Best Buy kills its Future Shop Brand in Canada

Best Buy announced today to shut down its Future Shop stores.

Best Buy selected a Saturday to announce a major restructuring in Canada. Best Buy Canada, a subsidiary of Best Buy Canada, which owns and operates both Best Buy and Future Shop stores,  today announced it is consolidating the Future Shop and Best Buy stores and websites under the Best Buy brand and unveiled an ambitious plan to build a leading multi-channel customer experience.

Effective today the consumer electronics store chain closes 66 Future Shop locations. At the same time an additional 65 Future Shop stores will be temporarily closed for one week as they begin their transition to the Best Buy brand. The company will now have a total of 192 locations across Canada, including 136 large-format stores and 56 Best Buy Mobile stores.

“Currently, 80% our customers are within a 15 minute drive to a store and this won’t change,” said Ron Wilson, President and COO of Best Buy Canada. “We will continue to have a strong store presence in all major markets in Canada.”

As a result of this consolidation, approximately 500 full-time and 1,000 part-time positions will be eliminated. The affected employees will receive severance, employee assistance and outplacement support.

“Any decisions that impact our people are never taken lightly; our first priority is to support them through this change,” Wilson said. “I want to express my appreciation to the employees who are leaving, for their contributions to Best Buy Canada.”

Best Buy stays committed to the Canadian market and will invest $200 million dollars in Best Buy stores and BestBuy.ca.

Future Shop was founded in 1982 by Hassan Khosrowshahi. In 1990 the consumer electronics chain had become Canada’s largest retailer of computer and consumer electronics. In November 2001 Best Buy bought Future Shop for $580 million.