Best Buy CEO outlines turnaround plans for retailer
BY Associated Press
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
11/14/12 at 2:01 AM
Best Buy's new CEO said Tuesday it's time for the struggling electronics chain to try to embrace one of its biggest problems, "showrooming" - when customers check out electronics at its stores and then buy them cheaper online.
Ten weeks into the job, CEO Hubert Joly and other Best Buy executives laid out plans to reverse the consumer electronics chain's slumping sales and declining profit during an analysts' meeting in New York.
Richfield, Minn.-based Best Buy tapped Joly in August to reverse a yearslong decline in its business as competition from online stores and discounters increased, and tastes shifted from more profitable items like TVs and desktop computers toward less profitable smartphones and tablets.
The Frenchman said showrooming is a challenge for the retailer, but that it actually isn't a bad thing for Best Buy, because it draws people into stores.
"Once customers are in our stores, they're ours to lose," Joly said.
But the first priority is to reverse a decline in revenue from stores open at least one year, he said.
Associated Images:
Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly: "Once customers are in our stores, they're ours to lose."
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