Stop the Music

Best Buy Co. (Eden Prairie, Minn.) said it has closed 90 Sam Goody music stores and about 20 Suncoast video stores because of the decline in sales of pre-recorded music and the slowdown in customer traffic at malls.

Best Buy said the stores it closed on Wednesday included stores whose leases expired or were operating on a month-to-month basis. The chains are part of the Musicland group, which was struggling even before Best Buy bought it two years ago.

The shutterings bring total Musicland closings for the current fiscal year to about 160, the company said. The 110 stores represent about 5 percent of Musicland's total square footage. As part of the move, Best Buy ceo Brad Anderson said the company is realigning Musicland into its domestic Best Buy operations, and Musicland president Kevin Freeland has left the company.

Despite the action, Best Buy raised its earnings forecast for the fourth quarter, saying strength in its core Best Buy consumer electronics stores more than offset weakness at Musicland stores. The retailer said it expects total sales for the fiscal year that begins March 2 to increase 10 to 12 percent, primarily driven by the opening of 80 to 85 new stores. It will add about 60 Best Buy stores in the United States, including at least six in the New York City metro area, plus 13 to 15 Best Buy stores in Canada. It also plans to add four Future Shop stores in Canada and at least four new stores in its Magnolia Hi-Fi chain. Plans for new Musicland stores (which includes the 76-store Media Play chain) are on hold.