Best Buy Founder Envisions New Tack
Best Buy Co. founder Richard Schulze envisions a turnaround plan for the electronics retailer that involves cutting prices to better compete against Amazon.com Inc. and other online retailers while ensuring that the in-store customer-service experience is as good as Apple Inc.’s, according to people familiar with the matter.
Such efforts would both reduce profit margins and turn back a cost-cutting plan already under way at the Minneapolis-based company. The company plans to shut 50 big-box stores, shrink its cavernous floor space, and cut $800 million in costs by the 2015 fiscal year.
Details of Mr. Schulze’s plan will be scrutinized as he tries to convince Best Buy’s board to seriously consider a $10 billion buyout proposal floated Monday.
