Best Buy in Carmel Mountain is closing on Feb. 28, as the company rethinks its shopping experiences and brick-and-mortar footprint.<\/p>\n
The store, in the Courtyard at Carmel Mt. Ranch shopping center just east of Interstate 15 and north of Carmel Mountain Road, has around 45 employees, according to a layoff notice filed with the state this week.<\/p>\n
The company decided not to renew that lease and is working to help its employees find jobs, a company spokesperson said, adding that customers can shop at other Best Buy stores, as well as at BestBuy.com or the Best Buy app. The nearest store is at 9540 Mira Mesa Blvd., six miles away. Another is in San Marcos, at 567 Grand Ave.<\/p>\n
Best Buy has been testing smaller format stores and expects to \u201clean into those a bit\u201d in 2026, Best Buy\u2019s CEO Corie Barry said in a November call with investors<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do have some cohort of stores where they\u2019re a little bit larger than what we need. And so we\u2019ve been working on several different ways, and this, again, will move into next year, including relocations, resizing some of the existing formats,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Other new strategies include boosting interactive experience, testing in-store Ikea pilots, adding branded expert events with Breville and SharkNinja, and catering to young shoppers.<\/p>\n \u201cOur youngest cohort, Gen Z, is really leaning into the store experience. We can see it in their visits, and we can see it in where they choose to interact. And we can see it in our ability to start to grow share with this cohort. And it\u2019s a cohort who is starting to see our brand as updated, refreshed, and more relevant,\u201d Barry said.<\/p>\n The company\u2019s comparable sales in the third quarter grew 2.7% year over year. \u201cWe are pleased to report better-than-expected sales and adjusted operating income rate for the third quarter,\u201d Barry said<\/a> in November.<\/p>\n