Best Buy is opening 22 new stores in its third quarter, making the total number for the year so far planned at 43. Not surprisingly, that is way down from the 185 it opened during its last fiscal year.
Some highlights of its new stores include one in New York City’s Union Square and a fifth location in Puerto Rico. You can view the entire new-store opening list here.
There was some speculation that Best Buy would increase its market share with the downfall of Circuit City. But the chain has nearly 1,050 stores now as it is. Is there really a whole lot more expansion in its future?
This probably the MOST unwise move on Best Buy’s part. Especially knowing where things more than likely will be heading here shortly. This is just not a good move… They need to support their weakest stores for now and wait until the second or third quarter of next year. Hopefully they will be wise enough to do that, but we’ll see what happens… But that’s just my opinion…
I believe they sre in good positon to battle Wal-Mart and others for Circuit City’s share of the market. However, most of Circuit City’s locations were in the same trade areas as Best Buy’s stores so accelerating store openings is not necessarily the most efficient way for Best Buy to grow.