Sure, it’s only bee 16-years, but not everyone remembers when a stick of 4MB RAM cost $29.99 on sale. Or, when a 3.1GB hard drive would run you a hefty $399.99 after rebate. For those who don’t, here’s an interesting look at one of their weekly circulars from 1996. Continue reading to see more.
5 Interesting Best Buy facts:
- Together with subsidiaries Geek Squad, Magnolia Audio Video, Speakeasy, Audiovisions, Pacific Sales, Jiangsu Five Star Alliance and Future Shop, Best Buy operates in around 1,300 stores in the US, Canada, China and Puerto Rico.
- Founded in St Paul, Minnesota, in 1966 as the Sound of Music store, it was rebranded as Best Buy in 1983 with a flagship store in Burnsville, Minnesota.
- A partnership with Microsoft in 1999 boosted the company’s profile, leading to the opening of its first global sourcing office in Shanghai, China, in 2003. Its first retail store in Shanghai followed in 2007, with pilot stores now scheduled for both Mexico and Turkey.
- By 1993, Best Buy had become the USA’s second-largest consumer electronics retailer, breaking into Fortune magazine’s annual ranking of America’s 500 largest corporations two years later at number 373.
- Sometimes called the “Big Blue Box” owing to the design of the company’s warehouse-style stores, Best Buy was named as Forbes magazine’s Company of the Year in 2004.
