Shakeup at Best Buy

19 Mar, 2009 By: Thomas K. Arnold

There's been another changing of the guard at Best Buy, sources say. Jill Hamburger, for years the consumer electronics chain's point person with the Hollywood studios, has reportedly taken a buyout, while the top DVD and Blu-ray Disc buyer has left the company. Hamburger’s former boss, Julie Owens, is reportedly the studios’ new contact; at last January’s International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Owens — Best Buy’s SVP of entertainment and digital applications — picked up Best Buy’s “retailer of the year” award from DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group. Hamburger's position as VP of movies and games has long been one of the most important in the home entertainment retail sector, since the chain is one of the three largest sellers of DVD and Blu-ray Disc software in the country (Wal-Mart is No. 1 and Target Stores, No. 2). Hamburger's two predecessors, Gary Arnold and Joe Pagano, were both frequent guests at studio junkets, and Pagano was even hailed as Billboard's video "man of the year" in the late 1990s for his aggressive stance toward DVD.