Electronics & Entertainment

How best to encapsulate a segment that includes two cellphone sellers/service providers, the nation’s largest consumer electronics specialty chain, the world’s largest e-commerce merchant, a technology company whose retail business is driven in large part by the sales of music and application downloads, a shop-at-home TV broadcaster, a chain of book superstores and the world’s largest video game retailer?

Even in the rough retailing environment of 2009, Best Buy opened 100 new stores while closing not a one. This year’s capital plans include deploying as many as 100 1,500-sq.-ft. Best Buy Mobile locations around the country with an eye toward eventually having up to 1,000 in operation.

Domestically, 39 percent of Best Buy’s sales were generated by consumer electronics merchandise classifications, with home office products accounting for another 34 percent. Last year’s sales increases were driven by notebook computers, HDTVs and smart phones, while sales of entertainment software — video games, CDs and DVDs – declined 3 percent. Best Buy is not letting any grass grow under its footprint, however, with one of its most recent projects being the launch of a video download service. CinemaNow competes with similar services from Amazon.com, Apple, Blockbuster and Netflix. The company doesn’t anticipate overnight success; Ryan Pirozzi, Best Buy’s director of digital video, says it will be at least 2012 before stores begin closing out DVD inventory.