names Best Buy company of the year

Minneapolis-based consumer electronics retailer Best Buy Co. Inc. has been named company of the year in the Jan. 12, 2004 issue of Forbes magazine. The magazine cited the company's fourth reinvention in its 37-year history, now focusing on bundling high-end electronics with service and installation without losing its low-price reputation. CEO Brad Anderson believes Best Buy can still get a let up on Wal-Mart, despite the discount giant's increase in market share in the electronics category from 6.9 percent in 1996 to a current 11 percent (Credit Suisse First Boston). "If we do nothing, Wal-Mart will surpass us by the simple fact that they are adding more stores than we are each year," Anderson told Forbes. Best Buy is therefore trying not to compete on merchandise alone, but by bundling those goods with add-on services such as reselling Rhapsody Internet music, burning CDs and tapping into private-label goods.