Best Buy opening tech center in Seattle

Best Buy is looking to drive growth through innovation by opening a new technology center in the Seattle area this spring.

The company joins a growing array of retailers, including Staples and Sears, that have been opening or expanding offices in Seattle in order to tap into the city’s wealth of tech talent.

Best Buy’s 32,000-square-foot office in Seattle will be the retailer’s first such office outside of Minnesota and will initially employ about 50 engineers, product managers and web developers. Down the road, Best Buy said it could have more than 100 employees there.

Mary Lou Kelley, Best Buy Co. Inc.’s president of e-commerce, said the company scoped out a number of cities, but felt Seattle made the most sense given its tech prowess. “It’s a great fit with our needs and the next step of our transformation,” she said.

In the past two years, Best Buy has been rebuilding its digital foundation. As is the case with many retailers, Best Buy has been seeing big increases in online sales as consumers have become more accustomed to buying things from their smartphones and tablets.

During the last holiday shopping season, online sales accounted for nearly 15% of Best Buy’s U.S. sales, compared with about 8% during the rest of the year.