Tweeter’s Rise and Fall, Best Buy Top Installers’ Focus

Just what happened at former CE Pro 100 leader Tweeter?

The hybrid retailer and specialty store, which generated nearly $1 billion in revenues, locked its doors one morning in December ... and never opened again.

Our in-depth look at The Rise and Fall of Tweeter drew a ton of comments from industry insiders and former Tweeter employees, all weighing in on what went wrong.

Region 6:

Having worked in Tweeter, much of what was written is very true. And while a lot of the blame does go toward the executive team that was brought in over the last decade, you have to mention that vendor loyalty went south and the “Drive to zero” that occurred once big box stores started carrying HDTV’s devastated Tweeter as well as the CE industry as a whole.

Todd:

Good overview, but I think examination of one key factor that lead to the failure of Tweeter is missing. In an era where margins are shrinking, it becomes more critical to control costs. If you can’t increase your margins, you must cut your costs. One important reason the “last retailers standing” are the Best Buys, Amazons, and Wal-Marts of the world are that they wring every penny out of the cost structure of their businesses.

One recurring theme was the impact of George Shultz, owner of Schultze Asset Management, which purchased Tweeter in 2007 after its first Chapter 11 filing.

Sarah Conner (presumably not from The Terminator):

This was a great article but I agree with what a couple of others have said.....need to dive deeper into the Schultze cesspool. SAM is a complete joke and one that in a perfect world would be investigated by every painful government office you could name. They bring new meaning to the term pathetic.

With Tweeter and Circuit City off the map, it's no surprise that the last big-box retailer, Best Buy, was also in the news -- but for alleged shady practices. The company is currently being sued for allegedly violating its Price Match policy -- with claims that the company paid bonuses to managers for deny price matches.

And now, on to the list ...

The Top 10 Articles for March 2009

1. The Rise and Fall of Tweeter

2. Wayne Dalton's Houseport Automation for the Mac Now Avail. in Limited Quantities

3. Is Best Buy Misleading its Price Match Guarantee?

4. Editor's Picks: 6 EHX Spring Stand-Outs

5. Cat 5 & 6: Why Do We Need Two for HDMI?

6. Verizon May Launch Z-Wave Remote Monitoring and Control System from 4Home

7. Family's Home Theater Seized After Noise Complaints

8. Audio Authority's BlueBeam Controls PS3 via IR

9. Extend HDMI, Stereo and Control Signals 300 Feet Over One Thin Fiber

10. Vantage Reinvents Itself as Home Automation Company