It's not just you. I believe these companies will be obsolete in the very near future, as people can buy everything they have for cheaper online, save the lines and sales pressure, and places like BB -- with their massive overhead -- just won't be able to compete.
I think they are doing better the most other brick and mortar stores and as far as going the way of blockbuster in that they will shut down seemingly abruptly I don't think that will be the case as they already have a head start and also have blockbuster and other brick and mortar stores to serve as examples of what to avoid. They seem to be going on strongly enough despite of the massive surge of online purchasing by consumers and that to me says a lot about their potential survivability.
I like Best Buy for their sales. I got a $250 monitor for $139 not too long ago.... But you are right. They prey on those who aren't tech savvy enough to know any better, and they seem to mark things up purely because it's in their store. It's so bizarre. They were definitely on the cutting edge for technology maybe 10 and 15 years ago, but now walking in there it can feel a little dated. They don't carry any computer parts, just stock computers. And their whole geek squad/warrantee thing is a rip off. Read the fine print!!
^ My buddy that works there pretty much mirrored the same thing. He hates his job not because it's bad, but because nobody in best buy knows very much about what they're getting...it is literally just the default place people go when they don't know where else to go. The problem is its a huge market, so you get tons of people in the store that dont know what theyre doing lol
I definitely agree that Best Buy is making (or is soon going to make) an unfortunate decline. I think the store was great a few years ago when everyone went there for new CDs, video games, and any appliances, but I haven't needed anything in there for a long time. A lot of people are buying music on their devices now, so there isn't really a high demand for CDs like there used to be. I can imagine people still shop for video games there, but I feel like there are other (and better) stores for that, like GameStop. I don't know if many people still go in Best Buy to purchase appliances like TVs and such, but there are also other stores that compete with them pretty well. Even phones and iPads/tablets are being purchased in different places (the Apple store, etc.). I don't see them lasting much longer, but they had a good run...
I find myself more and more introvert with the boom of sites that are coming out daily offering the products I used to leave home to obtain. Best Buy used to be one of my favorite stores but I find it far more annoying to walk into nowadays because the customer support seems to be lacking and I'd rather just review my selection with the statistics right there in front of me than to wait for someone to flag another person down for details. There is a melding of convenience that is becoming the norm with ordering online and I'm quite comfortable with just click, order, done.
