[Blitz-Wing]

MSNBC.com said:

Electronics retailer Best Buy said Thursday it will close 50 big box stores in the U.S. as it changes the focus of its operations to mobile.

The retailer also said it plans to open 100 new mobile locations as it rethinks its U.S. store set-up.

Brian Nagel, a research analyst at Oppenheimer, told CNBC Thursday that Best Buy’s restructuring plans are fraught with danger, given that they are taking place “when the overall market is quite challenging.”

Bricks-and-mortar retailer Best Buy has struggled in recent years as it has faced fierce competition from e-commerce giants such as Amazon.com and eBay.

News of the restructuring came as Best Buy reported its quarterly earnings.

The retailer reported a net loss of $1.7 billion, or $4.89 per share, for its fourth quarter ended March 3, 2012, compared to net income of $651 million, or $1.62 per diluted share for the prior-year period.

Best Buy has a couple of issues IMO. One, the constant 'harrassment' by staff. I can't walk 10ft in that place without "Have you been helped?". There's also those annoying DirecTV sales reps who are always in my shorts. Worse, they try to pass off at first like they're Best Buy employees and use the same tired line: "Have you heard about our in-store special today?" Same damn special EVERY day.

Two, their prices suck. I know they have overhead to deal with, but c'mon. $40 for a HDMI cable? $40 for a multi-format flash card reader? Get bent.

[Jason X]

I think their biggest issue is they don't sell anything anyone actually needs, and they sell it more expensively than anyone else.

[Blitz-Wing]

And a week later, looks like Best Buy is losing their CEO...

[Lord_Onslaught]

Let's see they sell Appliances that the majority of the people buy at Lowes, Walmart, and Sears instead. CD sales are going downhill because of the rise in download sales. The only real thing they have are Computers and TV's and DVD's.

Geeksquad service is atrocious, last time I dealt with one of them I wanted to beat the depression out of him. And they still didn't fix what I put in. yet I was able to fix it.

And like the rest. I hate when I go there every 5 minutes "Have you been helped? Can I help You?" Leave me the hell alone!

I was actually a Silver Premiere Member once, but got tires of the over prices and constant harassment by the employees

[MikePrime]

The selection of movies at Best Buy is really poor. That's about my only complaint about Best Buy, but it's quite enough. My brother and I went there yesterday looking for a movie, which I was sure they would have, but they didn't have it. I just felt like, please Best Buy, just close.

[Shadowpanther]

I've actually had positive experiences with best buy stores in my areas. the geek squad always gives me free advice on my computer & stuff I buy. the geek squad is more smarter than the walmart,target & staples employees in the electronics section.

I bought a few things at best where the geek squad was very helpful in answering my questions & thus I got the best product I needed for my projects. I bought a bigger voltage thing for my computer. I bought a few wireless routers,I bought a internal wireless chip to install into my computer. I bought some computer memory. theirs no doubt in my mind the average walmart or target employee in electronics would have been more clueless thus less helpful than the superior & much smarter thus more helpful best buy geek squad staff.

Yes,I agree,it's hard to beat walmarts cheap prices. but it's also hard to beat best buy's geek squad staff when your looking for a certain eletronics item & have questions regarding what particular item to buy.

I noticed most stores like walmart,target & Kmart don't have a extensive back history of older DVD movies & DVD complete show/cartoon series. Best buy while a bit more exspensive does have a bigger library of older DVD movies & DVD complete series shows/cartoons.

I often get frustrated at those walmart dive in/dig thru DVD bins,where they expect customers to dig thru assorted cheaply prices DVD movies. it's like digging thru a old fashioned huge pickle barrel. one can literally waste a few hours digging thru that looking for a under $5 decent DVD movie.

most stores like walmart & target don't like to keep libraries of older DVD movies/series for that long. they figure it cluters up the store,waste space. thus they reduce the stuff to get rid of it. Best buy,fyi & Sun coast at the very least try to maintain a decent library of older DVD Movies/series as a courtesy to the customer looking for something older they want to buy.

[Blitz-Wing]

Truth is any brick & mortar store won't have an extensive library of media. One, as LO mentioned, because hard copy media is on the decline. Two, because these stores don't want to dedicate extensive overhead to titles that won't move as fast. Fortunately for me, there's a rather large regional media store that satisfies most of my needs.