4 Brands You May Not Realize Are Owned by Best Buy

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Consumer technology never rests, so it pays to have a consistent, reliable place to go when the latest and greatest products hit the shelves. Amazon may be the retailer that comes to mind first, but no one does brick-and-mortar business like Best Buy. The company has guided us through several generations of TVs, computers, smart home devices, and other must-haves, and continues to be a trusted source for the device groups we just mentioned, as well as several others. But did you know that Best Buy actually has a handful of brands that you can find in-store and online?

You know how Disney bought up every media company in the world (that’s just slight hyperbole)? Best Buy did the same thing with two brands that we will talk about in this article; Best Buy, not purchased, technically founded the other two. Most people know that Best Buy owns Geek Squad, so we decided this acquisition wasn’t worth investigating further. That said, let’s take a closer look at these four Best Buy-adjacent labels, starting with the company’s in-house TV maker: Insignia.

The Insignia house brand has been a Best Buy staple since 2005, when the first Insignia LCD TVs were released. It won’t take long for the brand to expand into other corners of the audiovisual world, with accessories quickly becoming a strong point. Venture into your local Best Buy and you’ll find everything from Insignia HDMI cables and power strips to wall mounts and cable management kits. Because Best Buy has often treated its leading private label brand as a value brand, you can usually get a great price on Insignia technology.

However, the fun doesn’t stop with the audio-visual add-ons. Insignia is also responsible for a handful of refrigerators, small appliances, telephone cables and much more. What’s new in the world of Insignia? Not long ago, the label launched a 4K QLED TV with Mini LED lighting: the Insignia F70 series (available in 55 and 65 inch sizes). It also appears that those of us who own 3D printers can now purchase Insignia PLA Glow filament as well. At the time of writing, we also found a lot of stuff about this Insignia 1.1 Cu. Strong. Countertop microwave; Normally listed for $130, the device has been marked down to just $90.

The author of this article was a long-time employee of Best Buy/Geek Squad. Eight years later, I still have nightmares about not knowing my schedule for the week. I also remember my employee ID and the SKU of a very popular Rocketfish product: the Rocketfish Tilting TV Wall Mount (9881868, for those interested). Similar to Insignia, Rocketfish is another Best Buy private label that focuses on budget-friendly accessories. TV and speaker wall mounts, cables, and surge protectors are up to the task, but Rocketfish also sells more unique items.

One product that has been around forever is the $150 Rocketfish Wireless Rear Speaker Kit. This transceiver combo allows you to avoid running long lengths of speaker wire to your rear channels. Up to two speakers connect to the transmitting unit via speaker wire, and the receiving unit connects to an AV receiver or amplifier. You can even buy a Rocketfish soundbar mounting kit designed to float your bar right under a wall-mounted TV. (I also still have the same bottle of Rocketfish LCD screen cleaner that I’ve used for over a decade, which has sadly been discontinued.)

Best Buy is definitely one of the best places to buy a home theater piece by piece. Whether you’re shopping for a TV or projector or evaluating a surround sound system, you’ll have plenty of options, and some of these products and services may fall under Best Buy’s Magnolia label. Prior to the acquisition, Magnolia Hi-Fi was a Seattle-based premium audio-visual retailer with 13 locations. After the year 2000, Best Buy came along and completed the purchase of Magnolia late in the fourth quarter of 2000. This would usher in a new and exciting era of high-end home theater and hi-fi equipment.

Magnolia offers everything from high-end TVs and soundbars to speakers, AV receivers, amplifiers, record players and anything else you can think of that could live in a sophisticated home theater. For many years, Best Buy also operated Magnolia Design Centers in specific Best Buy locations; you’ll still find them nationwide, but they’ve been rebranded as Premium Design Centers (according to r/hometheater). Although Best Buy focuses solely on promotional product deals, many people don’t know that you can pay to have your TV and other home theater equipment delivered and installed by Geek Squad or Best Buy’s Premium Design Center installation team.

Where can you buy the kind of high-end kitchen appliances that will put an entire neighborhood to shame? Well, that would be Best Buy, of course, especially following its acquisition of Pacific Sales Kitchen and Home (Pac Sales) in 2005. The latter is a luxury appliance brand based in California; When you invest in Pac Sales, you are investing in high-end companies like Thermador, Viking, Dacor and several others. While not all Best Buy locations have a Pac Sales section, those that do often share space with Best Buy’s standard appliances.

The prices for these industry-favorite ranges and refrigerators can be tempting, but Pac Sales tends to offer great promotions to help reduce the initial cost. We’ve found several Thermador and Viking deals, including this 17-piece cookware set that you’ll get for free with the purchase of a qualifying Viking appliance. We should also mention that some promotions may not be available in all Best Buy/Pac Sales locations; If so, you can search for participating stores on Best Buy’s site.