It seems like America’s financial problems are set to continue with Best Buy reporting major price increases, declining sales and an economic downturn for the rest of the year. Just a few years ago Best Buy stores were filled with buzzing shoppers huddled around displays carrying the latest gadgets from the likes of Microsoft and Apple.
Every aisle was busy, video game counters were filled with gaming enthusiasts, and employees were racing to help out customers. From flat-screen TVs to the latest mobile phones, there were lines at the checkout counter. However, in recent years, it has all gone wrong for the Biggest American retailers who are now facing a nightmare scenario.
High inflation has forced shoppers to cut spending on not just non-essential items but also some of the necessities. One of the great American Success stories “Best Buy” is caught up in this retail gloom which will hurt American consumers further.
Telsey Advisory Group expects Best Buy sales to drop as much as 11 percent for the current quarter. The falling profits are backed up by the company’s own figures showing a 28% decline from last year. The drop in sales is not a recent phenomenon either. As this will be the sixth consecutive quarter where sales have fallen at Best Buy.
These trends are particularly worrying because personal electronics were a hot seller not so long ago. Any update from Microsoft, every new gadget launched by Apple resulted in massive lines of shoppers waiting to get the newest item on the market. With more innovative products on the market, Americans rushed to upgrade their devices. But right now, Americans are thinking of consolidation.
They are going for fixes rather than upgrades and for a business like Best-Buy that relies on selling the newest gadgets, this spells disaster. The downwards sales pattern is reflected in sales forecasts from every retailer in the country. Home Depot, Walmart, and Target are all in the same boat and are sharing disappointing outlooks for the year.
As for Best-Buy, the company is scrambling for answers.
Shares of best buy are down nearly 14% so far this year, a considerable drop in the current economic climate. The company is trailing many of the S&P 500 companies during this slide. Pushed by the circumstances, Best Buy has decided to end its popular rewards program and made it exclusive to only those who have a store credit card.
Despite all the clamorings about strong employment numbers, Best Buy has cut down its labor force. During the last two years, they have reduced overall numbers by 20%. So more than 25,000 people have been laid off and those numbers are still increasing. In a restructuring effort, the company also plans to shut down 30 large format stores.
The truth is that inflation-induced anxiety has taken over America. Everyone is planning to save up which puts the country’s economy in a desperate spot. Despite continuous claims of improvement from the officials, no one is entirely sure how much longer they have to continue on this pattern. America’s best-known retailers are reporting a loss of earnings, the shoppers are contending with stubbornly high inflation, and all forecasts point to a grim conclusion: Conditions are about to get much, much worse.
Article and video cross-posted from Epic Economist.
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It is not popular to say, but TrumpWhiteHouse ’15 days to slow the spread.’ created a supply chain crisis that will take decades to fix. It was absolutely an avoidable problem.
It definitely started it. But there will be no fixing it.
Trump did not cause this. This has happened many times before Trump. All of this is the result of a central bank and a worthless paper currency. The creation of money always involves the extension of credit by private commercial banks. It is created by lending, but the money to pay the interest is never created with it. The money to pay the interest must be borrowed. The only way to keep the system going is to keep borrowing. It’s no wonder the national debt is $32 trillion. The only way to fix it is to abolish the current system and switch to commodity-based money. The debt money system is a FAILURE.
The unconstitutional lockdown. Destroyed our Country. People have such short memories.
You meant Fauci and birx right?
You people lie. Best Buy has been on life support for at least the last 10 years. The only reason they’re still in business is because all their competition went bankrupt first. Why do you media do this, lie when you don’t have to?
I can tell you that it is NOT inflation causing these price hikes. It is theft.
Where I live, in the twin cities, the home of George Floyd, since 2020, retail theft has cost retailers billions. This is how they pass the cost of doing business on to their customers. You cannot tell the truth. The truth is that we have a community of people who use mobs of people to steal huge amounts of merchandise.
The best buy store I go to occasionally was ransacked every weekend for about 7 months after George Floyd. I stopped going there. But it continues. You have almost everything in theft proof containers and they still walk in and walk out because the courts won’t prosecute unless it is felony theft. Then if you do steal something worth more than a grand, their security won’t stop you.
So everyone who thinks it is Trump’s Fault, our fiat currency or covid, you are all wrong. All retailers right now are where Best Buy is. Grocery stores too. All because one group of people are stealing whatever they want.
There is why Best Buy is raising their prices.