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Best Buy allows Schulze to pursue takeover bid

Best Buy founder Richard Schulze have reached an agreement that allows him to conduct due diligence and form an investment group to make an official bid for the struggling electronics retailer and take it private.

After the due diligence process begins, Schulze will have 60 days in which to bring a fully financed, definitive proposal for the company, the Richfield, Minn.-based company said in a statement today. If the board of directors rejects that offer, Schulze has agreed not to pursue another proposal until January.

But Schulze would also have an opportunity to present an offer to shareholders at … Read more

Headphones under $50

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If you're looking to improve the quality of your music, headphones are the most important link in the chain. Today's phones, tablets, and computers are capable of spectacular audio quality that was unthinkable just 10 years ago, but you're not going to hear it with the headphones that came in the box.

Fortunately, you don't have to spend a lot of money to hear a dramatic improvement in headphone audio quality. In this Top 5, we have the best headphones for under $50, as selected by CNET … Read more

Best Buy shows strains in 2nd-quarter earnings

Best Buy's fiscal second-quarter results illustrated the laundry list of issues that new CEO and turnaround specialist Hubert Joly will face.

Here's the short version:

Best Buy saw both earnings and revenue fall short of Wall Street expectations. The company declined to give an outlook for the rest of its fiscal year citing Joly's arrival and market uncertainties. Best Buy's cost structure is too high. Demand in China and Europe has been weak and the U.S. is soft. Technology buyers are holding off on purchases ahead of a bevy of product launches ranging from the … Read more

Students who buy a new PC can score a free Xbox

Students trudging back to school can soften the blow with a free Xbox console and a $14.99 upgrade to Windows 8, as long as they buy a new PC.

Several PC vendors have cooked up the deal to attract students who need to buy a new computer. Here's how it works:

Buy a new PC for $699 or more from Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Best Buy, Newegg, or the Microsoft Store. You'll have to show some proof that you're a student currently enrolled, either through a school e-mail address or ID number. You then get your free Xbox … Read more

Best Buy chooses turnaround specialist as new CEO

Electronics retailer Best Buy has chosen a new chief executive as it grapples with lagging sales and a proposal to take the company private by its founder.

Hubert Joly has stepped down as CEO of hospitality and restaurant giant Carlson to lead the struggling electronics giant, Best Buy announced Monday morning. Word of the impending appointment was first reported on by the Wall Street Journal on Sunday evening. Best Buy touted Joly as having a record turning around companies in the media, technology and services sectors.

"Hubert's range and depth of experience in transforming companies is exactly what … Read more

Friday Poll: What could Best Buy do to survive?

The brightly lit aisles of Best Buy have a certain pallor to them these days. Geek Squad employees have been axed. More than 50 stores are closing. The consumer-electronics retailer is treading water in a sea full of hungry online competitors.

Will Best Buy go the way of dearly departed Circuit City? Sales are slumping and profit is shrinking into losses. Consumers are avoiding the mazelike store layouts and shopping around for deals online. Apple Stores are popping up everywhere and Microsoft is expanding its brick-and-mortar presence.… Read more

Best Buy founder: C'mon, folks, my takeover plan will work

With each passing day, Best Buy appears headed for a family feud.

Richard Schulze, the founder who was on the outs with Best Buy's board when he resigned his seat in June, continues to try to persuade directors to sell him the company. Schulze today sent the board a letter saying he would pay up to $8.8 billion for the floundering big-box electronics chain, according to a New York Times report.

"I am deeply concerned about the direction of the company," Schulze said in the letter. "As Best Buy's largest shareholder, I cannot simply … Read more

So I went to Best Buy to confuse an iPad with a Samsung

The Apple-Samsung trial has been such a show that it has invaded my head in the same way as the first time I learned dwarf tossing was an entertainment in places like France and Canada.

Could anyone really have wandered into Best Buy and confused a Samsung Galaxy Tab with an iPad, as has been suggested?

While some began to pulsate at rumors that many, many people had exchanged their Galaxy Tabs for iPads at Best Buy, a study suggested that only 9 percent of people who returned a Samsung product at Best Buy did so in order to exchange … Read more

Facebook drops off the greatest places to work list

Marquee tech companies have always had a good rap of being great places to work: beautiful campuses, casual clothing, free food, and lunchtime workouts. But maybe that's not really the case?

A new list by company review site Glassdoor compiled the 25 best places to work for those trying to achieve an even work-life balance for 2012. And the results are surprising.

Of all well-known tech companies out there, LinkedIn, Orbitz, and CareerBuilder were the only ones to make the list. And for the first time, Facebook entirely dropped off the list. However, of the 25 companies, 12 were … Read more

Gratuitous advice for Best Buy: Fear Microsoft too

Best Buy's founder fears Apple Stores. That fear should extend to Microsoft, too.

For better or worse, I live within walking distance of a Best Buy store in Los Angeles. (Well, a long walk).

But I typically elect to drive about 20 miles to the Microsoft Store in Century City.

That should worry Best Buy. Once consumers (I don't think I'm that atypical) get a taste of the Microsoft Store experience, it will be really hard to go back to the muddle that is Best Buy.

Luckily for Best Buy, there aren't many Microsoft stores right now. … Read more