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Best Buy Opens Commercial Installation Division
Magnolia Commercial Integration has a dedicated Web site now where it touts:
"We provide detailed reports and plan drawings to describe and explain the solutions that have been chosen by our design team to bring your creative vision to life. We offer both design-build and stand-alone design in the creation of state-of-the-art systems. In each case, we address the shape and size of facilities, create budgets for technology solutions and identify the individual components for integration into your facility.
Backed by the resources of all of our departments within Magnolia and our parent company Best Buy, Magnolia CI offers an expansive knowledge base with exclusive vendor relationships to bring you the very best design solutions possible."
Brian Krisko, a former residential integrator, heads up the commercial group. He says the organization is still focused on its original five launch sites, which are home to standalone Magnolia Design Centers - Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Chicago and Seattle.
Each location has one dedicated commercial account manager that hunts down business just like any other commercial integrator, “but we have the benefit of walk-ins,” Krisko says.
When serious home-technology shoppers come in to the Magnolia Design Centers, often the talk turns to commercial jobs, Krisko explains. Most commercial integrators don’t have that luxury.
That said, Magnolia does not plan to have an extensive in-store showcase of its commercial capabilities.
The Magnolia shops do not maintain separate residential and commercial installation crews, but individual technicians may have their specialties. And the company does not (necessarily) hire licensed electrical contractors and security installers, just as it does not employ its own carpenters for special trim-out work.
Yet they still provide all of these services via local partners, all coordinated through the Magnolia project manager.
If Magnolia has a commercial integration unit, then what is Best Buy for Business (BBFB)? That group sells more high-volume, less integrated solutions, usually installed by the Geek Squad. For example, BBFB might equip an office with a network and computers, or a hotel with new TVs for every room.
To be sure, Krisko says, there will be cross-over between those groups and “those are discussions we are having.”
In any case, he adds, it’s nice to have a wide range of installers and integrators to handle the variety of projects, from wire-pulling to complex commercial jobs.
Like Residential, Only Different
A commercial job isn’t just a residential project on a larger scale. Krisko says he might have underestimated the challenges of using a single vendor for both residential and commercial jobs.
“Usually, those are two entirely different groups within an organization,” he explains.
Even so, he says Magnolia vendors on the residential side, including AMX for automation, have been very supportive of the retailer’s commercial endeavors.
Krisko says that Best Buy has a competitive edge for winning commercial projects, given its vast buying power, extensive network of installers, and “leverage” with vendors.
For example, Magnolia had only 60 days to outfit 18 suites in the Aria at CityCenter in Las Vegas. The company was able to bring in installers from outside of Vegas and get all the equipment shipped to the site expeditiously.
Best Buy is advertising an open position for a Magnolia Commercial Integration Account Manager in Costa Mesa, Calif. “CEDIA or like certification” preferred.
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23 Comments (displayed in order by date/time)
GiggleFest, “why so serious”? Never a good practice to bash the competition. Customers aren’t akin to it.
I had a car done by Best Buy about 5 years ago and it was a joke. They damaged the vehicle, made the back seat unusable and charged me $200 up front.
I have seen there poorly done residential installations also. Obvious that no one is being trained for very long.
But… My sister recently had a TV mounted by the geeks. Installation was clean, they used the same installation parts i use and they sold the bracket and HDMI cable @ retail. While they were there they helped my sister carry up a bed that was delivered (three flights) when the UPS guy refused.
Someone is turning things around at geek head quarters. Their install and behavior is what i expect from installers. Anyone working the entry level market or relying on simple commercial projects like the gym pictured above had better keep an eye on them.
As far as the magnolia locations… These would be an incredible way to meet prospective clients… too bad that the magnolia section always has the lights off and one or two people who wont make eye contact with you.
For the folks that rail on BB ... There are just as many poor performers among independent CE Pros as there are from big boxes and other high-volume providers.
39CentStamp, what did you have done on the car at BB? I had a remote car starter installed there a couple years ago. People told me to be cautious going there because they’d screw something up, but I haven’t had any problems.
Sound system. Head unit, speakers, subwoofers amps etc.
I purchased the hardware in the store and had to drive it around back to the installation area. This was in a chevy s10 blazer. I had to put the seats down to haul the boxes to the back.
When i pick the car up i find that the guy used drywall screws to attach the amps to the backs of my rear (leather) seats. He ran the ground cable straight from the amp to the rear door opening. So not only did he put holes in my seats, he made it impossible to put reposition them so the back seat could be used as a… back seat. I guess he decided i would sacrifice my backseats for his amps? Or maybe he wasn’t bright enough to know that rear doors usually means rear seats? I also had to have the hole filled/painted in the door jam where he attached the ground cable. I wish i would have taken pics of that install. I was so angry that i went home and took it apart myself and installed it correctly. I chalked it up as an inexpensive lesson about letting BB install anything… ever.
Finally… they didn’t even bother to line the woofer logos up. One was side ways and another upside down. This drives me crazy. It takes 2 seconds to spin the woofer so i really dont know why this gets missed so often (you can see countless examples in photos online). Its like they don’t ‘get’ that the logos should be upright/level). I also get annoyed when wallplate screws dont all end up with the slots oriented in the same direction 
.
So you’re saying I should take my car to BB for any future work. Say you referred me and I’ll get the 39CentStamp special?
I suggest NEVER telling anyone that 39 Cent Stamp referred you!
I think a best buy car auto installation gift card is the perfect thing to get someone that you don’t like but have to pretend to. In-laws, your boss . Its the best way to say “happy birthday” and “i hope you die” all at the same time.
best buy car AUDIO*
Having Best Buy in the commercial market place is a blessing. Now we can point them out and tell our clients that their install will look nothing like this! Its always a blessing to have rookies in the crowd!
39centstamp - That is the funniest thing I have heard in a long time!!!!!!! Holy crap I cannot wait to buy someone a gift card, i probably won’t make it to the checkout. 
I find it interesting that there are many nay sayers. I wonder how they will do. I think the competition is a little scared. If they get their stuff together watch out. They couldn’t get any worse that MCSI and they were powerful for a little while. I wish them the best.
They do not have a contractor lic!!! Thats a big problem and Krisko just passes that up with a weak example that they do not have a lic for wood trim work. Last time I check electronics and wood work is to different industries. They devalue the residential market and now they want to devalue the commerical market. I think WorstBuy is a joke and bad for the industry!!!!
Yes, of course they’re licensed for low voltage and all the things they need to be licensed for. Generally they’re hiring people from “our” industry.
While I’m sure that Best Buy has a few decent installers in their ranks, the majority are complete rookies, or utter trash. Its no secret that they have done commercial in the past and I have personally seen the incompetence at work on a commercial project. Now given that they don’t do much, I can only imagine the devastation they will wreak upon the commercial world. It’s not as if they will hire a new caliber of technicians to do the work, they will merely pull from their current pool and move them along, They will be qualified because their new name tags say so.
Obliterate the residential market via hang and bang and now they have their eyes firmly set on an area they are not equipped to handle. I can’t wait to laugh the first time a client comes to me and asks for a competing quote.