best buy cutting an additional 2,400 jobs, with about 600 of them being geek squad

[SithSolo1]

I called this about a month ago.

 

[shortylickens]

I'll honestly be sad when BB is finally gone. I still enjoy walking the aisles and looking at stuff even though the chances of me buying from them is low. It's kind of like a video store to me. We still have a local one left and I'll go from time to time just to walk the aisles since I know the model is sure to be dead dead dead very soon.

Its nice to put your hands on laptops.
But I bought mine from Amazon. 200 bucks cheaper than Best Buy. And easier to return if I'm not happy.

 

[paulney]

Never cared for Best Buy, but I want to second the opinion about Fry's: they turned from a specialty geek store to a mainstream electronics department. I think the format they started in is dying: not a lot of people tinkering with electronics (those go to Halted or similar very niche stores), desktop ecosphere is dying off at breakneck pace. What do they have left to differentiate themselves from Best Buy, Circuit City, Good Guys any more? The answer is - nothing.

Electronics these days are as pre-packaged as they could be. Apple, HP, Compaq, LG - it's over. You can buy this laptop or that laptop. Or you could buy it online and no tax. You could buy a home appliance or you could go to Sears and buy it cheaper.

There's nothing left.

 

[kyrax12]

Best Buy killed themselves. When Circuit City folded they could have aggressively upscaled the quality of their offerings, but instead they flooded the floor with even more unqualified, extended warranty pushers. Maybe good for short term profit, but death in the long run.

My dad, who knows little about computers, went into his local Best Buy to replace his severely outdated, dying PC. He knew I like to play games sometimes so he asked for a something that could handle that (He would never just ask me about it; he's way too proud).

You know what they sold him? An AMD 5000+ box with Geforce 6150 integrated graphics. No monitor, no speakers... just the box/mouse/kb, along with every plan they could push on a clueless old man. Total cost? around $1200, iirc. I estimate a similar pre-made PC could have been had online for around $300-$400 at the time.

I never had the heart to tell him how badly they ripped him off.

Are best buy employees just completely clueless or were did they know that the computer is crap for gaming.

 

[HeXen]

I saw some pics of their new upgraded store they copied from Apple. It looks pretty nice, not all clusterfarked like a Walmart store is.
I think they need to find different vendors, stop trying to sell stuff like Monster cables cause more and more people are realizing how insanely overpriced they are, yet accomplish the same goal.

Geeksquad has gotten pretty bad over the years, their stupid now too. I took a GPS in once that didn't work. i tested the battery and it was fine...he just glanced at it and told me that its probably the battery and once it goes bad, you have to replace the whole thing...i lol'ed cause you can buy a new battery for it for $20. plus i already tested it. he more or less just ignored me and acted busy.
its like all they want to do is get you to let them install some AV software for $70. lol

Never cared for Best Buy, but I want to second the opinion about Fry's: they turned from a specialty geek store to a mainstream electronics department. I think the format they started in is dying: not a lot of people tinkering with electronics (those go to Halted or similar very niche stores), desktop ecosphere is dying off at breakneck pace. What do they have left to differentiate themselves from Best Buy, Circuit City, Good Guys any more? The answer is - nothing.

Electronics these days are as pre-packaged as they could be. Apple, HP, Compaq, LG - it's over. You can buy this laptop or that laptop. Or you could buy it online and no tax. You could buy a home appliance or you could go to Sears and buy it cheaper.

There's nothing left.

How well do you really think a "specialty geek store" can do financially in this day n age? For one, were a small percentage and two, more and more geeks turn to Newegg.
Third...more and more electronics are just throw aways. No one keeps devices for very long anymore, not even TV's. why bother to fix it when you really can't even take it apart hardly. People used to keep TV's..etc for 15 years or more, now if their 5 years old, their obsolete. just pitch and buy.

Remember Radioshack? they used to sell diodes, capacitors and even computers. Now they sell only cell phones and way overpriced coaxial cables and accessories. The cell's are their main business now thanks to them being throw away devices.

 

[shortylickens]

Are best buy employees just completely clueless or were did they know that the computer is crap for gaming.

They're actually pretty smart. The fucking management makes them push overpriced garbage and services on the customers.
If they had the freedom to speak their minds they'd probably tell you to shop elsewhere.
Or maybe if there was one good deal in the whole store they'd take you straight to it and thats point it out.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I should really start whoring out my subpar, but better than average, computer skills more often for money.

Trust me, it isn't worth it.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Thats funny cuz the geek squad has like a 10,000% profit for their services. Anybody who cant make money with that is doomed to fail.

It does surprise me to hear they're cutting Geek Squad staff, but I think people are starting to catch on to the scale of the rip off being perpetrated by them.

LOL at Best Buy. As was mentioned in a thread earlier this year, I think the thing that really hurt them was when their jackass CEO came out and said they didn't need "bargain hunters" at their stores and eliminated most rebates. I'd ask the idiot how that is working out for them, but I think he was 1 or 2 CEOs ago.

Imagine my amazement when I heard they're building a NEW STORE in the town next to me to replace the existing store. Struggling stores shouldn't be doing stuff like that.

 

[dmcowen674]

They think that closing all the stores anywhere near the lower class and having stores near Apple stores and looking like Apple stores will save them.

I hope catering to the 1%ers puts the nail in the coffin for them.

 

[Nintendesert]

They think that closing all the stores anywhere near the lower class and having stores near Apple stores and looking like Apple stores will save them.

I hope catering to the 1%ers puts the nail in the coffin for them.

Yeah, and seeing as how poorly Apple is doing catering to people that are 1%ers and people pretending to be a 1%er would never work. :whiste:

 

[dmcowen674]

Yeah, and seeing as how poorly Apple is doing catering to people that are 1%ers and people pretending to be a 1%er would never work. :whiste:

I didn't say it wouldn't work.

It doesn't make them suck any less.

Down to the 1%ers

Occupy Occupy Occupy Occupy Occupy Occupy Occupy Occupy Occupy

 

[Nintendesert]

I didn't say it wouldn't work.

It doesn't make them suck any less.

Down to the 1%ers

Occupy Occupy Occupy Occupy Occupy Occupy Occupy Occupy Occupy

Occupy Occupy Occupy Occupy Occupy a job.

 

[CRXican]

have you seen the videos of the crazy service centers?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmZnwBk0AWk&feature=share&list=PL4843DA735E9F2E93

 

[MotionMan]

Remember the "Angels and Devils" approach that Best Buy implemented in about 2005?

How's that working out?

MotionMan

 

[SKORPI0]

Remember the "Angels and Devils" approach that Best Buy implemented in about 2005?

How's that working out?

MotionMan

Angels and Devils: Best Buy's New Customer Approach (A)
LEAKS: Best Buy’s Internal Customer Profiling Document
The Yin and Yang of Dealing with Good and Lousy Customers

Doesn't look good to me. Looks like they are shooting themselves in the foot.

Looks like smart shoppers/bargain hunters know the truth. It's cheaper to buy online in the end. Best Buy has never been the "best price" since early 2000s.

Related Geek Squad video..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnkZfmkfmz8&
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCRPI-1dHQw&
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO0fAsxd2rY&
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZq4UnkgZQI&
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmZnwBk0AWk&feature=share&list=PL4843DA735E9F2E93

 

[olds]

I mostly shop on Amazon but I like having best buy around. Mostly for looking at physical items. But I did walk over a few weeks and and buy a Kindle Fire.

 

[HeXen]

i wonder if success can be found if you just took a warehouse like say Newegg's, open a small consumer room in front where you have large touchscreens, puchase your product through that touchscreen and then someone brings it out to you....as say, an alternative to shopping online, its basically the same thing except you get it right then and there minus the shipping fee and wait.

that way you don't have the overhead, the staff..etc needed and you can compete normally with Etailers. But the only benefit there is you get your product right now and no shipping fee's. To have consumers physically handle it would require paying someone to set them up all the time, but i suppose you could make a product demo room to showcase and consumers simply pay via a computer touch screen that also contains all the info needed about a product without driving costs up much at all.

 

[MotionMan]

i wonder if success can be found if you just took a warehouse like say Newegg's, open a small consumer room in front where you have large touchscreens, puchase your product through that touchscreen and then someone brings it out to you....as say, an alternative to shopping online, its basically the same thing except you get it right then and there minus the shipping fee and wait.

that way you don't have the overhead, the staff..etc needed and you can compete normally with Etailers. But the only benefit there is you get your product right now and no shipping fee's. To have consumers physically handle it would require paying someone to set them up all the time, but i suppose you could make a product demo room to showcase and consumers simply pay via a computer touch screen that also contains all the info needed about a product without driving costs up much at all.

I think you would need someplace for people to touch the items if you are going to compete with Amazon Prime.

MotionMan

 

[Jeff7]

i wonder if success can be found if you just took a warehouse like say Newegg's, open a small consumer room in front where you have large touchscreens, puchase your product through that touchscreen and then someone brings it out to you....as say, an alternative to shopping online, its basically the same thing except you get it right then and there minus the shipping fee and wait.

that way you don't have the overhead, the staff..etc needed and you can compete normally with Etailers. But the only benefit there is you get your product right now and no shipping fee's. To have consumers physically handle it would require paying someone to set them up all the time, but i suppose you could make a product demo room to showcase and consumers simply pay via a computer touch screen that also contains all the info needed about a product without driving costs up much at all.

Sounds kind of like the old general stores that were around before self-serve retailers, where the clerk would get the items you wanted. :hmm:

And of course, then you would have this:
<bring item from back>
"Hmm...no, I don't think that's the one I wanted."
<new item>
"Oooh, that's heavier than I expected."
<new item>
"Is this the only color you have?"
...3 hours pass...



Or: Amazon Prime: Showroom, for $50/year, or something like that.
Amazon then buys out the existing Best Buy stores, renovates the warehouse portion of the store into more customer floorspace. Amazon Prime: Showroom gets you access to the building, so you can go in and look for stuff you want. The only stock in the store is limited to the floor models. Removing or selling the floor models to customers is subject to public beatings for those who violate the policy, primarily to serve as a deterrent. :awe: Then you buy the item at Amazon's website.


Then in another 40 years, society's mostly forgotten about the concept of buying things in stores, the pendulum swings back to having B&M retail outlets.

 

[HeXen]

I think you would need someplace for people to touch the items if you are going to compete with Amazon Prime.

MotionMan

which is like $80 a year?. the benefit in this case would be no $80 a yr fee and you get your item right away.
Other than that it seems to be the same difference. Though maybe its possible to open a showcase room for computers, mobiles and audio while still being competitive.

anyway, just a thought..has to be better than how BB is doing right now.:whiste:

 

[IGBT]

the private sector is doing fine..it's all George Bush's fault.

 

[HybridSquirrel]

which is like $80 a year?. the benefit in this case would be no $80 a yr fee and you get your item right away.
Other than that it seems to be the same difference. Though maybe its possible to open a showcase room for computers, mobiles and audio while still being competitive.

anyway, just a thought..has to be better than how BB is doing right now.:whiste:

$35 bucks a year for me. $35 bucks if you're a mom, student, and military/leo/public servant.

 

[Jaskalas]

Not until you start one for Barnes & Noble first!

Awww... I remember paper, something our ancestors used to read.

 

[Jeff7]

the private sector is doing fine..it's all George Bush's fault.

What's this? No mention of "eco-KOOKs®"? My head suddenly hurts.

 

[HeXen]

well if all economists are right and were really close to a worser economic collapse than 2008 was. many of us may not be buying any entertainment anywhere. The dollar value has already dropped 16% in a short time i read.