Built the first superstore format for electronics with massive selection over pushy salespeople. High volume, lower margins crushed competitors. By 2000, surpassed Circuit City in sales and became the dominant player.
Amazon's showrooming gutted sales as customers browsed in-store then bought online cheaper. Customer service collapsed, CEO resigned over scandal, and Q1 2012 posted $1.7B loss. Stock crashed to $11. Then CEO Hubert Joly arrived with no retail experience and faced reality: he price-matched Amazon, slashed $2B in costs without touching showroom quality, and turned stores into assets through omnichannel and stores-within-stores.
Thriving with $47B in sales. One-third of revenue from online, 43% picked up in-store. Store-within-store deals with Microsoft, Samsung, and others generate $20-40M per quarter in pure profit. 7 million subscription members.
