Built the first superstore model for electronics with high volume over high margins. Customers loved selection over pushy salespeople. By 2000, they surpassed Circuit City in sales and became the dominant electronics retailer in America.
Amazon's showrooming gutted sales — customers browsed in-store then bought online cheaper. Customer service collapsed, the CEO resigned over scandal, and the stock crashed to $11. Then new CEO Hubert Joly arrived with no retail experience and made audacious moves: price-matched Amazon, slashed $2B in costs without touching the showroom floor, and turned stores into assets through omnichannel and store-within-a-store partnerships.
Thriving with $47B in sales. One-third of revenue comes from online, 43% picked up in-store. 7 million paying subscribers. The last electronics chain standing while Circuit City, Fry's, and Radio Shack all died.
