Best Buy

[TOareaFan]

....the retail landscape may be changing again. Early days in this story but it seems they are closing some stores on very short (ie no) notice.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2013/01/31/business-best-buy-closure.html

http://business.financialpost.com/2...lose-15-stores-in-canada-lay-off-900-workers/

 

[Johnny Au]

Best Buy and Future Shop are cannibalizing themselves (especially with their common ownership) with their illusion of competition.

Many people who go to Best Buy or Future Shop (including myself) go there just to take a look around and then buy the products online through a different retailer (often Amazon).

Even the Apple website sells Mac computers cheaper than in Best Buy or Future Shop.

 

[TOareaFan]

Best Buy and Future Shop are cannibalizing themselves (especially with their common ownership) with their illusion of competition.

Many people who go to Best Buy or Future Shop (including myself) go there just to take a look around and then buy the products online through a different retailer (often Amazon).

Even the Apple website sells Mac computers cheaper than in Best Buy or Future Shop.

Showrooming is one of the biggest challenges facing traditional retailers.

 

[DavidJamesTO]

Another problem is putting Best Buy and Future Shop in the same development. It's like the Starbucks across from the Starbucks in Houston.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Showrooming is one of the biggest challenges facing traditional retailers.

Especially if the model or size is not visible on display in a brick-n-motor store.

 

[butabi]

Does anyone know what locations in the GTA might close next?

 

[samsonyuen]

Does anyone know what locations in the GTA might close next?

No Best Buys in Ontario are closing. The only Future Shop in the GTA closing is in Erin Mills Power Centre, in the Dundas big box corridor.

http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/01/31/reports-of-best-buy-closures-across-canada/

 

[Student99]

I thought I heard somewhere that the Best Buy near park place in Barrie is closing? There's a best buy and a future shop directly beside each other there. You can see it from highway 400.
Bet they have lots of people going in one and then the other to compare prices.

EDIT: Oh wait, looking at the links above, it's the Future Shop that will close there.

 

[DavidJamesTO]

I'm surprised they aren't doing it everywhere; you don't need two stores from the same company right next to each other. The big box mall in Cambridge has this line-up: Future Shop, Wal-Mart, Staples, and Best Buy all in a row. It's a wonder any of them can pay the rent.

 

[Skeezix]

I'm surprised they aren't doing it everywhere; you don't need two stores from the same company right next to each other. The big box mall in Cambridge has this line-up: Future Shop, Wal-Mart, Staples, and Best Buy all in a row. It's a wonder any of them can pay the rent.

As far as I've read, the model has (had?) worked very well for Best Buy in Canada. Future Shop has more experienced staff working on commission, and allegedly has a slightly higher-end range of products (and sells appliances, or at least it used to), while Best Buy had staff working minimum wage and slightly cheaper prices. That was the theory anyway. Every time I read about it, Best Buy/Future Shop outlets reportedly did better in close proximity to one another. Whether any of that continues to hold true today, I do not know. But there was a logic to it, at least at the time.

 

[Basshats]

Another problem is putting Best Buy and Future Shop in the same development. It's like the Starbucks across from the Starbucks in Houston.

For those who don't get the reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENGUYeiGtNk

 

[GKW]

Best Buy Canada says about 950 full-time employees will be laid off as the company reworks its operations to reduce layers of management and combine some of its sales departments. The electronics retailer says the job cuts will affect both its Best Buy and Future Shop stores across Canada. Best Buy says the changes do not include any store closures. Retailers have been grappling with a number of new competitors in Canada over the past year, including the arrival of Target and a more aggressive rollout of Walmart supercentres. Best Buy has also spent more effort on boosting sales through its websites. The company has 265 locations across the country, including its Best Buy Mobile and Future Shop brands.

http://www.thestar.com/business/economy/2014/01/30/best_buy_canada_cuts_950_jobs.html

 

[bAuHaUs]

There will be more store closures on the heels of this labour force reduction. These things always go hand in hand.

 

[Johnny Au]

Showrooming is the primary demise of Best Buy/Future Shop.

 

[Bruno Republic]

Showrooming is the primary demise of Best Buy/Future Shop.

Secondary. The primary cause is that most of what they sell is being rendered obsolete by smartphones and tablets. Stereo equipment, consumer cameras, movie and music in physical form, desktop (and increasingly, laptop) PCs, software... all the things they used to fill these stores with are vanishing as average consumers no longer buy them, or buy them through online channels (e.g. iTunes store, Netflix, etc).

That leaves TVs/home theatre, smartphones, tablets, video games, and a lot of empty space. Seems they've been making more of an effort to get into the small appliance business, but that market is already well-served by other big box retailers. They're running out of things to sell, and thus electronics stores just aren't a destination like they were in the 90s and early 00s. This is why Best Buy's fortunes did not improve after their main competitor in the US (Circuit City) went under.

Showrooming is definitely a factor, but more so in the US. Here amazon's offerings are far more limited. The bigger problem is people just don't spend as much on electronics as they used to.