Shutting its branded stores would not end Best Buy’s links to Britain, as its joint venture with Carphone Warehouse includes the British firm’s chain of mobile phone shops across Europe, as well as its newer Wireless World stores, which also include some electrical products like laptops and tablets.
However, Planet Retail's Gregory said prospects for the sector, which faces competition from online retailers like Inc AMZN.O, grocers such as Tesco Plc TSCO.L and department stores groups like John Lewis, were so grim that even Comet's demise would not make Britain an attractive investment. Any downsizing of that loss-making business could take out a big chunk of capacity from the British electrical goods market. Some analysts have suggested that Best Buy might wait to see what happens to Comet, which Kesa has put up for sale. TO CLOSE OR NOT TO CLOSEĬlosing Best Buy British megastores, which Bank of America-Merrill Lynch analysts think could cost more than 60 million pounds, is not a foregone conclusion.
Chains such as TJX Cos Inc TJX.N and Signet Jewelers Ltd SIG.N have also seen lackluster same-store sales in that market recently. It had had a British presence for 10 years. stores, including 41 superstores, leading to a loss of $125.7 million (80.1 million pounds). They are used to shopping in smaller boxes,” Chukumba added.īorders Group Inc BGPIQ.PK, the bankrupt U.S.
retailers tend to have large box stores and generally Europeans aren’t used to shopping that way. In June they froze store openings and announced a strategic review of the chain.Īlso: “U.S. Three years on, things have proved very different.īest Buy and British partner Carphone Warehouse Group Plc CPW.L have opened just 11 big box stores and in the process racked up 62 million pounds of losses in the year ended in March after losing 21 million the year before. When Best Buy laid out plans to expand into Britain in 2008, it envisioned building a chain of around 100 megastores over five years that would act as a springboard for expansion elsewhere in Europe. The company could also shrink other stores, reduce space in weak product categories like entertainment, speed up the expansion of a fast-growing mobile business and make a bigger push to sell online. BB&T Capital Markets makes a market in the securities of Best Buy. I think investors would probably rather see the company focus on the changes they are trying to make domestically rather than investing a lot of money in Europe,” said Anthony Chukumba, an analyst with BB&T Capital Markets. “Given the challenges that Best Buy is currently facing.
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