Best Buy to Close 50 U.S. Big Box Stores

Electronics retailer Best Buy announced Thursday it would close 50 of its U.S. big box stores in 2013 and reduce 400 positions overall in an effort to reduce the company's costs $800 million by fiscal year 2015.

The announcement was part of a fourth quarter report the company released Tuesday discussing its 2011 business strategy going forward. The company did not release a list of stores to be closed.

The Best Buy store in is one of several in the state, including those in West Hartford, North Haven, Newington, Orange, and Manchester. The shopping center recently lost a large national retailer when its stores in the nation last summer.

"As part of our multi-channel strategy, we intend to strengthen our portfolio of store formats and footprints – closing some big box stores, modifying others to our enhanced Connected Store format, and adding Best Buy Mobile stand-alone locations – all to provide a better shopping environment for our customers across multiple channels while increasing points of presence, and to improve performance and profitability," said Brian J. Dunn, CEO of Best Buy.