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Friday, March 29
The Indiana Daily Student

Best Buy to open Nov. 21

Nation's largest consumer electronics provider ups the ante in Bloomington's market

The Best Buy Corporation will open its first store in Bloomington, located just off of the intersection of the 45/46 bypass and 3rd Street on Nov. 21, according to Best Buy project development manager Travis Cinco. \nIn June, Best Buy signed the lease to build the new store next to Barnes and Noble and close to electronics rival Circuit City, which comes as part of Best Buy's plan to expand the company's operation to 800 North American stores by 2006. \n"I am excited about it," said senior Alex Fruchter. "They have good deals on music. It could hurt the independent stores, but there needs to be a place to buy cheap video games."\nThe store comes at the expense of the White Castle restaurant, located just off the 45/46 bypass, which closed mid-June. The property will be used to facilitate the 45/46 expansion in 2005 and 2006 and will provide for additional parking at Best Buy.\nTom Donohue, owner of local music store TD's Cds and LPs, isn't worried about the additional competition that Best Buy may provide. He does not see the Best Buy as a definite advantage or disadvantage, but cites the personal attention that he is able to give to his customers as a primary advantage to the locally owned competition. \n"I think it's unusual that sometimes a town bends over backwards to bring something like that (Best Buy) in." \nSince 1966, the Minneapolis-based Best Buy Corporation has sold consumer electronics, appliances and computers. With nearly 700 stores in the United States and Canada, Best Buy has become "North America's leading specialty retailer of consumer electronics, personal computers, entertainment software and appliances," according to bestbuy.com.\n"We are looking to have a presence in Bloomington that has been missing for a long time," said Cinco.\nHe said the Best Buy Corporation has attempted to open a store in the Bloomington area for nearly four years, and only now has the necessary real-estate become available.\n Opening the store at the 3rd Street and 45/46 intersection puts it in direct competition with the Circuit City store, located at the southwest corner of the intersection. This competition is comparable to that of Barnes and Noble and Borders bookstores, located close to the projected Best Buy store. \nEconomics professor Robert Becker sees no immediate economic impact on the consumer electronics market in Bloomington. Becker cites the coexistence of Barnes and Noble and Borders as a possible pattern for the relationship between Best Buy and Circuit City.\n"Competition is probably a good thing," Becker said. "I'd imagine that there will be some pressure on standard items, but it hard to say how much. It will most likely come in the form of sales."\nSophomore Justin Cravens, a marketing major, said the competition between the stores will be good for Bloomington.\n"I think it's great because anywhere there is competition, it's good," he said. "Whenever there's competition the consumer benefits"

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