Best Buy closing all UK shops

TVs have TERRIBLE margins, any awesome deal you see is an out and out loss leader. Some sets were losing £100, and the only hope was to up-sell the heavy margin stuff like blu-ray players and HDMI cables.
 
There were plans for 200 stores I believe, I worked with some of the people who set the supply chain up. We were told they would throw money at it until it succeeded and that pulling out was not an option.

Its a shame that so much effort went in to the planning & prep of this venture, lots of good people employed, lots of dodgy american team building rubbish, and actually pretty decent stores and support has amounted to nothing with them pulling out after a year and a half.

There's more than just the staff at the stores & head office losing their livelihood from this.
 
Hmmm, I imagine some kind of closing down megasale to take place at Hedge End, only 5 minutes up the M27 for me.


:D
 
I used to work for Carphone Warehouse in their Head Office, and we had Best Buy HQ just a few feet away in the next room.

When I left in August everything still seemed very positive, but now as I understand it they're pulling out of the UK completely, the whole operation is shutting down.

It's a shame, as their Customer Support team were really amicable people I got in with incredibly well, always happy to help and always smiling. I'm shocked it's come to this, and wish them all the best.

Kind of makes me glad I'm doing what I am now... :o
 
mattyprice4004 said:
I used to work for Carphone Warehouse in their Head Office, and we had Best Buy HQ just a few feet away in the next room.

When I left in August everything still seemed very positive, but now as I understand it they're pulling out of the UK completely, the whole operation is shutting down.

It's a shame, as their Customer Support team were really amicable people I got in with incredibly well, always happy to help and always smiling. I'm shocked it's come to this, and wish them all the best.

Kind of makes me glad I'm doing what I am now... :o
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Were you in Desktop Support?
 
Best buy sounds like some sort of cheapo off-licence chain, like happy shopper. No wonder they didn't do well over here.
 
LOL yeah - they essentially thought they'd come to the UK market with 'superior US customer service' and lost 40m in the first year with a 55m loss forecast for this fiscal year.

They fundamentally underestimated the British market and are now leaving with their tail between their legs.
 
mattyprice4004 said:
Indeed I was, I worked there for over 2 years. Saw the beginnings of Best Buy, a real shame to see it go this way.
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I was at the opening of Thurrock, even bought a fridge, which I found for £20 cheaper online when I got home (doh!).

C'est la vie.
 
krooton said:
I was at the opening of Thurrock, even bought a fridge, which I found for £20 cheaper online when I got home (doh!).

C'est la vie.
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C'est la vie indeed. I know you should probably be asking this and not me ( :p ) but I wonder what happens with regards to warranty on products from BBY?

The contract is between the retailer and the customer, if the retailer is defunct then customers are left in a bit of a pickle..!
 
mattyprice4004 said:
C'est la vie indeed. I know you should probably be asking this and not me ( :p ) but I wonder what happens with regards to warranty on products from BBY?

The contract is between the retailer and the customer, if the retailer is defunct then customers are left in a bit of a pickle..!
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Geek Squad policies will be fine, but you are right about the standard warranty... I need to find out, in the event of a firesale.
 
Hope there is a massive closing down sale, need some new speakers.....

Superficial said:
LOL yeah - they essentially thought they'd come to the UK market with 'superior US customer service' and lost 40m in the first year with a 55m loss forecast for this fiscal year.

They fundamentally underestimated the British market and are now leaving with their tail between their legs.
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More like opened up during one of the worst periods in recent history for most retailers. If they had opened up 10 years ago they would be doing just fine and making money.
 
They poached a lot of DSG staff for the Bristol store, bad move there!

I had a customer in the other day who said they were pushy, dishonest and lacked product knowledge. Sounds like they have standard British customer service then.

It's a rubbish market and unless you sell high margin peripherals (which requires decent sales teams to achieve without ****ing off your customer base) then this is what happens.
 
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