Best Buy Is Closing More Locations on March 4
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READ THIS NEXT: JCPenney Is Closing Even More Locations, Starting Next Month .
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Best Buy has been reducing its overall number of stores, but not in numbers as drastic as some of its fellow retailers. The electronics store had 938 U.S. locations at the end of the 2022 fiscal year. In the first quarter of the 2023 fiscal year (which started on Jan. 30, 2022 ), Best Buy shut down seven stores, and in its second quarter, it closed just one location.
The company’s latest financial report revealed that there were 925 Best Buy stores still open in the U.S. as of Oct. 29, 2022, when the third quarter ended. (Best Buy has not yet released its financial reports for its entire 2023 fiscal year, which just ended on Jan. 28).
All in all, the company closed about a dozen stores over the last year.
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Best Buy’s most recent closures hit the U.S. in the fall, affecting locations in New York and California. The retailer’s longstanding store on the Upper West Side in New York City closed on Oct. 30 , Patch reported. “Thank you for shopping with us. This location is permanently closed,” a sign on the front door of the NYC Best Buy store read at the time.
The company also closed its store in Riverbank, California, around the same time. The Riverbank Best Buy store’s last day was set for Oct. 29, The Modesto Bee reported last year.
“We will not be renewing the lease on our Riverbank store and have no plans for other stores in the area in the near future,” Best Buy spokeswoman Olivia Bruce told the newspaper. This location is now listed as “permanently closed” as well, according to Google.
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Best Buy is gearing up for new store closures in 2023. Within the past day, it was reported that the retailer will soon be closing two separate locations in Tennessee.
Over in Chattanooga, customers are also going to be losing a Best Buy store. The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported that the retailer is shutting down its store in Hixson, a northern suburb of the city. Bruce told the newspaper that the 17-year-old store will close on March 4 as well, as Best Buy has decided to not renew its lease in the Towne Center North shopping center.
“This closure is a part of our regular and ongoing review process of stores as leases come up for renewal,” Best Buy said in a statement to the Chattanooga Times Free Press on Jan. 30. “The decision to close a store is never an easy one, and we are so grateful for our Hixson-area customers who have shopped with us over the years.”
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These two Tennessee locations are not the only Best Buy stores on the chopping block. The company also has plans for an upcoming closure in St. Joseph, Missouri, the St. Joseph News-Press reported.
As with the Hixson closure, the St. Joseph Best Buy is shuttering because the retailer has decided not to renew its lease at the Shoppes at North Village. As a result, the store’s last day of business will be March 4 as well, Bruce told the newspaper.
“The decision to close a store is never an easy one, and we are so grateful for our St. Joseph-area customers who have shopped with us over the years,” Best Buy said in a statement to the St. Joseph News-Press . “We hope they continue to shop with us at BestBuy.com or on the Best Buy app.”
With three different store closures now set for March 4, Best Life reached out to Best Buy to ask if there are plans for any more closures—on or after that date. We will update this story with the company’s response.
JCPenney Is Closing Even More Locations, Starting Next Month
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While JCPenney has, in many ways, withstood the test of time, it’s not immune from the challenges that have felled other department stores . The 121-year-old retailer has faced ongoing issues in recent years, even filing for bankruptcy and closing 200 stores after the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020. As with Bed Bath & Beyond and Macy’s, it now finds itself in “ the mushy middle ,” retail experts told NPR, meaning it doesn’t have a unique online presence, but also doesn’t have a “big-box” label, where shoppers know they’re scoring an awesome deal. Even with an improving economy, things still aren’t looking great, as JCPenney is shuttering more stores. Read on to find out which JCPenney locations are closing this spring, with liquidations starting next month.
READ THIS NEXT: Popular Bookstores, Including Barnes & Noble, Are Closing Locations, Starting Feb. 11 .
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“JCPenney has kind of always been one of those places that has always helped to bring people to that area, even if they weren’t going to the mall, they were going to JC Penney,” Greater Elkhart Chamber of Commerce President Levon Johnson told the outlet.
Concord Mall has had five different owners in recent years, Johnson said, citing lease pricing negotiations as the primary reason for the closure. “Little bit of a surprise, you know they’ve recently invested, in the last six months a great deal of money in the renovation and lighting in the store,” he added.
In a statement to WDNU, JCPenney confirmed the closure, but didn’t include any details about lease negotiations.
“ Our JCPenney store at the Concord Mall will be closing its doors. The liquidation process will begin this February, with the store closing by May of this year,” the statement reads. “The decision to close a store is never an easy one. We are grateful for our dedicated associates and the loyal customers who have shopped at our Elkhart, Indiana location.”
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In Oswego, New York, another longstanding JCPenney is closing up shop. A store employee confirmed the closure to Oswego County News Now, and a spokesperson for JCPenney told Best Life that this location will also begin the liquidation process in February and close by May of this year.
The store, located in Oswego Plaza, has been mainstay since 1977, narrowly escaping closure in 2020, Oswego County News Now reported. “They’ve been saying it would close for years and now I guess it’s true,” Pat Walsh , an Oswego resident who worked at the store until 2013, told the outlet.
Still, shoppers are sad to see it go. “That’s a shame. I don’t know why they can’t stay open,” customer Bob Nolan said, while Charry Snyder , another Oswego resident, expressed her disappointment as a frequent shopper. “This is the biggest store we have for clothes,” she told Oswego County News Now.
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Since summer 2022, rumors have circulated about a JCPenney store in Pleasanton, California, but the company spokesperson told Best Life , “JCPenney has no plans to close our Pleasanton, CA store.”
However, the spokesperson did confirm that a third JCPenney store in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, will also be closing this year, beginning the liquidation process in February and closing by May.
“We are grateful to our dedicated associates and the loyal customers who have shopped at our Elkhart, Oswego and Detroit Lakes locations,” the spokesperson said.
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According to a report from CNN Business in Nov. 2022, JCPenney is attempting to “ make a comeback ” under CEO Marc Rosen , who took over in 2021.
“I believe in taking on large scale transformation,” Rosen told CNN Business in a video interview. “There was an opportunity to really take this brand and make it relevant again.”
The department store recently ended a partnership with beauty retailer Sephora, but under Rosen, the company has remodeled brick-and-mortar locations, introduced new brands, and also improved its online experience, CNN Business reported. The CEO confirmed that these strategies had successfully drawn more customers to JCPenney ahead of the 2022 holiday shopping season.
