Best Buy announces full list of store closures

Talk about it

Minnesota-based Best Buy announced Saturday the 42 remaining U.S. stores it intends to close as part of a restructuring plan revealed two weeks ago. Six Minnesota stores will close in the restructuring, but none are in the Northland.

The only store in Minnesota or Wisconsin on the list released Saturday is one on the south side of Rochester, Minn. Best Buy previously had said it intends to close five other locations in Minnesota: Lakeville, Edina, Brooklyn Center, Hutchinson and Rogers. The Best Buy store in Duluth is not slated for closure.

The struggling electronics chain said last month that it would close 50 stores nationwide, cut 400 corporate jobs and trim $800 million in costs.

The company already has closed two stores this year, one in Missouri and one in Arizona. Most of the rest will close May 12, others this summer. Best Buy said it will try to find other jobs in the company for the workers.

By state, Best Buy said it is closing seven stores in California, and six apiece in Minnesota and Illinois.

“This was not an easy decision to make,” the company said in a statement. “We chose these 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.”

Best Buy’s restructuring plan refocuses its consumer-electronics business, by pruning back the size and number of big-box locations and emphasizing the growth of small stand-alone Best Buy Mobile stores. The Twin Cities and San Antonio are the test markets for that transformation.

On Tuesday, Brian Dunn resigned as Best Buy’s CEO, and the board announced it was investigating Dunn for a personal conduct issue.

For a complete list of store closings, click here

The St. Paul Pioneer Press and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Tags: news, business, technology, money, minnesota, updates