“The exodus from Best Buy Co. Inc.’s executive suite continues.

Ryan Robinson, the company’s No. 2 finance official and chief financial officer for Best Buy’s U.S. business unit, is stepping down, a source close to the company told the Star Tribune.”

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“Don’t count out Best Buy just yet.

Though it is beset with the distractions of leadership turmoil and a slumping stock price, Best Buy Co. Inc. remains a global powerhouse — a company that sells more televisions, computers and tablets than any other retailer in the world.

Combined with its investments in e-commerce, Geek Squad and smaller mobile stores, Best Buy has ample time and money to thrive in the Internet age, just as it conquered traditional retailing with its ubiquitous big boxes, industry analysts say.”

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“Did you know that 46 percent of adult Americans now have a smartphone, according to Pew Research?  And, Flurry Mobile Analytics estimates that 45 percent of our media consumption time is spent interacting with our phones and the Web.

Business has also moved to the Web in a big way. Our enterprises sell differently, communicate expansively and track information robustly. Storage, security and software engineering — long Minnesota strengths — are being leveraged in exciting and creative new businesses, as well as large businesses.”

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“Another top Best Buy Co. Inc. executive has left the troubled retailer.

Dave Deno, chief financial officer of Best Buy’s international division and president of its Asia region, recently joined OSI Restaurant Partners as its executive vice president and CFO, according to a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

OSI is best known as the parent of the Outback Steakhouse chain. Best Buy confirmed Deno’s departure late Friday.”

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“Best Buy Co.’s top marketing chief has left the company, sources tell the Star Tribune.

Barry Judge, executive vice president and chief marketing officer (CMO), resigned from the Richfield-based consumer electronics giant earlier this week.  A Best Buy spokesperson declined to comment.”

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“Bil MacLeslie can’t get his own company’s Internet service at home anymore.

Last month, MacLeslie got a notice from telephone company CenturyLink. It said that his rural Stillwater home was being cut off from his provider of high-speed DSL Internet access service, ipHouse in Minneapolis. The notice told MacLeslie, the president of ipHouse, that if he wanted to continue using DSL, his new service provider would be CenturyLink.”

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“Best Buy Co., in the midst of an investigation of former CEO Brian Dunn, may have other trouble to fend off.

The Minnesota-based retail giant has become an alluring target for a private takeover, according to industry sources. The nation’s largest consumer electronics chain generates more than $1 billion in cash a year and has relatively little debt.”

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“Brett Keirstead’s passion for building and managing sales teams has led him a new position as vice president of sales at Knowledge Marketing, an on-demand software services company in Bloomington. Keirstead said he is enjoying the opportunity to build and manage the sales organization at Knowledge Marketing, which has offered e-mail marketing and interactive marketing for close to a decade.

He had helped formalize sales efforts over the past four years as vice president of sales at Jobs2web, a job recruitment software maker in Minnetonka. Prospects changed in December, when that company was acquired by SuccessFactors Inc., which makes human resources software and was simultaneously acquired by German software giant SAP.”

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“Best Buy Co. Inc. CEO Brian Dunn has been busy this year: He is shepherding the biggest restructuring in the company’s history, hand-picking key executives, and overseeing the rollout of new store formats crucial to the retailer’s future.

For a guy who is perpetually in the hot seat, Dunn is making decisions like someone who is expecting to stick around.”

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“Cloud computing appears to offer everything today’s modern company needs: reliable, remote data storage that’s faster, less expensive and just as safe as a company’s own data center.

Not so, says SparkWeave, a Minneapolis tech company that portrays itself as a sort of anti-cloud computing company. Oh, and SparkWeave markets a competing service.”

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