Tennessean
11:35 AM, Mar. 29, 2012
Best Buy remained mum this afternoon on whether any of the 50 big box store closures it plans this year will be in Middle Tennessee.
“We are quite deliberate and thoughtful when we make such decisions. We are working to ensure the impact to our employees will be as minimal as possible. We will announce details about specific store locations and timing ... once they are finalized,” said spokeswoman Sue Busch Nehring.
Earlier today, Best Buy Co. said it plans to close 50 U.S. big box stores and open 100 small mobile locations in the U.S. in fiscal 2013 and cut $800 million in costs by fiscal 2015.
The news came Thursday as the biggest U.S. specialty electronics retailer posted a fiscal fourth quarter loss partly due to restructuring charges.
Best Buy, which has 1,450 locations nationwide and 2,900 globally, is focusing on closing some of its hulking stores to concentrate on smaller Best Buy Mobile outlets because of two emerging trends. Sales of TVs, digital cameras and videogame consoles have weakened, while sales of tablet computers, smartphones and e-readers have increased.
And with the rise of competition from Internet rivals like Amazon.com, shoppers aren’t flocking to big-box stores like they used to.
Best Buy is trying to avoid the fate of its former rival Circuit City, which went out of business in 2009, in part by shrinking its square footage footprint. Other retailers with large stores are doing the same. Sears Holdings Co., for example, said earlier this month it would close 100 to 120 stores to become nimbler.
Best Buy lost $1.7 billion, or $4.89 per share, for the period ended March 3. That compares with a profit of $651 million, or $1.62 per share, a year ago.
Tennessean reporter Getahn Ward contributed to this story.
