Jackie Crosby, who writes for the Minneapolis
Star Tribune/ McClatchy, reports on how Robert Stephens' Geek Squad took off once he signed a deal to bring his quirky tech-support operation under
the Best Buy Corporate umbrella. The company has grown from 60 employees to 24,000 worldwide who sport white shirts and clip-on ties and make house calls in "Geekmobiles."
"I felt like
a fighter pilot stuck in a crop duster," Stephens says. "I couldn't wait to get to Best Buy and learn how to take off in a Boeing 777."
The transition from entrepreneur who traveled
from client to client on a bicycle to corporate workaholic has had its share of turbulence since the 2002 deal, but it has worked out well for both parties.
"Geek Squad remains Best
Buy Co. Inc.'s killer app -- something that sets it apart from other nationwide chains, even more so with the demise of Circuit City," Crosby writes. And with mobile phones and TVs getting more
complicated, he points out, the Geek Squad's future looks rosy.
advertisement
advertisement
Read the whole story at Los Angeles Times »