Is Best Buy Mobile Discontinued? What Happened?

2007–2018 Retail • United States

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

Best Buy Mobile store
Source: Wikimedia Commons — File:Best_Buy_Mobile,_The_Oaks_Mall.JPG

Best Buy Mobile was a mall-format phone shop that peaked during the smartphone boom. After opening in 2006, the stores were designed to be smaller than traditional Best Buy stores, and specialized solely in mobile devices, helping customers set up their phones before leaving the store.

Ultimately, Best Buy Mobile couldn't carve out enough of a footprint that separated it from its parent Best Buy stores, or other stores and products that were arriving on the market.

Best Buy Mobile stores were a tiny footprint in the company's overall sales and real estate locations - approximately 1 percent each. Combined with the fact that most mobile shops were in close proximity to big-box Best Buy stores, the decision to consolidate seemed inevitable.

Timeline

  1. 2006

    • Best Buy partners with Carphone Warehouse to build a dedicated mobile retail concept.

  2. 2007

    • Rapid U.S. rollout follows as part of Best Buy Mobile expansion

  3. 2010

    • 2014 — Peak footprint across malls and small formats during the smartphone upgrade cycle.

  4. 2015

    • 2017 — Profitability tightens as traffic shifts online and to carrier-owned stores

  5. 2018

    • March — Best Buy closes of all ~250 U.S. standalone Best Buy Mobile stores; mobile departments remain inside big-box stores.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened to Best Buy Mobile?

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

When did Best Buy Mobile close?

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

Is Best Buy Mobile still in business?

No. Best Buy Mobile is no longer in business. Standalone mall stores closed in 2018; mobile departments continued inside full-line Best Buy stores.

Explore More

Looking for more phones from the past? Check out Blackberry OS Phones and Palm

Learn more

Continue on Vanished Brands

Spotted an error or have additional sources? Get in touch and I'll review it.