Best Buy is quietly closing US stores across 4 states
- Best Buy is closing five stores in four states in the next month.
- Last year was difficult for retailers, and conditions don't look like they're improving yet.
- Best Buy had a hugely successful third quarter but has not yet released fourth-quarter earnings.
Best Buy is closing five stores across the US over the next month, the retailer confirmed to four local news outlets.
The retailer plans to close two Richmond, Virginia area stores, along with one store each in Syracuse, New York, Carbondale, Illinois, and Brockton, Massachusetts.
According to statistics on Best Buy's website, there are 956 locations in 2021. down from 977 US store locations in 2020. It also notes that it closed 12 stores after October 31, 2020. The electronics chain has had fewer stores every year since 2012.
Best Buy beat expectations in the third quarter, though that was mostly thanks to digital sales and the company warned that things could slow down further. Demand for home electronics and entertainment products led to $11.85 billion in revenue, an increase of over 20% from Q3 of the previous year.
Despite the apparent boom, Best Buy stock prices fell as the future looked murky and executives declined to give a forecast for the fourth quarter. Those earnings have not yet been released.
"As we've said many times before, our stores are a vital part of our growth strategy. We're constantly looking at our store network, responding to customer and demographic shifts just as any retailer does. This is the same approach we have employed for the past several years" Best Buy told Insider in a statement.
The COVID-19 pandemic made online orders surge, but it wreaked havoc on brick and mortar retailers. Coresight Research found that major retailers closed 8,741 stores in 2020, and predicts as many as 10,000 will follow this year. Other retailers that didn't close filed for bankruptcy, including J Crew, Nieman Marcus, and JCPenney.