Best Buy Opens First US Store in 7 Years

Best Buy (Richfield, Minn.) will open its first U.S.-based store in seven years, adding to its more than 1000 stores nationwide. The 36,000-square-foot store outside Salt Lake City will open this fall.

The addition of a new store is notable, because over the past few years the retailer has been scaling back its large brick-and-mortar locations, closing roughly a dozen or so of its stores per year; last year closing 18, in 2016 closing 11, and in 2015 closing 13, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Best Buy spokesman Jeff Shelman declined to comment to the Star Tribune on whether it planned to open additional stores beyond the one in Salt Lake City.

This past holiday season Best Buy reported its best holiday quarter in 14 years with same-store sales rising 9 percent. In the years since Best Buy opened its last U.S. store, the retailer has focused on expansion in Mexico and Canada.