Circuit City

Apple's foray into retail was supposed to be a disaster. "I give them two years before they're turning out the lights on a very painful and expensive mistake," one critic infamously said in 2001, a comment that would prove slightly prescient considering the number of brick-and-mortar stores that would shudder in the years to come--Gateway, Circuit City, CompUSA. But not Apple. Its hundreds of stores generate billions of dollars in sales annually--more sales than any U.S. retailer by square foot.

Now Apple's competitors are hoping to repeat Apple's success in the retail space.

Big box stores are remnants of a different era, dinosaurs that have lived past their use. But that doesn't mean Best Buy has to resign itself to an untimely death.

Big box electronics stores are starting to look ancient. In an age where small, tailored outlets like Apple Stores have become something of a Mecca for fans, large tech empires like Sony are following suit, and Amazon has become a go-to for your every purchasing needs, the era of the gadget department store might be coming to a close.

If the saying "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" applies to anyone, it applies to Babak Ghaznavi, president of Paul's TV. When Ghaznavi was 14, his father, who was working at a petrochemical company in Iran, wanted a better life for his son. Not knowing much about America or its education system, he randomly…

Howard's Appliance and Flat Screen Superstores opened its 11th store in Alhambra, Calif., late last month, the company said.

Not too long ago, the independent retailer seemed endangered. Unable to compete with the purchasing power and supply chain prowess of national chains, the mom and pop shop seemed destined for the dust heap. How then have some independent retailers thrived where big boxes fail? In retail, everything is cyclical. Abt Electronics is a single store in the suburbs of Chicago that sells home electronics and appliances. Itâs a third generation family run business that has consistently grown 10 percent each year, for 75 years. It competes head to head with Best Buy, and did so with Circuit City,

Times are tough for electronics retailers: Consumers aren’t buying big-ticket items, Amazon and Wal-Mart are eating into profits, and many of the newest products — like 3-D televisions — have fallen flat. The wreckage is everywhere, in the form of huge, empty lots that once housed big-box stores. Circuit City is gone, Best Buy is hurting, and in recent months, Sixth Avenue Electronics has quietly shuttered 16 of its tri-state area stores, leaving just three in New Jersey. “We didn’t intend to close this many stores,”

hhgregg, which is set to debut in Chicago in the coming weeks, is reportedly eyeing a directly north for its next territorial expansion.

In part I of this article, I argued that on a normalized basis, Best Buy (BBY) generates about $1.6 billion in free cash flow, yielding 18% on its current market cap of $8.9 billion. I also noted that based on past actions as well as forward-looking statements by the company, we can expect most free cash flow to be returned to shareholders. Here, I will address the threat that Best Buy is perceived to face from Wal-Mart (WMT) and other discounters. In part III, I will do the same with Amazon (AMZN). The Wal-Mart Threat to Best Buy Since

Best Buy may have announced plans to cut back on new big box stores, but the retailer is moving forward with a new store a few miles from its Richfield, Minn. headquarters.

If you are a consumer electronics manufacturer or brand and you are in Best Buy or Magnolia - you brag to anyone and everyone who will listen about how great it is.

They are the last giant standing in the world of big box retail specific to home theater, AV software and audio with the ability to make one purchase order that can change an AV company forever.

With players ranging from Circuit City to The Good Guys to Ultimate Electronics to Tweeter to regional chains like Myer Emco to AV software players like Tower Records