US electronics retailer Best Buy has announced plans to close its 250 mobile phone stores. The company will still sell mobile devices in its larger shops.
The mobile stores, which are around a tenth the size of Best Buy's usual 'big box' stores, will be shut effective 31 May, Reuters reported, after obtaining an internal memo from Best Buy on the decision. CEO Hubert Joly said in the letter to employees that margins had fallen considerably since the company first opened the stores over a decade ago and the cost of operations for the shops was higher than its big stores.
He did not say how many employees would be affected by the decision. They will be offered employment elsewhere in Best Buy or severance pay.
