Best Buy ponders UK flight
Consumer electronics retailer Best Buy is weighing up a dramatic exit from its 11 UK "big box" stores after its UK division posted losses of £62m, it has been reported.
The chain has stores in Derby and Nottingham.
Best Buy UK opened an initial six stores in the UK during 2010-11 in conjunction with Carphone Warehouse and launched its online offering in November. A further four stores have opened since the end of March.
According to a report in the Financial Times, Carphone Warehouse, which owns a 50 per cent stake in Best Buy Europe, is considering whether to pull the plug on the UK division. An exit, which would cost the business about £40m in relation to its property leases, was only one potential option under consideration and not the "optimal scenario".
Best Buy UK sustained EBIT losses of £62m, up from £21m in 2010, which Carphone Warehouse said reflected "significant investment" in developing and marketing the brand following launch.
In its annual report for the year to 31 March, the business said that with only six stores at the year-end, Best Buy UK still had a "disproportionately high central cost base".
