US retailer Best Buy is going to make a comeback in China later this year – albeit a very quiet and limited one. The company’s VP, Wang Jian, has confirmed that one site – its flagship Shanghai store in the Xujiahui district (pictured below) – will reopen sometime in December.
This is quite a turnaround from its very public humiliation in February of this year, when Best Buy closed its nine stores in China. At the time it seemed as if Best Buy was gone for good, instead focusing on its Sino-US joint venture retail chain Five-Star Electronics.
Best Buy retained its flagship Shanghai store in Xujiahui - and it'll be reopened this December. Click to enlarge. (Image source: DoNews)
Wang Jian told a Chinese reporter that Best Buy would be back with its original logo and using the same brand-name in China. He added that his company will “seek quality instead of quantity” on its return here. He didn’t specify what that might entail, but one recourse might be to forego the whole range of ‘white goods’ – fridges, home air-con units, etc – and instead focus on only high-end gadgets and home entertainment systems.
Best Buy retained its flagship Xujiahui retail space, making this comeback pretty straight-forward. Other locations, however, were sold off earlier this year – some to rivals such as the Chinese electronics retailer Suning.
[Source: DoNews – article in Chinese]
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