In 1996 Best Buy was in serious trouble. On eight billion dollars in sales, the company earned one million dollars. Sales growth had slowed, store growth had been halted and the stock price dropped. A broad-based turnaround effort was launched affecting store operations, marketing and inventory management. Most information systems were replaced, new people were hired and a host of new methodologies were introduced. In the next five years, Best Buy tripled in size and its stock increased fiftyfold. By 2002 Best Buy was the best performing stock in the S&P500 for the preceding five years. In 2003 Forbes selected Best Buy as company of the year. As Sr. VP of Inventory Management, Freeland was part of the team that achieved these impressive results. In this session, he will recap the strategies and tactics that were instrumental in the Best Buy turnaround.

Kevin Freeland , now an independent consultant, was previously President of Best Buy's Musicland division from 2001 to 2003, and Senior Vice President of Best Buy's Inventory Management from 1995 to 2001. Freeland was instrumental in the turnaround of Best Buy in the late 90s. Prior to Best Buy, he spent eight years at Payless Shoe Source in various roles including Vice President of Merchandise Distribution, Director of Planning, Director of Merchandise Process Development, and Director of Merchandise Distribution-Children's. Other roles over a +20-year retail career include buyer, planner, associate buyer, and department manager. Freeland has a BA in Economics from the University of Florida.

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