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To: Peter V who wrote (48125)	1/5/2000 3:24:00 PM
From: Peter V	Respond to of 50808

Best Buy focuses on building digital business biz.yahoo.com Wednesday January 5, 1:05 pm Eastern Time Company Press Release SOURCE: Best Buy Co., Inc. Best Buy Realigns Marketing Positions; Efforts Focus on Building Area of Digital Services MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE: BBY - news) today announced a realignment of several key marketing executives. These changes focus on building the Company's leadership position in digital services. Phil Schoonover will head Best Buy's digital services in the newly created position of senior vice president of Merchandising-Digital Solutions. His group's efforts will focus on broadband, Internet Service Providers, wireless products, digital cable, and new digital services. Schoonover was a key contributor in Best Buy's recently announced strategic partnership with Microsoft Corporation. Schoonover has been with Best Buy since 1995 and was most recently senior vice president of Merchandising-Consumer Electronics and Digital Communications. Best Buy's current Digital Communications and Carrier Services teams will continue to report to Schoonover. Mike London has taken on the new role of senior vice president/general merchandise manager. He will assume responsibility for Best Buy's Music and Movies category and will oversee the Consumer Electronics categories. Joe Pagano, vice president-Music and Movies, will continue to lead that area and report to London. Also reporting to London are Appliances, Space Management and Visual Merchandising. London joined Best Buy in 1996 and was most recently senior vice president of Merchandising-General Merchandise. Gary Arnold, senior vice president of Merchandising will focus on the newly created Redline Entertainment division. Redline is Best Buy's effort to expand and diversify the Company's role in the entertainment world, including artist and content development, through digital distribution and the sale of finished content. Arnold joined Best Buy in 1994. David Morrish, senior vice president of Merchandising-Computers, will add the product categories of printers and digital imaging to his current responsibilities of peripherals and computer software. Morrish joined Best Buy in 1998 as vice president of Merchandising. Wayne Inouye, senior vice president of Merchandising-Computer Hardware will continue to lead the computer hardware area including Configure-To-Order product. Inouye has been with Best Buy since 1995. ``These talented individuals in new leadership roles give Best Buy the necessary focus to bring new digital service technologies to market,' said Wade Fenn, Best Buy Executive Vice President-Marketing. ``In today's connected world, where entertainment and technology products intersect, these changes will help position us as the consumer's choice for integrated digital products and services.' Minneapolis-based Best Buy Co., Inc. is the nation's largest volume specialty retailer of consumer electronics, personal computers, entertainment software and appliances. The Company operates 354 retail locations in 37 states, and offers CDs, DVD movies and gift cards online at bestbuy.com For more information, contact Joy Harris of Best Buy Co., Inc., 612-995-5448, joy.harris@bestbuy.com

To: Peter V who wrote (48125)	1/5/2000 3:31:00 PM
From: Peter V	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

More digital dreams by BBY (they edited the prior article) biz.yahoo.com Wednesday January 5, 3:09 pm Eastern Time FOCUS-Best Buy posts strong sales, boosts outlook CHICAGO, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Best Buy Co. Inc., the largest U.S. consumer electronics retailer, on Wednesday raised its quarterly earnings forecast after reporting sales that topped expectations for December, the key holiday shopping month. Best Buy (NYSE:BBY - news) said sales at stores open more than a year rose 9.8 percent in December, about double what it had expected. Total sales jumped 23 percent to $2.27 billion, with sales of new digital products accounting for more than 10 percent of that. The Minneapolis-based retailer said it was raising its fourth-quarter earnings forecast to 72 cents a share from 68 cents, given at the end of the third quarter. ``I can't stress enough how excited we are about the move to digital products,' Richard Schulze, Best Buy chairman and chief executive, said in a conference call with analysts and reporters. Digital products, such as digital wireless phones and DVD players, have higher profit margins and are often linked to related products and services. December is the first month of Best Buy's fiscal fourth quarter, which runs through February, but it accounts for roughly one-half of its fourth-quarter revenues. The retailer said it expects to exceed its 25 percent year-over-year earnings growth goal in fiscal 2001, thanks to the move to digital products and financial benefits from its new alliance with software giant Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news). Best Buy shares were volatile on Wednesday, ranging between $52.50 and $58.375. In afternoon trading Best Buy was off 75 cents at $56.56 on the New York Stock Exchange. The alliance with Microsoft, announced in December, is a broad Internet access and marketing deal. Best Buy expects to finalize the deal in the very near future and said it will give additional fiscal 2001 earnings guidance at the end of the fourth quarter. The company said profits from the alliance should more than offset the expected cost of revamping its Web site in the next fiscal year. Also in December, Best Buy said it had made a $10 million equity investment in etown.com, a consumer electronics information and shopping Web site. ``The company believes strongly that we need to move away from being the traditional seller of product only and we need to get dialed into the loop that represents the true integration of content with product and service,' Schulze said. Analysts agreed that it is important that Best Buy lay the foundation for offering profitable service arrangements, and that the shift to digital products as well as alliances are part of it. ``They sell them (consumers) hardware and at the same time sign them up,' said Dean Ramos, an analyst for George K. Baum. ``It translates into a participation in that income stream.'