Product Availability Woes, Fear of 2nd Wave Weigh on Dealers as Best Buy to Reopen
Best Buy’s upcoming reopening of most stores Monday could strain already-stressed product availability for independent retailers, Bjorn Dybdahl, owner of Bjorn’s in San Antonio, told us Wednesday. “The reality is, certain product availability is a big [concern] right now for us,” he said, citing Sony TVs and certain receivers.
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Business is "OK," said Dybdahl, who reopened his Lone Star State store June 1. “For two weeks, we have had business almost to ourselves,” said the veteran retailer, who said store traffic has been typical to that of a year ago since his retail business reopened following shelter-in-place rules stemming from COVID-19. With Best Buy moving from appointment-only to an open-door policy as local economies begin to reopen, “things are about to get more competitive.”
The Sound Room, Chesterfield, Missouri, never closed because its networking and communications business was deemed essential, President David Young told us, "but it didn’t matter because somebody turned off the retail traffic and the custom projects went on pause." Custom jobs continued for new construction, but projects in occupied homes paused due to social distancing, said Young, who had to cut staff hours by 20% with no new jobs coming in. Those are picking up now, and all technicians are on "mandatory overtime" because installation schedules were pushed out seven-eight weeks.
Best Buy stores being closed to retail traffic didn't help in Young's suburban St. Louis market: "People weren't coming in so it didn't matter." Like Bjorn's, The Sound Room had trouble finding some AV receivers and Sony TVs. Even "stupid stuff" has been hard to secure due to supply chain issues, said Young, citing fasteners used in custom jobs for tying wires together. "We've had to make our own," he said.
"Sony is our go-to brand so that hurts," Young said of the TV shortages. The company didn't respond to questions. It said on a May earnings call (see 2005130011) it had to stop production in stages from mid-March at factories in Malaysia, Mexico and Slovakia owing to component shortages due to the pandemic.
Best Buy will begin allowing a limited number of shoppers inside stores, said the retailer Tuesday. It's confident it can provide a “safe experience for shoppers,” said Ray Silva, president-retail. The retailer plans to open more than 800 locations across the U.S. Monday, allowing customers in up to 25% capacity, or about 60 shoppers at a time, depending on store size, it said. Spillover customers will queue in a line until they're able to shop. In-store floor signage will help customers and staff maintain 6-foot distance, it said.
Best Buy will bring back some 9,000 full- and part-time employees out of 51,000 furloughed mid-April (see 2004150076) due to the coronavirus, it said. At stores, mandatory self-health assessments, including temperature checks, will be required for all employees before each shift via Best Buy’s employee app. Staffers will be required to wear face coverings; the company is asking customers to do so, too, and will supply masks for those who don’t bring their own.
Bjorn’s, too, has been following coronavirus protocols set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Dybdahl. About 95% of customers have been wearing masks when entering the store. Shoppers cut across typical age groups, said Dybdahl, who was surprised by the number of above-60 shoppers, considered among the most vulnerable to COVID-19.
On what changes have come out of the stay-at-home period, Dybdahl found the store can operate on shorter hours -- now 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday, vs. a 6 p.m. close. Project managers from the custom installation side are working from home and have more flexibility due to the shorter advertised hours. With those extra two hours, they can make appointments with clients and go to their homes, “which is more convenient for them.”
At retail, more customers are seeking private appointments “even though we had that option on our window for 22 years,” said Dybdahl: “Now, all of a sudden, some people have gotten used to it, so we’ll advertise it more.”
Employees haven’t had negative feedback from customers in-store or in the field with social distancing measures, Dybdahl said. Store traffic and Bjorn's custom business have been resilient, but the dealer is “waiting” for what’s next. “My gut is telling me that we may have to shut down again,” he said, because though San Antonio has been stable during the pandemic, “all of a sudden we’re seeing spikes.”
The Sound Room's Young, a 2008 recession survivor like Dybdahl, is feeling ghosts of that recession. Young wants to fill the pipeline of custom projects now to carry the 37-year-old business through another 2020 shutdown he fears will appear toward late summer. "I think that will happen because you're starting to see certain areas spike back up" with COVID-19 cases, he said.