MrSmearkase

Thanks to Blu-ray-collect for the heads up in the Blu-Rays subforum

Link

Store Locator

I'll be sad to see them go Their BOGO coupons and free $25 gift cards made my jump to BR a lot easier this Holiday season.

Troy Stiffler

Best local place to buy a consumer-grade TV. But I'm indifferent.

Manzana

I'm sad to hear it because it was nice to have an electronics store with a large selection within 1 mile of my house, and since they PM'd occasionally I'd buy stuff from UE. However, like BB has done to me, UE also refused PMs sometimes saying it was below cost. I won't be missing or have to worry about any deals on BDs since my location has never carried any.

They'll probably have some killer deals on TVs, camcorders, amplifiers, and maybe appliances, but I don't need anything now having replaced my broken camcorder with a HD one at Christmas. I can't wait for that sinking feeling in my stomach when I see UE selling my $300 HD camcorder for $100 soon. Since there aren't any vacancies in that shopping area, hopefully a good store will replace UE soon (and not another giant pet store).

There's no mention in the article (that I could see) when the clearance sales actually start. As with all clearances, by the time they go from 10% off to more than 50% off, most of the good stuff will be gone.

Blu-ray-collect

I doubt there will be any good deals left by the time the percentages off are higher. If this will be like the "Circuit City" liquidation, all prices will be back to list/MSRP, and begin with 10% off, depending on the item. From there, each week the discounts will go up another 10%.

Obi-Wan Jabroni said it best in the "FYE store closing" thread:
"Mark everything back up to full original MSRP, and then mark it 20% off or whatever. That's the problem with getting good stuff in a liquidation sale, most of the really good stuff is gone before the deals get really good because stupid people see the % off and don't know any better."

Groucho

They have been out of business here for years. Had no idea they still had stores other places.

Big Worms

Going to miss them.

mike07

Wow, this came as a surprise to me. The local store just opened last year here in Albany, NY. Since then, I always preferred them to Best Buy (prices are better and staff are much, much friendlier!).

Mad Dawg

This is really disappointing. They really had a great approach, and there are a lot of great people who are going to lose their jobs.

DirkUSA

It's in the old circuit city building, isn't it? I never made it in there yet, I better hurry up, seems like the building is cursed.

JustinCleveland

Funny: They did the same thing here in Milwaukee, WI. Opened last year in the CC building across the street from Best Buy. Great location in that it is right off the Interstate but a pain in the ass to get to.

Jam Master Jay

Wow I have to say I'm pretty surprised, the one close to here opened pretty recently. I had been putting off checking it out, guess I have a reason now.

Deftones

The one by me was never busy so this isn't surprising.

Lastdaysofrain

The two near me (Danvers and Salem, NH) opened less than a year ago (I think the Danvers one had a grand opening right before Christmas) but the only people I ever see in them are teenagers playing on the billards tables. Not terribly surprising.

mndtrp

I've bought a few items from UE over the years. They always have knowledgeable staff, eagerness to PM, and were usually willing to work with you on lowering prices without a PM. It's too bad, I dug them.

mike07

Yup, next to Walmart.

I've only been in there a few times. Sure every time I've been in there, there's a few employees playing pool but they were always quick to help if you need.

Lastdaysofrain

What I don't understand is how Best Buy still manages to stay in business.

Blu-ray-collect

I think the biggest thing that killed UE was the number of stores they opened. There are 3 within 20 minutes of where I live (9 stores in Colorado alone), and, aside from the holidays, they are pretty dead. Too many stores, not enough customers. I plan to stop by one tomorrow (weather permitting), and see what prices the liquidation will start with.

Big Worms

Not to mention on how much money they spent on the remodels they did about a year ago.

al_bundy

the money is made on the accessories

i've had people i know buy TV's without my help and a $1000 or $1200 TV turns into a $2000 or more purchase. the tv table, warranty, UPS, HDMI cable, etc is where all the money is made. and with best buy they also have the geek squad which is huge profit margins and potential sales of software and other products.

no one makes money on the hardware anymore. and with monoprice and amazon the weakest stores will fail

al_bundy

i've been to the best buy store in loveland in july and it was like a ghost town. even in december it wasn't too busy compared to the NYC best buys

Josh-da-man

True.

Best Buy has always hard-sold shit you don't need. I remember buying a computer there back in '99 or 2000 (it was a Windows 98 system) and I had a manager who tried to force a UPS on me and would not take fucking NO for an answer. He gave me this big spiel about how I needed a UPS or the BIOS of my system would be corrupted, how the Compaq Presario I had selected was a faulty piece of junk and would break down without this $200 UPS. I even told lied to him that I already had a UPS, and he told me that I the one I had wasn't good enough, and that I needed this particular model. I thought he was going to follow me out to my car.

And don't even get me started on those fucking extended warranties. That's the biggest scam of them all... at least until they started "optimizing" laptops.

btbrossard

I've wanted to stop into the Milwaukee store every time I drive past, but I've never drummed up the will to risk life and limb to get into the parking lot.

That location sucks to get in and out of.

btbrossard

Within the last two weeks, my wife and I went into the Brookfield Wisconsin Best Buy to purchase a Canon 7d (they were the closest best buy to have it in stock in SE Wisconsin.

We went to the photo area and asked to get one. The sales guy went to get one out of whatever case there stored in upfront. When he came back, he would not stop about the Best Buy Black Tie protection plan. I told him no, we didn't want to buy it, but thank you. He simply wouldn't give up, pressuring me the ENTIRE fucking time the sale was being rung up.

He said I was reckless for not buying the "insurance" and called me stupid, more than once. He said I was going to go home and destroy my new $2000 camera and then I would be sorry. Dust would get inside and destroy everything. He assured me our other Canon DSLR that had never had the sensor cleaned was chuck full of dirt and our photos were crap.

I understand they have to ask about the warranty, but if a customer says no, give it the fuck up.

Going out and spending money on junk I really don't need should be fun. Going to Best Buy sucks the life out of me and I dread going.

al_bundy

back in september i bought a PS3. BB tried to sell me the remote and the warranty. i said no. quick sale.

a while ago it was a hard sell, but not now. compare that to PC Richard and some other stores where they apply for credit for you without telling you that they are doing so

a lot of best buy's business is in cell phones these days and everyone buys the accessories even though it's the same rip off margins and the same people think it's an awesome deal

Blu-ray-collect

The warranty from Best Buy can be worth it. I bought the protection plans from Best Buy for my original LCD projector and a TV. It has paid off both times. My first LCD projector, I went through 5 bulbs in 2 years. The bulbs aren't cheap, and BB had to eat the cost every time. Then, that projector broke 6 months before the protection plan was to expire, and they had to junk it out. $1000 credit towards a new projector. Sales person helping me didn't know HDMI from DVI, so I got a Sony 1080P Projector as a replacement (an additional $200 more out of my pocket). Not a bad deal, in my opinion.

A TV I bought from BB also broke, and they had to junk that out (into its 3rd of 4 years under the warranty plan), too. It was a tube TV (not an HDTV), and I got a nice 42" flat screen LCD HDTV as a replacement. That only cost another $100.

I think my cases are very rare, and I've been lucky enough to have things go my way. It sure beats the new "buy back" plan that BB is pushing now.