Best Buy

–Authored by Rachel Crooker

Our first company visit in Istanbul was to Best Buy.  We had a chance to see Wisconsin MBA 2004 alum, Gülru Keten Gürkan, who is the finance director of Best Buy Turkey.  Best Buy’s Eurasian expansion began in Turkey when they opened their first Eurasian store in Izmir in December 2009.  Turkey was chosen because it is a large country, population 70 million, the average age is 26 years old, and is the one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.  Izmir, Turkey’s third largest city, was chosen for the first store because of its young population that is interested in technology and communications, and because it had space for a large store and parking.  Best Buy now has two stores in Turkey, with the second in the capital, Ankara.

During our visit, we had the opportunity to hear from all of the different disciplines involved in bringing Best Buy to Turkey, including finance, human resources, marketing, supply chain and store design.  It was fascinating to hear how they carefully analyzed every aspect of the market in Turkey and then planned their entrance strategy around their findings.  They really wanted to tailor the stores to fit in with the local markets.  The main take-away from this visit was that it was a challenging process to enter into this new market, but from these challenges, they were able to adjust their strategy to make this international expansion a success.

A very special thank you to Gülru for setting up our meeting, and to everyone at Best Buy Turkey.  We had a wonderful time learning about Best Buy’s entrance into Turkey, and we truly appreciate everyone taking the time to meet with us!