“and leave the board in 2013 after an internal investigation found that he had learned of an alleged affair involving former Chief Executive Brian Dunn and a 29-year-old subordinate”
Ummm….yeah. I think that may have something to do with it.
Yup that’s about it. Was going to get dinged badly for that and quit to avoid having to deal with it.
Still 71 and a billion dollars in stock isn’t a bad way to end.
Crappy customer service is only part of it. They also let directv and Clear Internet salesmen roam the store harassing customers. Last black Friday I bought a microwave for my wife and got the wrong color. I went back and they told me they couldn’t take returns until noon since the manager figured they would be so busy. Three customers service agents literally sat on their asses while I loudly protested for nearly 45 minutes and threatened to simply leave the merchandise and cancel the charges on my credit card. Finally a fourth employee exchanged the microwave and apologized.
Not an original joke with me, but…
Did they try to sell him an extended warranty on his way out?
Went by Best Buy to take a look at Tivos and Xbox units running the xFinity app, and guess what?
1- They have not one TV connected to Comcast despite the entire city in question being served by Comcast. Excuse- we have a relationship with Direct TV.
2- They have not one Xbox connected to the internet- especially Comcast. Excuse again- we work with Direct TV and have no working relationship with Comcast.
3- They have not one Tivo connected to Comcast or out of the box. Excuse, we have a relationship with Direct TV.
No Windows Media Center DVRs, xBoxes or Mac EyeTV DVRs connected to anything. Excuse- we have a relationship with Direct TV.
They sell all this stuff, but none of it is connected to the net or cable so that the customer can try it or see it demonstrated. The sales people new less than my dog about anything pertinent to my product research.
Microsoft, Tivo, Apple and Roku should be kicking asses over at Best Buy this very hour.
Worst-Buy
Perhaps I’m the lone exception, but I’ve had nothing but good experiences and competent salespeople at my local Best Buy. They’ve always been friendly and helpful and had a good selection of products. Heck, they even price-matched a soundtrack CD with Amazon for me once! That right there impressed me enough to keep them on the short list of places to shop. Again, I’ve probably got a diamond in the rough, so to speak, but I like my Best Buy!
I’ve had good experiences in Best Buy (Canada) as well. I’m not sure what people’s expectations on this are, but I personally don’t need hand holding, or help when I go there. If I do need help, it’s only to purchase a non self serve product.
I work at an Apple retail store, so I’m quite familiar with good customer service. I still like to go to Best Buy and browse the isles. I typically have fun and enjoy my experience, when I shop there.
I stop buying anything from there four years ago after I got shafted with the Blu-Ray player. We had initially bought one just before Xmas so it wasn’t opened until Christmas day. The unit was non-functioning so I returned it to the store. I had to go to another store since they did not have a replacement.
Less than a year into use, the unit stopped playing regular DVDs. Could play Blu-Ray with no problem. I returned it to the local store but after an hour of waiting was told that since I had already retuned it once I could not return it a second time. I pointed out that the original was defective at the time of purchase but that did not matter to them.
After much arguing I was unable to convince the manager to change their stance. So I told them that was the last time I’m buying anything from Best Buy and have not since.
Karma for the SOBs buying Canada’s Future Shop that was turned into Best Buys’ circus ring No. 2.