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Retail: Best Buy

Ticker Symbol: BBY

Best Buy Website

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About the company

Best Buy began as Sound of Music, opened by Richard Shulze in 1966, and went public in 1969. By 1979, Sound of Music became the first supplier of video and laserdisc equipment produced by major electronics brands like Sony, Panasonic, and Sharp. In 1983, the company began expanding its product base under the new moniker "Best Buy Company". Best Buy (BBY) shares debuted on the New York Stock Exchange in 1985 via an 8.3 million share offering. The electronics superstore hit the $1 billion annual revenue mark in 1992. With the liquidation of Circuit City, Best Buy is now the lone Nationwide Electronic Retail Store in the U.S.

Best Buy offers consumer electronics, home office products, entertainment merchandise, appliances, and assorted other goods. Computers, software, DVDs, mobile phones, music, stereos, video cameras, video games, washing machines, and dryers are amongst the products sold at Best Buy locations.

Insignia, Dynex, Init, Geek Squad, and Rocketfish are the five private label brands offered owned by Best Buy.

Best Buy sells its goods through its brick and mortar stores as well as its online sites, employing about 150,000 people around the world. With the purchase of Canada's Future Shop electronics retailer in 2001, Best Buy began to put its international footprint on the map. In 2007, the company opened its first Best-Buy branded store in China and now operates 6 stores in the world's most populated country. In late 2008, Best Buy opened its first retail store in Mexico and is in the process of opening a store in Turkey.

Best Buy's Competitors:

Tier 1 competitors: Circuit City (CCTYQ), RadioShack (RSH), GameStop (GME)
Tier 2 competitors: CONN'S (CONN), Rex Stores (RSC)