Best Buy

RICHFIELD, Minn. (TheStreet) -- Best Buy (BBY) plans to open hundreds more of its new small mobile stores as it looks to gain a significant market share of the increasing demand for smartphones and other handheld devices, the Financial Times reports.

The retailer expects to have a "number somewhere between here and 1,000" of Best Buy Mobile stores in shopping malls across the U.S., in addition to the 77 it has already opened, CEO Brian Dunn told the newspaper.

As social media use in the online shopping realm is still a new concept, it's not surprising there have been growing pains. Too often online retailers jump into the social media fray without considering long-term strategic goals. Web-savvy shoppers see right through “salesy” status updates. If your company is looking to get involved in social media and create unique customer/brand relationships, Twitter, Facebook and a company blog are three options to consider.

Creating a seamless cross-channel experience is likely your goal. But your customers may not be experiencing that, at least according to a March study from Forrester Research: US Online Retail Forecast, 2009 To 2014.

Despite the tough economy, Best Buy says its fourth-quarter numbers came in at the high end of its expectations — results its CEO says prove that consumers place a premium on technology and connectivity. Strong sales of laptops and TVs demonstrate that "staying connected has become non-negotiable — people have little or no tolerance of things that are not working the way they should," Brian Dunn, CEO of Best Buy, told investors on a conference call.

Retail brand consultants Interbrand Design Forum today released the Most Valuable U.S. Retail Brands report, the second ranking of the top 50 retail brands. Walmart claimed top honors as the most valuable retail brand, followed by Target (No. 2), Best Buy (No. 3), The Home Depot (No. 4) and Walgreens (No. 5).

Vic Gundotra, VP of Engineering, demonstrated last December a preview version of Product Search for mobile with local inventory, which lets you see right in your search results whether items are in stock at nearby stores. We're happy to announce that as of today, if you're searching for a product that is sold by participating retailers, including Best Buy, Sears, Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, or West Elm, you can just look for the blue dots in the search results to see if it's available in a local store. If you see a blue dot, you can tap on the adjacent "In stock nearby" link, and you'll be taken to the seller's page where you'll see whether the item is "In Stock" or has "Limited Availability" near you. You'll also see how far away the stores are from you -- as long as you've enabled My Location or manually specified your location.

The jury will be out for some time on just how much money can be made directly from social media. But retailers rooted in stores, catalogs and the web have worked diligently to explore ways they can squeeze incremental revenue from this emerging channel.

Victoria's Secret Online, Offline Coupons Draw Shoppers; Target Catalog Goes Back to School

The U.S. government asked a bankruptcy judge to deny Quebecor World's plan to exit bankruptcy tomorrow because of unpaid taxes and environmental penalties. The government said the plan lets a number of third parties off the hook for claims and liabilities, including $150 million in penalties to the Environmental Protection Agency and more than $10 million in unpaid corporate taxes owed to the Internal Revenue Service.

This year’s ACCM, held two weeks ago in New Orleans, was the 23rd consecutive one I’ve attended. And like many of the sad few who showed up to this year’s, it left me longing for the good ole days.