Best Buy 2004 Annual Report Download - page 17

Magnolia Audio Video (previously called
Magnolia Hi-Fi), a high-end consumer
electronics retailer, offers our second dual-
branding play. These stores perform
better when located near a Best Buy
store, so in the third quarter of fiscal 2004,
we opened a Magnolia Audio Video store
within the same building as a Best Buy
store, but with a separate entrance. To
date, the results have been positive, with
each of the two brands benefiting from
the proximity. We are currently taking this
test a step further by locating Magnolia
Audio Video stores within two of our Best
Buy stores.
Opportunity in Entertainment
One reason customers enjoy shopping
at Best Buy is the access to movies, music
and games in our stores. Entertainment
lies at the very heart of the company.
We believe in the integration of entertain-
ment with the hardware and services
that support them. Moreover, customers
depend on our deep product and services
assortments, and that includes delivering
entertainment content wherever and
whenever they want it, in whichever format.
We also are a pioneer in making markets
for new entertainment forms. Our leader-
ship in the entertainment software
category was exemplified in the results we
achieved for the Rolling Stones, who
selected
Best Buy to memorialize and sell
exclusively a DVD of their Four Licks world
tour. The DVD, sold only at Best Buy,
achieved 14-times platinum status, selling
nearly 300,000 copies of the four-DVD set.
The Stones were widely quoted in U.S.
and Canadian media on their satisfaction
with our retail price of $29.99, significantly
less than foreign retailers charged.
As digital downloading of entertainment
content continues to grow, we intend to
lead the market by introducing additional
opportunities to provide our customers
with choices for how they obtain their
entertainment.
A Valuable Citizen
In Los Angeles, students create and
produce short films to communicate their
understanding of academic subjects.
Fifteen million students in 45 states across
the nation visit NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy
Lab via Internet and live television to learn
about how astronauts train for space
walks. In Boston, customers in cars line
up to recycle thousands of old electronics.
The connection? Best Buy.
Whether it be supporting kids through
schools and nonprofit organizations or
contributing to a healthy environment,
Best Buy ties its philanthropic contributions
to what it knows best—technology.
Best Buy donates to its communities
approximately 1.5 percent of earnings
from continuing operations, primarily
through the Best Buy Children’s
Foundation. The Foundation is devoted
to making learning interactive and fun
by supporting innovative, high-tech
programs that engage and educate
elementary and secondary students.
A school grant program called Te@ch,
electronic field trips and scholarships
are examples of how the Foundation
helps students become involved,
successful and excited about learning.
Our commitment to communities doesn’t
end with philanthropy. Over the past three
years, Best Buy has held events in its
communities that collected more than
1.2 million pounds of electronics to be
recycled. In Minneapolis, an award-
winning transportation program has
resulted in more than 10 percent of our
corporate employee population riding
bikes, carpooling or taking the bus
to work, a savings of approximately
1.5 million miles traveled.
Yet the most valuable contributors to
Best Buy communities are our employees.
Their volunteerism and United Way
donations touch communities directly, and
their hard work brings our company great
success … success which transforms into
valuable opportunities for our neighbors.
Best Buy Co., Inc. 15
The Rolling Stones four-
DVD set Four Flicks
features more than five
hours of music and two
documentaries. Sold
exclusively at Best Buy,
the set went multi-plat-
inum in less than a
week, later becoming
one of the best-selling
music DVDs in history
at 14-times platinum.
”It was unforgettable,”
said Will Nielsen,
a Minnesota eighth
grader, about his trip
to Belize. As a partici-
pant in the Foundation-
funded live Electronic
Field Trip that his fellow
classmates experienced
via broadcast, Will
learned first-hand about
mangrove forests, sea
turtles, a new culture
and a different way of
life. ”It was cool to look
at part of the world
with a new pair of
eyes,” he said.