Best Buy to Close Old Orchard Location

Best Buy Old Orchard, which first opened its doors in 2001, will be closing for good come Feb. 3, according to the Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal.

Some locals may describe the 9625 Skokie Blvd. location as prestigious solely on its location. Just across the street from the electronics giant is Westfield Old Orchard Mall, which alone accounts for about 40 percent of all sales tax revenue generated in Skokie.

An employee at Best Buy Old Orchard acknowledged the closing, but asked her name be withheld due to corporate policy.

"They just decided to shut us down," the employee told Patch. "Most of the items we have are already marked 10 percent off; we're gearing up to clear inventory, yes."

When asked whether the closing meant lost jobs the employee responded, "Definitely not."

It is unclear whether employees will be simply transferred to another store or perform their duties in a different capacity.

Last March, Best Buy announced that it would be closing 50 of its retail stores throughout the country. That same month, the retailer cut more than 2,400 jobs in an effort to reduce operating cost. 

Some of Best Buy's problems stem from bargain shoppers who do all their research on big ticket items at the store but make their purchase through online retailers like Amazon.com. In many cases, there is no sales tax and about a 4 to 9 percent cost difference in favor of Amazon when buyers purchase electronics from the website.

In April 2012, CEO Brian Dunn resigned following an internal investigation regarding his personal conduct within the company.

Since Dunn's resignation, Best Buy's stock price has steadily fallen, from $23.64 a share on April 2, 2012 (right around when Dunn resigned) to its current price of $14.88.

It is unclear if any plans are in place to replace the soon to be vacant storefront in Skokie. If any new updates come in, Skokie Patch will update.

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