Best Buy slashing wages and jobs.

Status
Not open for further replies.
R

Ripclawe

Banned
http://www.startribune.com/business/43075392.html

Thousands of Best Buy store employees will see their pay slashed or their positions eliminated as the Richfield-based consumer electronics chain moves to reorganize its stores amid a weakening consumer spending environment.

Best Buy Co. Inc. last Saturday notified employees of the staffing changes, which a spokesman said were motivated by "a desire to get more of our people in front of our customers" by shifting many store managers and senior-level sales people into jobs where they will interact more directly with shoppers.

Best Buy would not disclose the number of people affected, but New York investment firm Sanford Bernstein said in a research note Wednesday that as many as 1,000 assistant store managers would have their positions cut. Up to another 8,000 senior sales associates would be demoted to regular sales positions that would pay 25 percent to 50 percent less than their previous jobs.

Colin McGranahan, an analyst with Sanford Bernstein who wrote the report, cautioned Wednesday that these numbers are estimates based on conversations with Best Buy; the retailer would not confirm or deny them.

However, the severity of the job and wage cuts led some industry analysts to draw comparisons to Circuit City Stores Incorporated's ill-fated efforts nearly two years ago to slash costs by eliminating thousands of its higher-paid, but most experienced, salespeople. Service levels suffered, hastening Circuit City's demise, some analysts argue. The Richmond, Va.-based retailer went out of business earlier this year.

"What Circuit City did was a pretty big blunder," said Brady Lemos, who follows Best Buy for Morningstar. "They let their most experienced sales staff go, and it was clear that people who worked there weren't interested in helping you. ... Best Buy must be careful not to do anything to that degree."


But Circuit City's collapse may be part of the reason Best Buy can afford to make these changes, some analysts argued. It solidifies Best Buy's dominance in the consumer electronics category at a time when demand for TVs and many gadgets remains steady. And it gives Best Buy a pool of talent that it can tap in case its own employees object to the changes and leave in large numbers.

"The liquidation of Circuit City ... reduces the competitive threat and could supply a ready group of replacement associates who would likely be thrilled to work at the lowered rates" at Best Buy, wrote McGranahan in his research note. "Overall, we see some -- but relatively limited -- risk of store-level disruption over the next few quarters from this reorganization."

So far, Best Buy has weathered the recession much better than other retailers. The world's largest consumer electronics retailer easily beat analysts' expectations when it reported quarterly earnings last month. However, many of the items that did well -- such as flat-panel TVs and computers -- are considered "family" purchases. More discretionary personal gadgets, such as MP3 players and digital cameras, have seen double-digit declines over the past year. With unemployment still rising, it's only a matter of time before the "family" purchases begin to decline, too, some analysts argue.

As a result, the retailer has been under increased pressure from Wall Street to keep its costs under control. Earlier this year, the company cut 750 jobs at its corporate headquarters in Richfield through a combination of layoffs and voluntary buyout programs.

The deep cuts at the head office likely will make the layoffs at the store level more palatable to employees, McGranahan said. "Now they can go to the stores and say, 'We've already tightened our belt at headquarters, and now it's your turn,'" he said. "They're going about this the right way."

Overall, Best Buy expects a "very minimal" reduction in head count, said spokesman Justin Barber. The changes involve shifting some senior salespeople who are in supervisory roles to positions in stores in which they "have more customer face time," he said.
Click to expand...
 
Best Buy is the best store to buy games at. They have a good selection and with the reward zone card I get $5-$10 gift cards in the mail every so often.

Best Buy > Gamestop
 
The meeting we had like a week ago said if corporate invoked the changes earlier like back in January like they originally planned, they might have fired like thousands upon thousands of workers but they took the chance to see how things would far in the coming months.

I still question the changes of spreading out what was once specialized departments to all areas like this.
 
When I worked at Best Buy 10 years ago, the GM - general manager absolutely would not interact with any customers on the floor. He wore a regular name tag - making sure it did not identify him as a GM. Most of the time he was in this little cubby hole at the back of the customer service area hanging out with assistant store managers. He said that if people knew he was the head store manager he could not get any work done because everyone would bring their complaints, questions, and problems directly to him instead of one of the regular employees. Sounds like his philosophy is about to change.
 
Don't like the BB here. way too many useless people just walking around and not helping customers because they can't tell if people were helped or need it. There's at least 3 people hanging out at the door. really? one to greet. to say goodbye and another one to check items?

lol. the game section is useless too. No one is there to help. They need to stop hiring stupid people to work there.

Anyways, there's something about going there and spending money is so much fun :lol

if i can find my khaki pants i would wear my blue express shirt one day and pretend I work there :lol
 
Anticitizen One said:
Best Buy is the best store to buy games at. They have a good selection and with the reward zone card I get $5-$10 gift cards in the mail every so often.

Best Buy > Gamestop
Click to expand...

How does the occasional 5-10 gift card make up for having like 1/10th the selection of most Gamestop stores? Not to mention the money that can be saved on older games
 
Anticitizen One said:
Best Buy is the best store to buy games at. They have a good selection and with the reward zone card I get $5-$10 gift cards in the mail every so often.

Best Buy > Gamestop
Click to expand...
Amazon > Best Buy
 
jdirtybird32 said:
How does the occasional 5-10 gift card make up for having like 1/10th the selection of most Gamestop stores? Not to mention the money that can be saved on older games
Click to expand...
Gamestop is the LAST place I'll go to buy a game. 99.5% of the time, an older title can be found on the internet for less.

I buy nearly all of my electronics at bestbuy, great service for the most part.
 
bill0527 said:
When I worked at Best Buy 10 years ago, the GM - general manager absolutely would not interact with any customers on the floor. He wore a regular name tag - making sure it did not identify him as a GM. Most of the time he was in this little cubby hole at the back of the customer service area hanging out with assistant store managers. He said that if people knew he was the head store manager he could not get any work done because everyone would bring their complaints, questions, and problems directly to him instead of one of the regular employees. Sounds like his philosophy is about to change.
Click to expand...

Heh, managers are pulled all over the place where I am. You try and try to explain to people regarding standard policies and procedures (for the love of god people, just because it's under manufacture's warranty doesn't mean you accidentally damaging it will be covered! And extended warranties don't mean it will be automatically exchanged a year out, it means it would be likely be fixed!), but many people seem to act they don't understand and need to see a manager...who 95% of the time has to be there to reaffirm the issue which was most likely fully explained by an associate.
 
Anticitizen One said:
Best Buy is the best store to buy games at. They have a good selection and with the reward zone card I get $5-$10 gift cards in the mail every so often.

Best Buy > Gamestop
Click to expand...

Amazon - No Tax, Free Shipping, Great Prices
 
jdirtybird32 said:
How does the occasional 5-10 gift card make up for having like 1/10th the selection of most Gamestop stores? Not to mention the money that can be saved on older games
Click to expand...

All of the best buy's by me have a terrific selection of games and they even have a junk section with games from last gen for like $5-$10

and I agree Amazon is awsome.
 
Our BB is kind of lousy. I work weekends at the mall and buzzed by there today... There's always shit that just plain isn't labeled, random stuff like that that I'm always surprised to see in retail. Their people are very super helpful, but why don't they label their shit? To make you ask the salespeople "wtf is this computer and how much"?
 
I have always received terrible customer service from the Best Buy I go to, and avoid it as much as possible. That said, they do have most of the games I'm interested in playing, and they're willing to match any price I find. This can save a bit of driving...
 
Vox-Pop said:
Amazon still beats them in prices and selection. They did not have Basquiat for sale the last time I checked; fry's failed.
Click to expand...

NO retailer can possibly compete with Amazon for selection. But they can be beaten in price if you know what you're doing, or I wouldn't have made thousands of dollars reselling items on Amazon for the past several years.
 
sonarrat said:
NO retailer can possibly compete with Amazon for selection. But they can be beaten in price if you know what you're doing, or I wouldn't have made thousands of dollars reselling items on Amazon for the past several years.
Click to expand...
True, I usually get books and video games for a few dollars less + the no tax helps out especially since it went up in Cali. Care to elaborate on where to find things cheaper???
 
Yeah, like Homer-SimpsonMan said the meeting was last week and pretty much all the department supervisors have been demoted to just sales floor (the spin is that this will minimize uncontaced customers). Its just managers now and alot of full-timers are getting pay cuts. Part-timers are totally unaffected, and my store is giving those with cut pay the option of taking a severance package (I think its 2 months pay which is pretty damn good). I gave my two weeks a couple days ago, totally unrelated to this though as I am going to working as an EMT.
 
Vox-Pop said:
Amazon still beats them in prices and selection. They did not have Basquiat for sale the last time I checked; fry's failed.
Click to expand...

It really depends on the selection of what you're looking for. Sometimes Fry's has a better variety of selection on certain items and sometimes they have items that Amazon doesn't carry at all. You've got to be a smart shopper but Fry's most certainly can beat Amazon in price even factoring in the tax if you're patient. Not to mention, you can just go to Fry's and have it right then and there compared to waiting 1 to 2 days for Amazon. I love Amazon especially with Amazon Prime, but they certainly do not replace Fry's for me by any means. Games, movies, and computer parts I can often get cheaper at Fry's.
 
beanoboy7 said:
Amazon - No Tax, Free Shipping, Great Prices
Click to expand...
The 3 reasons I buy 99% of my stuff from Amazon. Haven't bought anything from BB in like 2 years. Their prices are shit (i. e. Monster cables).
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Best and Worst Accents
2
87
2K
Major Insano replied
Your best use of duct tape
2
53
1K
Liopleurodon replied
What is the best animes for adults
2 3
102
5K
rubik's dude replied
Extremely Normal and Well Adapted Adults Go to COSTCO to Buy Pokemon Cards (for their kids, of course)
2
93
5K
GateofD replied
Dell reportedly cuts over 12,000 jobs as it seeks to 'streamline' its structure and boost profitability
15
1K
ForAcademicPurposes replied
Top Bottom