Best Buy's bait-and-switch started with their name....

.... suddenly about 3 years ago everything changed. After going to Best Buy for a few years & marveling at their low prices, I noticed that the only best buy in the store was their name. Specifically, I couldn't find a digital camera in the store under $200. I walked out & went to another store to buy a decent camera for far less. I've been back to Best Buy since, but with the knowlege that their prices are no longer a "best" buy.

Best Buy is only following a respected US tradition, which in the long run is simply a legal bait-and-switch tactic. First, build up the store's reputation by good service and low prices. Then, when reputation is established, fire the good help & hire the dumbest cheapest labor possible, while jacking up prices all over the store. Oh, and we must forget, don't bother to stock the items that brought people into the store in the first place -- they don't bring in enough profit margin.

The end game is often a disaster, but never ever for the primary stockholders. They've bailed years earlier with huge profits, before the bankruptcy, the store closings, the ruined reputation, and eventual sale to another chain at fire-sale prices. I would hope that Best Buy isn't going down that all too predictable route.