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Best Buy Closing Stores

March 29, 2012 by · Comments Off on Best Buy Closing Stores 

Best Buy Closing Stores, The electronics giant Best Buy plans to close 50 big box stores as part of its target to cut $800 million in costs by October 2015. But the biggest U.S. specialty electronics retailer will also open 100 small mobile locations across the U.S. in fiscal 2013.

The news came Thursday as the company posted a fiscal fourth quarter loss partly due to restructuring charges, but its adjusted results topped Wall Street’s expectations. Best Buy’s strategy of focusing on closing some of its hulking stores to concentrate on smaller Best Buy Mobile outlets illustrates the shifting nature of the electronics industry. Shoppers aren’t flocking to big-box stores like they used to.

And sales of TVs, digital cameras and videogame consoles have weakened, while sales of tablet computers, smartphones and e-readers have increased. 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.

The Minneapolis company said its quarterly results included $2.6 billion in charges. They were mostly related to its purchase of Carphone Warehouse Group PLC’s interest in the Best Buy Mobile profit-sharing agreement and related costs, as well as an impairment charge tied to writing off Best Buy Europe goodwill and restructuring charges.

Taking these items out, adjusted earnings were $2.47 per share, above the $2.15 per share that analysts surveyed by FactSet forecast. Revenue rose 3 percent to $16.08 billion, but missed Wall Street’s $17.18 billion estimate.

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