Best Buy gets approval for four new stores in China

Best Buy, Inc. (NYSE: BBY) announced that it has received approval from China's regulatory authorities to build four new stores in that country. Best Buy recently stated that entering the Chinese market was an important goal for the company, and it sure isn't wasting any time.

Best Buy, which has pummeled rival Circuit City Stores, Inc. (NYSE: CC) into the ground (forcing the CEO's resignation this week), is a retailer on a mission. In the consumer electronics arena, it has no equal. Only global retailing giant Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) has market power to compete with Best Buy's prowess in electronics. In an informal straw poll I took recently about the breadth of electronics products available and the aggressiveness of current prices at both Best Buy and Wal-Mart, Best Buy won hands down.

Although this year's results from Best Buy's Chinese presence were affected by earthquakes and the meltdown in the Chinese stock market, the country still holds incredible promise for the consumer electronics retailer. In August, the company opened a second store in Shanghai, and in 2009 it will most likely add all four stores it just received approval for.