Consumer Electronics

Minneapolis -- Best Buy Co. reported Tuesday that profit for the second quarter tumbled 91% to $12 million, compared with $128 million in the year-ago period. Revenue declined nearly 3% to $10.55 billion, missing Wall Street’s estimated $10.65 billion in revenue. Same-store sales fell 3.2% overall, more than the 2.6% drop expected by analysts.

MINNEAPOLIS — Best Buy reported dismal second quarter results Tuesday morning, missing analysts’ estimates by a wide margin one day after the company raised eyebrows by selecting a CEO with no retail experience to engineer a turnaround.

The retail industry, yours truly included, has had a watchful eye on J.C. Penney ever since CEO Ron Johnson took over and announced his plans to revamp the iconic retailer. Many experts have shared their concerns over the new direction and, as the second quarter numbers would indicate, cause for concern is clearly warranted. With overall sales plummeting nearly $1 billion dollars, and earnings plunging from an expected $41 million profit to an $81 million loss, the company is down $1.7 billion in sales and $260 million in earnings in the first half of the year, compared to 2011.

New York -- Apple Inc. became the most valuable public company of all time on Monday, after its market value climbed beyond $620 billion to surpass a milestone set by Microsoft Corp. more than 10 years ago, Reuters reported.

Apple shares reached a high of $664.74 on Monday morning, giving them a total value of $623.14 billion. This broke past the record of $620.58 billion set by Microsoft back in 1999, according to the report.

Hubert Joly is the new CEO at Best Buy.

Best Buy named former food service and hospitality executive Hubert Joly as president and CEO even as uncertainty lingers regarding a possible leveraged buyout engineered by former chairman and founder Richard Schulze.

Joly joins Best Buy after serving since 2008 as CEO of Minneapolis-based Carlson, a global hospitality and travel company known for such brands as Radisson hotels and TGI Friday’s restaurants. From 2003 to 2007, he led Carlson’s travel division.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Walmart announced it is bringing back layaway a month early this holiday season. The program will be available nationwide Sept. 16 through Dec. 14.

“Last year, millions of Americans relied on layaway at Walmart to provide a great Christmas for their families. Because of their feedback, we're offering the service again this year and making it better than ever," said Duncan Mac Naughton, chief merchandising and marketing officer, Walmart U.S.

Walmart will offer its holiday layaway 30 days earlier this year and extend the program to more product categories, the company announced Monday.

Minneapolis -- Best Buy Co. has named Hubert Joly, the former chief executive of global hospitality company Carlson, as the chain's new CEO and president. Carlson, which operates such businesses as Radisson and T.G.I Friday's, announced Sunday that Joly resigned from that company.