The latest news from the End of Retail: “The board of directors of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE: BBY) today announced that Brian Dunn has resigned as chief executive officer and director. There were no disagreements between Mr. Dunn and the company on any matter relating to operations, financial controls, policies, or procedures. There was mutual agreement that it was time for new leadership to address the challenges that face the company. Director G. Mike Mikan has been named interim CEO to lead the company while a search for a new CEO is under way. Richard Schulze, the founder of Best Buy, continues to serve as chairman.”
See previous coverage here and here and here. The bottom line is that while Best Buy is no doubt facing some firm-specific challenges, the big story is broad sectoral decline of this sort of retailing. Under different circumstances, Circuit City going bankrupt would have been good news for Best Buy, and Borders’ liquidation would have been good news for Barnes & Noble. But when your competitors go bust because your entire industry segment is collapsing, you have a different kind of problem on your hands.
