Best Buy Announces the Closings of 50 Stores in the US

Electronics retailer Best Buy has unveiled the 50 stores it plans to close by the end of the year. The announcements were first made during its quarterly earnings on March 29, but there was no specific stores named. As well as close stores, the company also plans to cut 400 corporate jobs and trim $800 million in costs.

With the market dominated by online retailers like Amazon, Best Buy has been struggling to compete. The company faces slower sales of expensive items like televisions and now it tries to avoid the fate of Circuit City, which closed in 2009.

Best Buy has about 1,400 locations in the United States and it already closed stores Missouri and Arizona. Now, seven stores will close in California as well as six in Illinois and six the company’s home state of Minnesota. The stores are expected to close starting May 12^th and continue throughout the year. For the full list click here 

With the closings of stores, Best Buy also announced that it would try to find other jobs in the company for workers. The company plans to open 100 smaller, more profitable Best Buy mobile stores.

“This was not an easy decision to make,” Best Buy said in a statement to MSNBC. “We chose those stores carefully, and are working to ensure the impact to our employees will be as minimal as possible, while serving all customers in a convenient and satisfying way. But we also recognize the impact this news has on the people who deserve respect for the contributions they have made to our business.”

In the long run, Best Buy projects savings of $250 million in the fiscal year 2013 as a result of store closures and plans to save $800 million in costs by 2015.

There are no projections for amounts of jobs lost and CNN spoke to a spokeswoman who did not say how many employees are being laid off as a result of brick-and-mortar locations.

“Because we are working to help affected employees find positions,” Best Buy spokeswoman Kelly Groehler said. “We are not disclosing any numbers at this time, local or national.”

It’s been rough for Best Buy ever since last week when Chief Executive Brian Dunn resigned after the board of directors began investigating what was told to USA Today as “personal conduct”