Best Buy CEO Corie Barry is stepping down: Why the comeback she executed fizzled out

When Corie Barry was named CEO of Best Buy seven years ago this month, hopes were high that the electronics retailer would build on a period of successful reinvention. After all, she was a key architect of that reinvention, as chief strategic transformation officer under her predecessor Hubert Joly.

But it was not to be: Best Buy revenue is lower now than when she started as CEO, and the company is struggling to find its way.

Barry, who has consistently been ranked among the Most Powerful Women in business by Fortune in recent years, announced today that she is stepping down as CEO in the autumn right before the key holiday season. She is being replaced by Jason Bonfig, a longtime Best Buy executive who is currently the company’s chief customer, product, and fulfillment officer.

Barry has plenty to boast about from her tenure at Best Buy: She served as Joly’s right-hand person in pulling off one of the most dramatic reinventions of a major retailer ever, making Best Buy stores and web site appealing enough for loyal shoppers........

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