What Happened to Best Buy Mobile?

2007–2018 Retail • United States

🔒 Fate: Standalone mall stores closed in 2018; mobile departments continued inside full-line Best Buy stores.

Best Buy’s mall-format phone shops that peaked in the smartphone boom, then quietly shut.

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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