Best Buy to shut Turkey subsidiary, revamp Chinese operations (US)
Best Buy, US electronics and phone retailer, has announced that it is closing its Turkey subsidiary, revamping its Chinese operations and reviewing the operations in its home market.
The company also announced its plans to improve efficiencies in its U.S. supply chain operations.
Overall, the company estimates that these restructuring actions will result in annual pre-tax net savings of US$60 million to US$70 million once fully realized in fiscal 2013. The company expects these restructuring actions to result in charges during fiscal 2011 and 2012 totaling $225 million to $245 million.
According to Brian Dunn, CEO of Best Buy, they are pleased to continue their investments in the Best Buy Mobile and Five Star business models, which are profitable and have significant growth opportunities. The actions the company is taking are consistent with their strategy of driving businesses that have earned the right to additional capital while curtailing activities that they believe will not meet their return on investment thresholds.
The company is planning to open approximately 150 Best Buy Mobile stand-alone-stores in the USA in fiscal 2012. These openings would take the total Best Buy Mobile stand-alone-stores to approximately 325 in the U.S. at the end of the financial year.
The company is also planning to open approximately 6 to 8 large-format stores in the U.S., resulting in square footage growth of less than 1% (which is a significant reduction when compared to the average square footage growth rate of 5 percent during the last three years). The company also plans to open a total of approximately 18 Best Buy-branded large-format stores in Canada, United Kingdom and Mexico during fiscal 2012.
The company also plans to open 40 to 50 Five Star stores in the growing markets in China, taking it to approximately 210 stores at the end of fiscal 2012. However, it will close the nine Best Buy-branded stores in the country. The exit from the Turkey market includes closure of all current operations in the country, including the company’s two Best Buy large-format stores.
Nokia Laptop (Booklet 3G) to sell for $299 in the US
Nokia’s Booklet3G, a Windows 7 based notebook computer will be sold in November through AT&T and Best Buy. It will be on offer for $299.99 with a 2 Year AT&T Data Connect plan.
PRESS RELEASE
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Sleek, strong Windows 7-based mini-laptop hits Best Buy stores for 299.99 USD in time for the holidays
New York, NY, USA – Drawing upon its rich heritage and leadership in the mobile industry, Nokia is opening a new chapter in mobility with the introduction of the Nokia Booklet 3G to the U.S. together with AT&T, Best Buy and Microsoft. Developed for connectivity just about anytime and virtually anywhere, the Nokia Booklet 3G is refining what consumers can expect at the crossroads of mobility and the personal computer.
“Nokia understands mobility like no other company and recognizes that the most ‘powerful’ device is the one that doesn’t have you running for the power plug or network point” said Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, president and CEO of Nokia. “By combining the Booklet’s sleek design, impressive features and competitive price together with the new Windows 7 operating system from Microsoft, AT&T’s nationwide 3G coverage and Best Buy’s unmatched national retail footprint, we believe we have a winning combination for U.S. consumers” (more…)
Carphone Warehouse mounts US invasion
Theregister writes….Carphone Warehouse will crash into the US mobile market this year, with a big expansion of its Best Buy Mobile joint venture.
The firm has been taking tentative steps in mobile stateside with a five month trial in a few of the retail behemoth’s outlets. Up to 200 Best Buy stores will now play host to Carphone Warehouse-run “stores within a store” in the next 18 months
In the UK, Carphone plans to unleash Best Buy-pioneered Geek Squad tech support visitors, which it has been trialing in London, across the country.
CEO Charles Dunstone made the announcements in a strategy update to investors. He said: “In broadband, we are targeting 3.5 million residential customers by March 2010. Provisioning times are falling as the unbundling process becomes more streamlined, and we are confident that our increased investment in customer service will deliver a much improved customer experience.”
In the UK, the firm already leads the way in local loop unbundling of BT exchanges and plans to cover 1,650 exchanges by March next year, which should include more than 50 per cent of the million-plus AOL subscribers it acquired last year, and more than 80 per cent of the TalkTalk “free” broadband base.
Carphone is hoping to shift AOL punters over to the “free” broadband package, since it will boost the average revenue per user by driving them onto its home phone package. Investors should get a 30 per cent bigger annual dividend.
Potentially of concern to customers, given British Gas’ recent system update woes, Carphone said it will be launching a new customer relationship management and billing platform this year.
The full update is here. ®
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