- The Board of Directors of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) has approved several shareholder value initiatives, including raising its new store potential in the United States for Best Buy superstores by 40 percent.
- “We have a tremendous amount of optimism in our long-term growth prospects and the capabilities of our employees,” said Brad Anderson, vice chairman and CEO of Best Buy. “Our 41 years of proven success, our strong balance sheet and our belief in our employees afford us the opportunity to fund multiple avenues of value creation at once. We are confident in our business strategy, based on our expanding market share and rising customer satisfaction levels. It is very rewarding to see so much opportunity for customer growth in front of us, particularly in our core U.S. market.”
- The Board of Directors said the number of stores could now approach 1,800 in the United States and Canada, up from its prior growth plan of 1,400 stores.
- This new total assumes 1,400 U.S. Best Buy superstores, up from 1,000 previously; at least 200 Canadian superstores (including both Future Shop and Best Buy stores); and up to 200 Pacific Sales stores. Furthermore, the company remains committed to expansion in China via both the Five Star and Best Buy brands. The company currently operates 852 U.S. Best Buy stores, 47 Canada Best Buy stores, 122 Canada Future Shop stores and 14 U.S. Pacific Sales stores. On average, the company has historically increased North American square footage by approximately 10 percent per year.
- “We continue to generate strong returns on new store openings, and we’re growing our market share with our customer-focused strategy,” said Brian Dunn, president and chief operating officer. “We intend to press this advantage in the marketplace. We firmly believe we can extend our new store runway, profitably, because we’ll continue to focus on three things: improving how well we serve existing customers, attracting new customers and enhancing our store profit model.
