Archive for March 29th, 2012

Best Buy Closing 50 Stores; Dearborn Future Unknown

Thursday, March 29th, 2012

Best Buy is beginning to acknowledge that its big-box business model, which dominated electronics retailing for much of the past two decades, is no longer working.

The electronics chain said it would close 50 big-box stores this year, test new store formats in San Antonio and Minneapolis, and lay off 400 corporate and support workers as part of a plan to trim $800 million in costs and restructure its ailing business.

It isn’t clear what that means for the Best Buy store on Ford Road and Mercury Drive in Dearborn but the hope here is that it will survive this round of store closures.

The company outlined the following moves:

• It will cut $800 million in costs by fiscal 2015.

• Close 50 big-box stores this fiscal year.

• Open 100 Best Buy Mobile and small stores this year.

• Boost online revenue by 15 percent.

• And Best Buy will change its employee compensation model to revolve around customer service and business goals.