Best Buy to close more locations in the U.S., lays off 5,000 workers
Blaming a shift toward online retail amid a global pandemic, Best Buy announced the company will close more of its 1,000 remaining stores in the coming year, leaving the future of the Waxahachie location uncertain.
As reported today in an article by USA Today, the CEO of the Minneapolis-based chain of home electronics stores, Corie Barry says trends among shoppers to stay home and buy online to avoid crowds during the COVID-19 pandemic have forced the retailer to slate more stores for closing and revamp many existing stores to serve more as hubs for coordinating the home delivery of items bought online.
In early February, Best Buy laid off 5,000 full-time workers whom it will replace with 2,000 part-time workers in a move many retailers make to skirt around worker protection laws and avoid offering benefits such as health insurance and retirement packages to their workforce.
Altogether, the company has shrunk its workforce from around 121,000 employees to about 100,000 in the last year — a 17% decline.
USA Today reports the revamped stores will allot more floor space to accommodate curbside pickup orders.
The move comes as the company reports an 89% rise in online sales and a powerful 10% jump in profits in just one three-month period at the end of 2020.
The company has yet to release a list of stores that will be closed or restructured, leaving the Waxahachie location’s future and that of its employees uncertain.
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