Ax falls at Best Buy; cutting 400 headquarters jobs

Minneapolis -- Best Buy Co. announced it is cutting 400 jobs at its headquarters as part of its “Renew Blue” transformation efforts.



The job reductions are part of a move to save $150 million in selling, general and administrative costs. The cuts are the first phase of the larger cost-cutting plan that new CEO Hubert Joly announced at an investor and analyst meeting last November. At that time, he said that Best Buy would remove $725 million in costs. This $150 million reduction is the first phase of the initiative, with additional reductions to come during the year.



Best Buy said it will offer more details on its cost reduction efforts when it reports fourth-quarter results on March 1. The chain had planned to report earnings Feb. 28, but it postponed the reporting release by one day to see whether founder Richard Schulze will bid for the company.



Best Buy “wants to allow for the expiration of the period of time that Schulze has to respond to the company,” Jeffrey Shelman, a company spokesman, told Bloomberg.