Best Buy to open first store in 7 years

Dive Brief:

Best Buy is set to open its first store in seven years, in Farmington, UT, part of the growing Salt Lake City metro area, the company told Retail Dive in an email.
When that location opens, the retailer will have nine big box stores in the Salt Lake City area. The retailer runs more than 1,000 large-format stores in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and more than 70% of the U.S. population lives within 15 minutes of a Best Buy store, according to its website.
Earlier this year Best Buy announced the closure of all 257 U.S. Best Buy Mobile stand-alone stores by May 31, due to "changing economics in the mobile industry," with plans to integrate those sales into its flagship stores and website.

Dive Insight:

Best Buy, Circuit City, RadioShack and a host of smaller players in recent years were challenged by lower-cost warehouse stores and underpricing on the internet. But Best Buy remains, unvanquished. "By intensely focusing on consumer expectations both in store and online, the company found its footing and today is the unquestioned leader in its category," Nick Egelanian, president of retail development consultants SiteWorks International, told Retail Dive in an email earlier this year.

When the "dust settles" on e-commerce's expansion, physical stores will still be delivering 85% of retail goods and services and may well be responsible for up to a third of "omnichannel" dollars spent, Egelanian said. Best Buy is set up well for that scenario, he said.

"To consumers, the issue is delivery on their expectation of price and convenience, regardless of channel," he said. "Best Buy is extremely well positioned to both dominate its category in the brick-and-mortar realm while also offering the range of alternative choices and pricing that consumers expect on the internet."

The retailer has executed a stellar turnaround that has effectively countered Amazon's market share gains in a way that other electronics retailers have failed to do. Key to Best Buy's proposition is its in-store and at-home customer service, experts have told Retail Dive. As that has taken hold, the company is now focusing on new areas that could use a Best Buy location.

"The Farmington area is an area that we have left underserved. Our nearest stores are both more than 15 miles away from the Farmington area," a company spokesperson said in an email, noting that the shopping center where it will be located, Station Park, is one that "shoppers love."

The company would not comment on the 7-year gap between store openings or whether there are more locations to come.