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Search on AmazonWhat Happened to Best Buy Mobile?
🔒 Fate: Standalone mall stores closed in 2018; mobile departments continued inside full-line Best Buy stores.
Launched in 2007 during the early smartphone surge, **Best Buy Mobile** was a small-format concept focused on carrier activations, phones, plans, and accessories. It expanded quickly into malls and strip centers, then wound down as carriers pushed their own stores, online upgrades grew, and margins tightened. **Fun fact:** the concept began as a joint effort with **Carphone Warehouse**, and it popularized the in-store setup promise branded **“Walk Out Working.”**
Timeline
- 2006
Best Buy partners with Carphone Warehouse to build a dedicated mobile retail concept.
- 2007
First Best Buy Mobile shops open; rapid U.S. rollout follows.
- 2010
Peak footprint across malls and small formats during the smartphone upgrade cycle.
- 2015
Traffic shifts online and to carrier-owned stores; profitability tightens.
- 2018
Best Buy announces closure of all ~250 U.S. standalone Best Buy Mobile stores; mobile departments remain inside big-box stores.
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