Michael Waitzer brings an innovative and down to earth approach to the re-invention or next stage development of your Retail Brand through the Story that you are Telling and the Culture that you are Building.

Was Richard Schulze being emotional, brilliant or both when he made his offer to buy Best Buy and take it private, again?

In my view, successful entrepreneurs may be called many things but when it comes to investing their money, emotion rarely plays a role.

The world is using Best Buy, and others like it, as the showroom from which they make their purchasing decision. They then shop online, armed with detailed specs of the product they want, and make the purchase based on price.

So back to the real question That Mr. Schulze is pondering; is there room in the marketplace for a profitable Best Buy?

I suppose the answer would be found in discussions with the vendor base.

Discussions that may go something like this:

If Best Buy is to continue being the showroom for your product, we need to be profitable. The options are pretty limited- each Brand

[Samsung, Toshiba, Canon etc.] could certainly open their own showrooms/retail. This would be a change in model and has already been done by some such as Sony. People could then shop a single Brand presentation, make a decision and then still go online looking for the best price.

Or, the brands could partner with Best Buy and make a margin arrangement that was somewhat elastic. An arrangement that would allow Best Buy to play in the field of being the ‘Best Buy’. This would certainly be a cheaper route for the brands than opening up showrooms.

I also suspect that the consumer would appreciate this one stop solution.

Brilliant Mr. Schulze?