Best Buy to Close 110 Music, Movie Stores
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Squeezed by plummeting CD sales, retail giant Best Buy Co. has sacked the head of its troubled Musicland division and said it is closing about 110 mall-based music and movie stores.
The shake-up follows the worst year in U.S. album sales in more than a decade. December sales at the Musicland division -- which operates such mall-based stores as Sam Goody and Suncoast -- declined 15% to about $350 million, the company said.
The chain is closing about 11% of its Sam Goody music stores this month, leaving it with 740. Best Buy also will close about 20 of its 400 Suncoast stores, a company spokeswoman said.
Best Buy said it is “realigning” Musicland and plans to fold the division’s corporate staff into its own. In doing so, the retailer eliminated the position of Musicland President Kevin Freeland, who is leaving the company.
-- Jeff Leeds
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