Best Buy to open 150 mobile stores in fiscal 2012

Minneapolis -- Best Buy said in fiscal 2012 it will concentrate on growing its smaller-format mobile chain and restructure parts of its supply chain processes to cut costs and improve efficiency. The retailer plans to open about 150 Best Buy Mobile stand-alone-stores in the United States, for a total of some 325 locations by year-end.



Best Buy plans to open about six to eight Best Buy-branded large-format stores in the United States, along with 18 Best Buy stores in Canada, the United Kingdom and Mexico during the year.



In China, Best Buy will focus on its Five Star branded stores and open 40 to 50 locations in growing markets. These openings would take the total Five Star stores to about 210 by year-end. Best Buy also announced it would exit Turkey, where it has two stores.



"Five Star has been a profitable business model in the large and fast-growing consumer electronics market in China. The company believes that Five Star provides Best Buy with an excellent strategic growth option in the important China marketplace," the company said.



Best Buy expects to incur restructuring charges during fiscal 2011 and 2012 of $225 million to $245 million. The bulk of the charges will be reported in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011, with the balance of the charges reported in 2012, the company said. Best Buy expects the changes to save it $60 million to $70 million per year once they're completed in fiscal 2013.