Best Buy Co, Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer that was founded on 22nd August 1966 by Richard M. Schulze. Its headquarters is in 7601 Penn Avenue S, Richfield, Minnesota, U.S.A. The company was first set up as an audio store called Sound Of Music. Later, the company was named Best Buy, and it mainly focused on consumer electronics.
It serves in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Its subsidiaries are Best Buy Mobile, Geek Squad, Magnolia Home Theater, and Pacific Sales. It has recently started expanding its company in China in 2011. It buys cell phones from companies like Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility, and Sprint Corporation and sells it in the United States.
Inception
Richard M. Schulze and his business partner started their shop called Sound of Music, which specializes in selling high fidelity stereos. It was located in St. Paul, Minnesota, and signed deals with Kencraft Hi-Fi Company and Bergo Company in 1967. The store faced a major set back when it was hit by a tornado in 1981. Everything got destroyed except the storeroom, and hence, Schulze opened a ‘Tornado Sale’ where he sold the excess stock that was present in the storeroom, and it earned more money than it’s regular sales. Sound of music was renamed as Best Buy Company, Inc.
In 1984 and it started to sell home appliances, VCR, and many more electronic items. Burnsville, Minnesota, was the first place where the store opened. It’s the first superstore. The store was well-received by the public, and hence, Schulze expanded its horizon, and it debuted on the New York Stock Exchange in 1987.
They launched a new concept in their store where they styled the stores with brighter lights and named it “Concept II” in 1989. “Concept III” was launched in 1995 after “Concept II” turned out to be a huge success. “Concept III” launched products such as interactive touchscreen kiosks, surround sound stereo systems, and video games. This series was a huge success, and it went on to open “Concept IV” in England 1998. The stores offered large areas to demonstrate home theater systems to their customers easily.
Evolution
The company launched an independent music label entitled Redline Entertainment in 2000. Magnolia Hi-Fi merged with Best Buy in December 2000 and 2001, Musicland Stores Corporation merged with Best Buy and offered a wide range of home entertainment. The company started expanding its horizon to the international market when it merged with British Columbia, which is a Canada- based electronics chain.
Richard resigned from his post and was replaced by Brad Anderson as CEO in July 2002 and later promoted to president and Coo of Best Buy. They started working in the Canadian market and signed with Geek Squad, a Minneapolis based computer repair business. The company gained success in the Canadian market, too, and it started opening stores in Shanghai and Puerto Rico.
The sales of the stores in these places were very good, and the company was well-received globally. Brian Dunn replaced Brad Anderson as CEO in June 2009. Roxio’s CinemaNow and Best Buy became partners in November 2009, and it launched an on-demand movie download service. Best Buy opened its first store in Turkey in Izmir in December 2009.
Thurrock was the first place where Best Buy opened its first branded store in the United Kingdom in April 2010, and it later went on to launch 11 more stores in the U.K. They closed all their stores in China in February 2011. They even shut down their shop chain in Canada on 28th March 2015.
The company faced low revenue and high costs, and it decided to close 250 of its stores in the U.S.A. They launched their new logo on 9th May 2018. Currently, the company is run by Corie Barry, and she is appointed as the executive chairman of the company.
Awards & Achievements
Forbes Magazine gave it the title of “Company of the Year” in 2004. Discount Store News named it as “Speciality Retailer of the Decade” in 2001. Forbes listed it in “Top 10 of America’s Most Generous Corporations” in 2005. It also found itself in the “Most Admired Companies” list of Fortune Magazine in 2006.
Barron’s gave it the title of “The Most Sustainable Company in the U.S.A” in 2019. It is the largest specialty retired in the United States consumer electronic retail industry, according to Yahoo!. It found itself in the Fortune 500 list of largest U.S. corporations by total revenue in 72nd place.
Net Worth of Best Buy in 2024
As of November 2024, It has a total net worth of $45 billion, operating income of $1.9 billion and net income of $1.4 billion. It has earned this revenue by opening multiple stores globally and providing appropriate advantages to their customer.
Best Buy is an American multinational technology-based company that has stores opened up globally. It is famous for providing appropriate advantages to its customers and also provides a large number of items for them. It has earned many respectable titles because of the company’s success. The company is still preferred by a large number of people, and its success is increasing with each passing year.