LOS ANGELES (KTLA) -- Four Southern California Best Buy locations will shut their doors before the end of 2012, company officials announced Saturday.
Nearly all of the 42 stores nationwide slated for the chopping block were closed Saturday but will re-open Sunday for final sales before closing for good on May 12.
Southern California locations affected by the announcement are in Westwood, Moreno Valley, Ontario and Tustin. Stores in East Palo Alto, Manteca and Pittsburg round out the list of closures in the state.
According to the release, a total 50 stores will be out of business by the years end.
Best Buy has struggled to compete in a market that has become increasingly dominated by online retailers like Amazon, and the Minnesota-based retail giant says the closings will allow the company to focus on its growing Best Buy Mobile store locations.
"This was not an easy decision to make," the statement read. It also went on to say that the locations were carefully chosen and the company will ensure the impact to employees and customers will be as "minimal as possible."
Employees will be offered other positions at Best Buy and transition severance packages will be made available.
The statement did not say how many employees would be affected.
The company announced last month that it plans on opening the same number of stores in China during the same time period.
Best Buy currently has 1,105 big-box stores in the U.S., not counting the pending closures, according to company spokeswoman Kelly Groehler. In China, there are 185 stores under the company's Five Star brand, she said.
Other states affected by closures include 6 in Illinois, 3 in Virginia, 2 in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, and Ohio, and 1 each in Colorado, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington.
List of stores
http://pr.bby.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=244152&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1683036&highlight
Nearly all of the 42 stores nationwide slated for the chopping block were closed Saturday but will re-open Sunday for final sales before closing for good on May 12.
Southern California locations affected by the announcement are in Westwood, Moreno Valley, Ontario and Tustin. Stores in East Palo Alto, Manteca and Pittsburg round out the list of closures in the state.
According to the release, a total 50 stores will be out of business by the years end.
Best Buy has struggled to compete in a market that has become increasingly dominated by online retailers like Amazon, and the Minnesota-based retail giant says the closings will allow the company to focus on its growing Best Buy Mobile store locations.
"This was not an easy decision to make," the statement read. It also went on to say that the locations were carefully chosen and the company will ensure the impact to employees and customers will be as "minimal as possible."
Employees will be offered other positions at Best Buy and transition severance packages will be made available.
The statement did not say how many employees would be affected.
The company announced last month that it plans on opening the same number of stores in China during the same time period.
Best Buy currently has 1,105 big-box stores in the U.S., not counting the pending closures, according to company spokeswoman Kelly Groehler. In China, there are 185 stores under the company's Five Star brand, she said.
Other states affected by closures include 6 in Illinois, 3 in Virginia, 2 in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, and Ohio, and 1 each in Colorado, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington.
List of stores
http://pr.bby.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=244152&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1683036&highlight
