Best Buy, Retailer | featured news

Richard Schulze, the founder of Best Buy, is exploring putting together a bid to take the struggling electronics retailer private, according to people briefed on the matter. Mr. Schulze, who resigned from the company’s board this month, has been begun working with bankers from Credit Suisse to consider such a move, these people said. They said he would probably team up with a private equity firm or other deep-pocketed investor. With a 20.1 percent stake, he is the company’s largest shareholder.

The company’s founder, Richard Schulze, said he was leaving the board immediately and also said he was looking to sell his 20.1 percent stake in the retailer, worth about $1.3 billion.

Best Buy on Saturday announced the locations of 50 stores that it is closing this year, including seven in California, six in Illinois and six in the company's home state of Minnesota.

Twin Cities-based Best Buy said Tuesday that its CEO, Brian Dunn, has resigned. The electronics company said in a statement that Dunn's departure was in "mutual agreement that it was time for new leadership to address the challenges that face the company."

Electronics retailer Best Buy reported a 1.2% drop in December same-store sales on slow customer traffic and weakness in the gaming and digital-imaging segments.

Best Buy's profit fell 30% as same-store sales continued to slide. The electronics retailer also revised its full-year earnings view.

Shoppers ignored Best Buy Co Inc's promotion of pricey 3D televisions and other high-end gadgets this holiday season as they chased bargains elsewhere, hammering the company's profits.

“For the holidays, the tablets will be mostly Android-based, plus the iPad,” said Mike Vitelli, Best Buy’s President of North and South American business, in an interview.

Buried in a story on Best Buy's retail strategy, CEO Brian Dunn mentioned a startling fact: Internal estimates showed that the iPad had cannibalized sales from laptop PCs by as much as 50%.

Best Buy's earnings jumped 61% as the retailer rebounded from a weakened year-earlier quarter on higher revenue and margins.