Best Buy's Northern Exposure

Best Buy Co. (Eden Prairie, Minn.) has completed its acquisition of Future Shop Ltd. (Burnaby, B.C.), Canada's largest consumer electronics retailer. Future Shop became a wholly owned subsidiary of Best Buy as of Nov. 4, 2001, and will no longer be trading as Future Shop on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

As part of the terms of the acquisition, Hassan Khosrowshahi – who founded Future Shop in 1982, and owned 70 percent of it prior to the acquisition – has stepped down as chairman and ceo, and Future Shop president and coo Kevin Layden will report to Best Buy president and coo Brad Anderson.

Best Buy's plans are to operate Future Shop in its current format over the short haul, and to transition the units into Best Buy stores over the next three years.

Future Shop operated 91 superstores in Canada, selling computers, office equipment, software, home audio and video components, CDs, appliances and wireless phones. The acquisition by Best Buy effectively ends the Canadian retailer's efforts to set up shop in the U.S. In 1999, the company closed the two dozen stores it had opened in the Pacific Northwest. It also closed the seven Computer City stores it had in Canada.

Best Buy operates about 420 stores in 41 states, with heavy concentrations in the Midwest, Texas, California and Florida. Its Musicland Stores subsidiary operates 1300 music and video retail stores under the Sam Goody, Suncoast, On Cue and Media Play nameplates.