Best Buy Co. Inc. will close all 257 mobile phone stores by May 31, the U.S. electronics retailer disclosed in an SEC filing Feb. 28, citing "changing economics" in the mobile industry.
The company forecasts pretax restructuring charges in the range of $55 million to $65 million from the closure of its stand-alone mobile outlets. Most of these charges will be recorded in the first quarter of fiscal 2019. The charges include between $53 million and $63 million in cash payments related to store lease terminations.
Best Buy said mobile phone sales through its core stores and online portal are more feasible than stand-alone stores, which were first launched in 2006.
The retailer was also recently reported to be planning to end sales of CDs from July 1.
