Best Buy abandons plan to convert East Northport store into discount outlet

Best Buy has abandoned plans to convert its East Northport store into the state’s first discount outlet after failing to reach a long-term lease agreement with the landlord, the electronics retailer announced this week.

A Best Buy spokesperson told Newsday in February that the store was temporarily closing on March 2 to allow the space to be converted into a retail outlet and would reopen over the summer.

But on Monday, the spokesperson said the closure last March was permanent.

“We have not been able to reach a long-term agreement with the owner of the site … and we are currently exploring other locations for a Best Buy outlet in the New York area,” he said. -he declared.

About 30 full- and part-time employees worked at the East Northport store, he said.

Opened in 2001, the 47,006 square foot store was located at 3124 Jericho Tpke. at Huntington Square Plaza, a shopping center owned by Sterling Organization, a real estate company based in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Sterling did not respond to requests for comment.

The closed Best Buy store with a mailing address in East Northport was actually in Elwood. Best Buy called it its Commack store.

The closest Best Buy to the East Northport address is 5.5 miles away, at 148 Walt Whitman Rd. at Huntington Station.

Best Buy outlet stores sell clearance, open box and refurbished electronics and appliances for up to 40% off, supporting “value-oriented customers,” according to the company.

Since 2022, Best Buy has opened 10 locations, bringing the total to 26 in 17 states, including Arizona, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Maryland and New Jersey, according to the retailer’s website.

Best Buy is diversifying its store formats to increase profitability as it faces declining sales.

Best Buy is opening outlets, which are converted from existing regular stores or opening in new locations, in part because they increase profits on returned items, the Richfield, Minn.-based retailer said.

“And it’s becoming a sort of treasure hunt phenomenon that we’re seeing now, where customers can come in and look for something that really fits their budget,” Corie Barry, chief executive officer of Best Buy Co. Inc., said. to analysts during a fiscal third quarter earnings conference call on November 26.

As more customers turn to online shopping, Best Buy has closed some of its regular stores as their leases expire and opened smaller stores, finding that it needs fewer stores. “space to sell goods, she told analysts in November 2023.

Over the past five years, Best Buy has closed about 120 regular stores in the United States, leaving only 889, including nine on Long Island. The company also owns 160 Canada Best Buy and Canada Best Buy Mobile stores.

This year, Best Buy completed the rebranding of 167 Canadian small-format electronics stores as Best Buy Express. Owned by Bell Canada, the stores were formerly called La Source.

Best Buy has seen 12 straight quarters of declining sales at its stores open at least a year, with a 2.9% decline during its most recent fiscal third quarter, which ended November 2.

Its sales fell 3% to $9.45 billion in the quarter compared to the same period last year.

Best Buy’s performance in the quarter was hurt by weaker-than-expected customer demand in September and October, Barry told analysts in November.

“We attribute this to a combination of overall macroeconomic uncertainty, customers waiting for deals and sales, and distraction during the lead-up to the election, particularly in non-essential categories,” she said.

Best Buy’s challenges are due in part to growing competition from Amazon, Walmart, Target and other stores, said Neil Saunders, managing director of retail at GlobalData, a Manhattan-based market research firm .

Overall demand for electronic products has also declined, he said.

“It’s an expensive (item). It’s expensive. A lot of people bought new TVs during the (COVID-19) pandemic, which has really compressed sales over the last few years,” he said.