Best Buy plans big assault on UK's 'tired' CE market

The US's biggest CE retailer Best Buy has taken a step closer to its much-heralded arrival in the UK with a recruitment drive to attract up to 8000 employees who will be decked out the company's distinctiveblue shirts.

The CE giant has been plotting its invasion since last May, when it announced a joint venture with Carphone Warehouse with a promise to revolutionise a tired consumer electrical market, according to London newspapers.

The threat of Best Buy's arrival prompted DSG International, owner of rival CE chain Currys and PC World, to refurbish its branches and invest in a new generation of megastores, while also trying to allay criticism that it had dismal levels of customer service by unveiling a universal staff-training program.

Retail experts say that Best Buy, through its employees with their uniform blue shirts, excels at customer service - a vital issue for electrical retailers since the internet armed customers with up-to-the-minute price comparisons that have drained profit margins from the sector.

Best Buy was planning to establish up to 70 stores in the UK but has now revised the target with some commentators believing only two stores will open in 2010.

Best Buy has had a major profit boost this year, aided by collapse of Circuit City, its biggest US rival.