The Wall Street Journal reports Best Buy is getting a new look-- or rather, it is testing out a look rather similar to that of Apple's retail outlets as part of its latest turnaround strategy.

Now a test store close to Best Buy HQ has a Genius Bar... sorry, a "Solution Central" help desk manned by the black-tied Geek Squad. Customer can also pay for purchases in several locations (rather than checkout lines), while the store itself sports a stripped-down look housing less gadgets within a smaller Continue reading...

Kesa Electricals changes its name to that of its flagship, Darty, after pre-tax losses for the 12 months ending 30 April 2012 total -€313.9 million-- compared to the post-tax profits of €30.7m for the 2010/11 period.

Total Kesa revenues for the year are down to €4 billion (from €4.1bn in 2010/11), a decline the retailer blames on poor TV sales and online retail competition.

The retailer also books additional costs of €70m relating to the underperforming divisions in Italy and Spain, together wi Continue reading...

The Wall Street Journal reports Best Buy founder (and ex-chairman) Richard Schulze is looking for fellow investors for plans to take over Best Buy, in order to "preserve the value of his holdings."

Apparently Schultze fears Best Buy will continue declining in value unless major changes happen in the company. After all sales are down, it already gave up on European retail and plans to close 50 US stores in 2012.

Buying the biggest CE retailer in the world (by revenue) is not a very easy task, since Continue reading...

Griffin celebrates its 20th anniversary with a first take on retail-- a Griffon Store located in London's Westfield, Stratford City, across the Olympic Stadium.

The double fronted store covers 139 square metres and features a 9m glass storefront. Various sections allow customers to test out Griffin products, from mobile device chargers to Crayola-branded products and in-car accessories.

An interactive play area features HELO TC remote controlled helicopters and a showcase for the Griffin iDevice Continue reading...

Australian online CE retailer Kogan does not want customers to access its website with outdated internet browsers so much it just implemented the world's first Internet Explorer 7 tax.

That's right, anyone who makes a purchase while using IE7 pays a 6.8% surcharge (0.1% for each month the browser has been on the market).

Anyone who visits the Kogan website through IE7 also gets a message saying "you or your system administrator has been in a coma for over 5 years."

Why? Web designers don't like Continue reading...

The Metro Group-controlled Media Markt cancels entry in the Norwegian market, shelving 3 years of plans according to Norwegian business newspaper Dagens Næringsliv.

Back in March 2011 Media Markt announced it was going to open a total of 20 retail outlets in Norway, with one giant shop rivalling leading Nordic competitor, Elkjøp, in size. Stores were to open by Q3 2012, and Media Marked had even signed a number of land-related contracts.

But now, according to the Dagens Næringsliv, Metro will i Continue reading...

Karlstad-based game publisher and distributor Nordic Games acquires the Norwegian and Swedish GAME operations, saving the retail chain within the nordic region.

The deal covers 44 Swedish and 11 Norwegian GAME retail outlets, together with the associated online stores in both countries. Combined the stores employ 270 people and service around 600000 customers.

The new owner also has a license for the use of GAME branding.

Nordic Games founder and majority shareholder Lars Wingefors acts as Managing Continue reading...

The Best Buy board forces founder Richard Schultze to resign from chairman, following his failure to report the "improper relationship" between former CEO Brian Dunn and a 29-year old female employee.

The board investigation says the Dunn's relationship "negatively impacted the work environment." However, since it didn't involve "misuse" of company resources, Dunn still receives a golden parachute worth $6.6 million.

Dunn suddenly resigned from the Best Buy board on April 10 2012, following the Continue reading...