Major US Electronics Retailer Is Closing Even More Stores: Which States Are Impacted?

In 2024, when it comes to brick-and-mortar electronics stores, there aren't a lot of options, particularly nationwide. Chains like Target and Walmart have sizable electronics sections, but as for dedicated electronics stores with a significant national footprint, Best Buy is where it's at for both big-ticket items and great gifts for less than $100. However, that kind of head start isn't everything, and amidst stiff online competition, Best Buy is finding itself having to close dozens of stores. In February 2024, on the earnings call covering the fourth quarter of its 2024 fiscal year (Best Buy doesn't use the calendar year), CFO Matt Bilunas explained some of the calculus behind that decision.

"As our ongoing practice, we will continue to close existing traditional stores during our rigorous review of stores as their leases come up for renewal," Bilunas said on the call. "In fiscal '24, we closed 24 stores. And in fiscal '25, we expect to close 10 to 15 stores."

As of October 2024, the next Best Buy store closure on the docket is in Gaithersburg, Maryland. That store, located at 15750 Shady Grove Road in the city's 270 Center, will shut down on October 26, with the space available to lease effective February 1, 2025. The nearby stores in Germantown and Rockville are, as of this writing, not set to be shuttered any time soon. (The Germantown store, in fact, is currently undergoing remodeling work.) Maryland is far from the only state affected, though, so let's look at which other regions have been affected.

Currently, there's no list of what stores Best Buy plans to close in fiscal 2025 besides the aforementioned Gaithersburg, Maryland, location. The other most recent store closures have been further west, with Best Buy shuttering its locations in Algonquin, Illinois; Centennial, Colorado; Pflugerville, Texas; and Temecula, California.

Others that have closed in the last year or so include the store on Broadway in the NoHo neighborhood of New York, New York; Stanislaus County at Riverbank Crossroads, California; Blaine and Shakopee, Minnesota; St. Joseph, Missouri; and Hixson and Farragut, Tennessee. In March 2024, the Des Moines Register asked Best Buy if any of Iowa's 10 stores would be closing, but did not receive a response.

As for the flip side — store openings and major remodeling of existing stores — CEO Corie Barry said on the February 2024 investor call to not expect anything quite that significant. "Our capital investments for fiscal '25 are concentrated more on existing store updates and refreshes and less on major remodels or store openings," she explained. "We plan to touch every single store in the chain in some fashion, improving both our merchandising and ease of shopping for customers. This includes improving and livening the merchandising presentation given the shift to digital shopping and corresponding lower need to hold as much inventory on the sales floor." She added that they will be "rightsizing" various product categories to use space more efficiently, in particular removing physical media to give more space to other departments, like computing and smart home.