Of course, Best Buy is not dead, nor has it gone downhill, but I've got one thing that irks (not
that much, though) me about the company, is that they have probably not opened any new stores that
aren't relocations since 2010.
20-freaking-10. I might be overreacting here (even if you think Best Buy is a stupid store), but it... just doesn't seem like they have opened any new ones. Yes, I know they've been through financial struggles and Amazon is punking them, but they're still doing OK, especially since the economy has improved and they're not doing the 2012 closings all over again. Plus, they need to get back up top, too.
Alright, I'm a bit lazy here, but I think Best Buy should reinvest by putting stores in these towns (for example):
- Westminster, MD
- Eldersburg, MD
- South Riding (Chantilly), VA
- Warrenton, VA
- Culpeper, VA
- Somewhere in southern Prince George's County, MD (District Heights/Oxon Hill/Suitland-Silver Hill/whatever)
- Danville, VA
- Front Royal, VA
Of course, I chose these since they are towns I know. Anyways, comment on my opinion and feel free to point out any new (
not relocated) Best Buys opened since 2010!
I've got to drive downtown to my nearest Best Buy. Not too far away but still. Considering there is a massive shopping centre near where I live, it would be nice to put a Best Buy there and not just another clothing store. :banghead:
None have opened in my area as far as I know. I don't go there that often though.
I think they want to have a controlled expansion, uncontrolled expansion can kill a company. Ames, Circuit City, Etc all failed after expansion attempts that went wrong.
Haven't been to a Best Buy in years, and I see no compelling reason to go to one any more.
I bought my new camera from Best Buy in October.
Anyone who has worked in retail extensively will have a field day walking a Best Buy looking at how they're trying to deal with (now) excessively large stores. Remember how the video game demos were crammed at the end of an aisle? Now the middle of the store is a wide area dedicated to just that - that's former shelf space now selling air. Aisles are wider. You now come in from the street to the cell phone gadget section instead of music & DVDs. They're a giant Radio Shack.
It looks like Best Buy has realized that they've reached their critical mass and doesn't want/need to expand further right now. Good for them for not being greedy and making calculated decisions.
Quote from: SteveG1988 on March 20, 2015, 09:44:39 PM
I think they want to have a controlled expansion, uncontrolled expansion can kill a company. Ames, Circuit City, Etc all failed after expansion attempts that went wrong.
Quote from: The Nature Boy on March 21, 2015, 09:54:48 AM
It looks like Best Buy has realized that they've reached their critical mass and doesn't want/need to expand further right now. Good for them for not being greedy and making calculated decisions.
Makes sense. Best Buy should take it easy, especially since the 2012 armageddon of stores and RadioShack's recent demise. I think, maybe a little stretch break and they can slowly open a few stores (like in the towns I listed)? I believe they should be back up like that by 2017. By the way, anyone know of any entirely new stores opened since 2010?
Wal-Mart Master Race
Quote from: KG909 on March 21, 2015, 10:26:04 AM
Wal-Mart Master Race
HELL no. Out of all those stores, I'll take Target over Wally's World every day.
The Best Buy in Bridgewater seems to be doing good; when we went there to purchase a new TV about 4-7 months ago, the place was packed. Plus I see Geek Squad cars at a decent rate still, so if they were in trouble I'd be oblivious to it.
Quote from: Zeffy on March 21, 2015, 10:30:50 AM
Quote from: KG909 on March 21, 2015, 10:26:04 AM
Wal-Mart Master Race
HELL no. Out of all those stores, I'll take Target over Wally's World every day.
The Best Buy in Bridgewater seems to be doing good; when we went there to purchase a new TV about 4-7 months ago, the place was packed. Plus I see Geek Squad cars at a decent rate still, so if they were in trouble I'd be oblivious to it.
Why does everyone dislike Wal-Mart it's not a bad place imo
Best Buy and I go way back. I've spent a lot of money there over the years, including my first Windows PC in 1997. They're kind of the last man standing of electronics retailers, and they appear to be healthy enough to turn profits. They don't appear to be in a hurry to build out, and they shouldn't.
I still spend money at Best Buy, though most of my electronics purchases are through Newegg and Amazon now; both have a far wider selection and (generally) better pricing. I usually hit Best Buy for things that Newegg or Amazon Prime can't get to me quickly enough, like the case for my Galaxy S5 phone, or a hard drive or wi-fi card for a client's PC. I also bought my 40" Samsung smart TV there - the online ordering for pickup at my store (2 miles away) worked pretty well.
I find that when I actually want to speak with a clerk at Best Buy, I can never find them. When I just want to browse and not be bothered, they never leave me alone.
I wouldn't trust the Geek Squad as far as I could throw one of their technicians. Yanking money out of your wallet is their prime directive, with actually resolving your tech issues a distant 2nd. Anything beyond a wipe and restore gets shipped off to a service center, and you're lucky to get a working computer back in return. And the horror stories
That said, I was satisfied with the car stereo installation they performed for me in my old Ford Five Hundred. The technician was professional and competent.
I don't mind Walmart, but sometimes their prices are beaten by other stores like Best Buy. For example, I went to Walmart to get a game and some new movies. Fury was $18 on DVD, Amazing Spider 2 Blu-Ray/DVD was $25, and the game was $20. While looking through, I realized I had a gift card from Best Buy for Christmas. May as well use it.
Best Buy prices for the same product: Fury was $15 (saving of $3), Amazing Spider 2 was $13! ($12 in savings), and the game was the same price.
Quote from: KG909 on March 21, 2015, 10:52:48 AM
Quote from: Zeffy on March 21, 2015, 10:30:50 AM
Quote from: KG909 on March 21, 2015, 10:26:04 AM
Wal-Mart Master Race
HELL no. Out of all those stores, I'll take Target over Wally's World every day.
The Best Buy in Bridgewater seems to be doing good; when we went there to purchase a new TV about 4-7 months ago, the place was packed. Plus I see Geek Squad cars at a decent rate still, so if they were in trouble I'd be oblivious to it.
Why does everyone dislike Wal-Mart it's not a bad place imo
It's becoming a bit off-topic, but I have to agree with KG. Walmart, Target, and Best Buy are all cool stores.
However, I've seen WAY too many generalizations about Wally World, being that it a. It destroys small towns and businesses and b. Everything is made in China.
a. Yes, this makes sense. But still, Walmart basically meets all the town consumers' needs. So why not?
b. Every store, EVER has something made in China. Not just Walmart. Even the mom and pop stores do.
Also, most Best Buys around here are doing OK. Even the Gainesville, VA one, (which was rumored to close with the 2012 BB armageddon) which is smaller than most in NoVA.
My big issues with Wal-Mart, besides the $500 oil pan replacement they forced me into (thanks f***heads!), are:
- their penchant for treating their employees like slave labor
- the amount of tax dollars they cost me in food stamps and other public assistance because they don't pay a living wage
The only reason their employees are getting raises now is the negative PR about it was cutting into their bottom line.
Target isn't exactly a model employer, but (based on the feedback I get from friends working there) it's a far better working environment, and you actually have some upward mobility there.
Quote from: JREwing78 on March 21, 2015, 11:42:25 AM
- the amount of tax dollars they cost me in food stamps and other public assistance because they don't pay a living wage
It's not exactly like these people are being forced away from higher paying jobs. Many of these people are lucky enough to have a employer willing to employ them at all.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.iphoneincanada.ca%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F01%2Fbest-buy-amazon.jpg&hash=45aa8d11ab9c571ceae4b8edbec8ffd21293c9c1)
Quote from: MillTheRoadgeek on March 20, 2015, 08:31:03 PM
Of course, Best Buy is not dead, nor has it gone downhill, but I've got one thing that irks (not that much, though) me about the company, is that they have probably not opened any new stores that aren't relocations since 2010. 20-freaking-10. I might be overreacting here (even if you think Best Buy is a stupid store), but it... just doesn't seem like they have opened any new ones. Yes, I know they've been through financial struggles and Amazon is punking them, but they're still doing OK, especially since the economy has improved and they're not doing the 2012 closings all over again. Plus, they need to get back up top, too
Being on top doesn't necessarily mean opening a whole bunch of stores though. Best Buy is fortunate enough to be the one of the last of the electronics stores dedicated to electronics. But they and everyone else knows that they have been perceived as a window-browsing showroom for Amazon.
Quote from: Buck87 on March 21, 2015, 11:55:08 AM
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.iphoneincanada.ca%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F01%2Fbest-buy-amazon.jpg&hash=45aa8d11ab9c571ceae4b8edbec8ffd21293c9c1)
My neighborhood has a problem with package thefts so I have to use Best Buy because I sure as hell am not buying anything expensive online.
I am moving in a month.
Quote from: KG909 on March 21, 2015, 10:52:48 AM
Why does everyone dislike Wal-Mart it's not a bad place imo
Because their target market is the lowest common denominator. I cannot stand walking through a place that is proud to showcase a complete lack of basic retail standards. Also this:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ftapatalk.imageshack.com%2Fv2%2F15%2F03%2F21%2F5c8a25a3a363499aa988fddb8d7df51b.jpg&hash=19cf7aca15d426cf08a3053a6944e218c4473046)
Quote from: jeffandnicole on March 21, 2015, 11:48:05 AM
Quote from: JREwing78 on March 21, 2015, 11:42:25 AM
- the amount of tax dollars they cost me in food stamps and other public assistance because they don't pay a living wage
It's not exactly like these people are being forced away from higher paying jobs. Many of these people are lucky enough to have a employer willing to employ them at all.
Right, all the places that pay a living wage have been undercut by WalMart and forced out of business.
WalMart wins the race to the bottom.
We used to shop at Circuit City before their store near me converted to the big box model, going from the showroom type stores.
Quote from: KG909 on March 21, 2015, 10:52:48 AM
Quote from: Zeffy on March 21, 2015, 10:30:50 AM
Quote from: KG909 on March 21, 2015, 10:26:04 AM
Wal-Mart Master Race
HELL no. Out of all those stores, I'll take Target over Wally's World every day.
The Best Buy in Bridgewater seems to be doing good; when we went there to purchase a new TV about 4-7 months ago, the place was packed. Plus I see Geek Squad cars at a decent rate still, so if they were in trouble I'd be oblivious to it.
Why does everyone dislike Wal-Mart it's not a bad place imo
I dislike it because most employees I've dealt with at Wal-Mart have seemed... short on interest in their job, even by big retail standards. "At least they're more motivated than the folks at Kmart" is too low a bar.
Quote from: kkt on March 21, 2015, 01:29:00 PM
Quote from: jeffandnicole on March 21, 2015, 11:48:05 AM
Quote from: JREwing78 on March 21, 2015, 11:42:25 AM
- the amount of tax dollars they cost me in food stamps and other public assistance because they don't pay a living wage
It's not exactly like these people are being forced away from higher paying jobs. Many of these people are lucky enough to have a employer willing to employ them at all.
Right, all the places that pay a living wage have been undercut by WalMart and forced out of business.
WalMart wins the race to the bottom.
Most news pieces I've read about the lauded Wal-Mart wage hike have pointed to the fact that it was mostly a late reaction to higher wages at other retailers threatening their labor supply, not any kind of altruism.
The WalMart in Highland Village TX is pretty good. The one in Hickory Creek sucks ass.
You won't believe what happened to me in there the other day. I attempted to purchase a small Tonka dump truck. The bar code would not scan, and typing in the number did not work. So, they refused to sell it to me. They falsly claimed that since it wouldn't ring up, that it must be recalled, which was bullshit. If it was recalled, why was it on the shelf? They were just too fing lazy to go look at the price. I called the manager and complained.
Another time at the same store, I attempted to use a self checkout that was out of order, but there was no sign on it. The lazy beehatch girl that was supervising the self checkouts, who was not otherwise occupied, did not bother to come help me when I tried to get her attention.
At the Highland Village WalMart the other day, I was buying a map of the Untied States. It would not scan, so the cashier asked if it was my personal item that I brought in with me. Think about that...why would I bring that into the store? Dumbass.
My gripes with Walmart (purely as a customer--it would take too long to list the ways they screw over the poor):
* They don't have real inventory search on their non-mobile website (i.e., the ability to choose product X and then exclude all the Walmarts in a given area that don't have that product on their shelves, as opposed to including all the Walmarts where that product can be picked up if it is ordered online).
* The mobile and non-mobile websites often have conflicting information on product availability. For product X, the non-mobile website will block you adding it to the cart by saying "We sold out of this item," while the mobile website will advertise "limited quantities" of product X at a nearby Walmart. (I last encountered this runaround with Pennzoil Ultra Platinum full-synthetic 5W-30 motor oil in five-quart bottles. Walmart.com lists it, but I have never actually seen it on the shelf in any Walmart.)
* Walmart frequently stocks an item with a price on the shelves that is far higher than the online price. For example, last Christmas shopping season they were selling the Equus Innova 3320 (a pretty decent auto-ranging digital multimeter, useful for home and auto electrical/electronic diagnosis) at about $26 on the shelf, but $18 (ISTR) online, the latter just to price-match Amazon. This makes me paranoid, and feel like I should pull out my smartphone in Walmart and check prices online before I actually pick up something and take it to the register.
* This is a mistake one makes only once, but it is really easy to confuse "Walmart.com" (the part of an actual bricks-and-mortar Walmart store where you go to pick up goods you have purchased online through Walmart.com) with the customer service desk, where you take goods to be returned for a refund.
* If anything goes wrong with the self-service checkout, you are SOL. I often abandon transactions that have gone pear-shaped and ring up the same goods at another machine just so I can escape the store with my paid-for goods.
For car stuff i buy consumables at Walmart, friend of mine hates that i do (he works at Pep Boys) but it is due to the oil being a lot cheaper there, or wiper blades, or even stuff like injector cleaner. I buy regular parts at brick and mortar stores, or rock auto though.
With best buy my biggest gripe is how the stores rarely have a decent layout, and they seem to push you towards the cell phone section too much compared to other stores. There is a P.C. Richardson in a former circuit city near me, and it feels like a circuit city still, just less pushy than it or best buy.
I was at the Best Buy in Norman recently to drop off a couple old broken computers for recycling, and while I was there I realized I've never actually bought anything there.
I can't walk into a Walmart without feeling dirty, like I am engaging in some sort of skeevy immoral behavior. To this day I have never spent a cent of my money in one and I say that proudly.
As for Best Buy, I've bought various things there over the years, although I have tended not to enjoy the experience simply because I find the typical Best Buy layout overwhelming. The shelves are all low enough to see over all of them, so there is very little visually enforced sense of organization. I can see all four walls of the store from anywhere within it and, by extension, can hear noise from anywhere in the store anywhere within it. That makes it very difficult to focus since it's too distracting and overstimulating.
Quote from: SteveG1988 on March 22, 2015, 02:31:05 PMFor car stuff I buy consumables at Walmart, friend of mine hates that I do (he works at Pep Boys) but it is due to the oil being a lot cheaper there, or wiper blades, or even stuff like injector cleaner. I buy regular parts at brick and mortar stores, or rock auto though.
I buy consumables like oil, ATF, antifreeze, windshield washer fluid, and filters at Walmart if they stock what I want. Frequently they don't--for example, I had to visit four or five truck parts vendors in Wichita before I found one that could order Castrol TranSynd (none of them actually had it on the shelf and several tried to fob me off with other TES-295 ATFs). Walmart often comes up short on even the less obscure stuff; for example, no Walmart near me stocks an OAT antifreeze that is suitable for use in recent Toyotas (DexCool and its DexClones won't work because the antifreeze or coolant has to be silicate-free), oil filter selection is basically Fram all grades plus bottom-of-the-line Purolator (no Wix or K&N on the shelves), etc.
The auto parts stores will occasionally undercut Walmart on consumables. Motor oil is a classic example. There are some folks on the car forums I frequent who play the motor oil rebate game. Usually oil is at least $10 per five-quart jug more at the auto parts stores than at Walmart, but sometimes they put coupons online or run special rebate offers that cut the price down to $1 per quart even for synthetics, and people in the know use that to stock up. (I don't, because I have learned that stockpile management leads to headaches that are usually hidden at the time of purchase. I still have a quart left from a decade-old stockpile of Mobil 1 10W-30 oil that was originally purchased for a car that left family ownership in 2007. It has taken eight years to whittle it down from a six-quart case to just one quart by using it as make-up oil in the one car in the family that is still old enough to accept oil of that particular API quality grade.)
Advance Auto Parts has a TRT30 coupon code for online orders. This means that cash and carry is a tax on the uninformed. Compared to this, Walmart quoting different prices online and in-store no longer seems like an isolated attack on price transparency.
Quote from: Duke87 on March 22, 2015, 05:30:16 PMI can't walk into a Walmart without feeling dirty, like I am engaging in some sort of skeevy immoral behavior. To this day I have never spent a cent of my money in one and I say that proudly.
To that, I say "different strokes." The trouble with boycotting large conglomerates that engage in morally objectionable behavior (like Walmart or Chick-fil-A) is that there is no shortage of free-riders, so it becomes rational to avoid pointless inconvenience. I am happy to boycott Chick-fil-A because I have no great passion for fast-food fried chicken (and no accompanying urge to buy it from a chain that makes a selling point of its restricted opening hours), but in this area there are not many good alternatives to Walmart. Kmart is dying, Target no longer sells motor oil, Costco has not yet arrived and in any case is a members-only store, etc.
Quote from: J N Winkler on March 22, 2015, 06:10:48 PM
Quote from: SteveG1988 on March 22, 2015, 02:31:05 PMFor car stuff I buy consumables at Walmart, friend of mine hates that I do (he works at Pep Boys) but it is due to the oil being a lot cheaper there, or wiper blades, or even stuff like injector cleaner. I buy regular parts at brick and mortar stores, or rock auto though.
I buy consumables like oil, ATF, antifreeze, windshield washer fluid, and filters at Walmart if they stock what I want. Frequently they don't--for example, I had to visit four or five truck parts vendors in Wichita before I found one that could order Castrol TranSynd (none of them actually had it on the shelf and several tried to fob me off with other TES-295 ATFs). Walmart often comes up short on even the less obscure stuff; for example, no Walmart near me stocks an OAT antifreeze that is suitable for use in recent Toyotas (DexCool and its DexClones won't work because the antifreeze or coolant has to be silicate-free), oil filter selection is basically Fram all grades plus bottom-of-the-line Purolator (no Wix or K&N on the shelves), etc.
The auto parts stores will occasionally undercut Walmart on consumables. Motor oil is a classic example. There are some folks on the car forums I frequent who play the motor oil rebate game. Usually oil is at least $10 per five-quart jug more at the auto parts stores than at Walmart, but sometimes they put coupons online or run special rebate offers that cut the price down to $1 per quart even for synthetics, and people in the know use that to stock up. (I don't, because I have learned that stockpile management leads to headaches that are usually hidden at the time of purchase. I still have a quart left from a decade-old stockpile of Mobil 1 10W-30 oil that was originally purchased for a car that left family ownership in 2007. It has taken eight years to whittle it down from a six-quart case to just one quart by using it as make-up oil in the one car in the family that is still old enough to accept oil of that particular API quality grade.)
Advance Auto Parts has a TRT30 coupon code for online orders. This means that cash and carry is a tax on the uninformed. Compared to this, Walmart quoting different prices online and in-store no longer seems like an isolated attack on price transparency.
Quote from: Duke87 on March 22, 2015, 05:30:16 PMI can't walk into a Walmart without feeling dirty, like I am engaging in some sort of skeevy immoral behavior. To this day I have never spent a cent of my money in one and I say that proudly.
To that, I say "different strokes." The trouble with boycotting large conglomerates that engage in morally objectionable behavior (like Walmart or Chick-fil-A) is that there is no shortage of free-riders, so it becomes rational to avoid pointless inconvenience. I am happy to boycott Chick-fil-A because I have no great passion for fast-food fried chicken (and no accompanying urge to buy it from a chain that makes a selling point of its restricted opening hours), but in this area there are not many good alternatives to Walmart. Kmart is dying, Target no longer sells motor oil, Costco has not yet arrived and in any case is a members-only store, etc.
I buy 5W30 mobil super 5000 (12.97/5Q) and a Motorcraft filter (3.97) constant price.
Quote from: SteveG1988 on March 22, 2015, 08:01:40 PMI buy 5W30 mobil super 5000 (12.97/5Q) and a Motorcraft filter (3.97) constant price.
For the 2005 Toyota Camry, I buy Pennzoil Platinum 5W-30 full synthetic and a Fram XG3600 filter for about $35 total. (This car stays pretty clean on dino juice, but owning an oil-burner makes me very sludge-conscious, and we budget DIY oil changes to the same out-of-pocket cost envelope as visits to the quick-lube place, which currently run around $40.) The Camry does fine with current-generation low-viscosity ATFs though it was originally specified for (high-viscosity) T-IV, so the last transmission fluid change was done with Valvoline MaxLife full-synthetic ATF, also bought at Walmart ($17 per gallon jug). It is due for its first coolant change but Walmart doesn't stock Zerex Asian Vehicle coolant.
My 1994 Saturn has a crankcase full of Mobil 1 High Mileage 5W-30 and a Fram XG3614 filter, both purchased at Walmart. Next oil change (due about now) will be with Red Line 5W-30 and a Wix 51516XP filter; Walmart stocks neither. (I want to see if the Red Line ester base will clean out the engine, and the Wix extra-long is said to have less backpressure than the top-of-the-line Fram extra-long.)
I generally don't shop at WalMart due to their workplace exploitation policies, but it won't be never because they're somehow the best place for me to buy shoes (everywhere else is expensive enough to cause sticker shock and/or doesn't have a reliable selection in size 9).
Quote from: Pete from Boston on March 22, 2015, 12:26:29 AM
Quote from: KG909 on March 21, 2015, 10:52:48 AM
Quote from: Zeffy on March 21, 2015, 10:30:50 AM
Quote from: KG909 on March 21, 2015, 10:26:04 AM
Wal-Mart Master Race
HELL no. Out of all those stores, I'll take Target over Wally's World every day.
The Best Buy in Bridgewater seems to be doing good; when we went there to purchase a new TV about 4-7 months ago, the place was packed. Plus I see Geek Squad cars at a decent rate still, so if they were in trouble I'd be oblivious to it.
Why does everyone dislike Wal-Mart it's not a bad place imo
I dislike it because most employees I've dealt with at Wal-Mart have seemed... short on interest in their job, even by big retail standards. "At least they're more motivated than the folks at Kmart" is too low a bar.
This. Shopping at Walmart is also a rather unpleasant endeavor; it's difficult to get around the other shoppers to get to what you want. Our local grocery store, Crest, has better prices, better service, and is easier to navigate.
Best Buy is, of course, a prime example of a showroom where people browse and test and play with items they then purchase online. But I will bet that their prices reflect a carefully calculated premium over online that X number of purchasers will willingly pay in order to just have the damn thing already, allowing Best Buy to still cover its desired margin. This has to be at the core of their business model.
Radio Shack failed in part because their prices were so grossly over online (over competitors, too) that no remotely internet-savvy person would pay them. This is being borne out by the number of days of price reductions necessary in Radio Shack clearance sales before purchases become worthwhile.
In any case, there is surely a fine line between success and failure in this approach, and in such a risky position even store openings are surely done only very cautiously.