Best Buy History

Best Buy was originally opened in 1966 as Sound of Music, an audio store by Richard M. Schulze and his business partner Gary Smoliak. By 1970, Sound of Music reached $1 million dollars in annual sales and had nine stores in operation throughout the Minnesota area. As of 1979 Sound of Music became the first to offer Panasonic, Magnavox and Sony video and laserdisc equipment. The tornado that hit the Rossville store in 1981 prompted the name “Best Buy.” As a result of the tornado the store held a “Tornado Sale” and advertised it as a “Best Buy.” This became an annual event and in 1983 the board of directors agreed on the name Best Buy co., Inc,. The company opened its first super store in Burnsville, Minnesota, this store was larger and offered a variety of discounted brand- name items and even began selling appliances and videocassette recorders. Best Buy made its first appearance on the New York Stock Exchange in 1985 with an offering of 8.3 million shares. The company changed its brand logo to the infamous yellow tag in 1987. Also in the same year Best Buy had reached $239 million dollars in revenues from 24 stores. By 1989 the company eliminated commissioned sales help and changed its overall format to resemble a warehouse. In 1993 the company reached the billion dollar mark in annual sales. In 1994 the company expended into Virginia and Maryland and began featuring hands on displays. In 1997 it became the first national seller of DVD technology. In 1999 it partnered with Microsoft to cross promote products. By 2000 it launched BestBuy.com and acquired Magnolia Audio Video, a of high-end consumer