UPDATE: Best Buy to Close Stores, Including Lakeville's

Lakeville's store is closing its doors this fall, the company announced yesterday.

Best Buy officials yesterday said they will close 50 of their big box stores and lay off 400 employees at corporate and support levels in an effort to boost profits. The store closures will begin this fall, KARE 11 reported late yesterday, and will include five Twin Cities stores, including the Lakeville store on Orchard Trail.

The others Twin Cities locations are in Edina, Brooklyn Center, Hutchinson and Rogers. 

The Richfield-based electronics retailer announced the news after it released its shaky 2011 fourth quarter earnings showing a $1.7 billion loss. Best Buy officials said the closures and layoffs would save the company around $800 million annually.

Bset Buy didn't initially announce which stores would close.

The company also said it would be opening 50 stores in China by 2013, as well as 100 of its smaller, profitable mobile stores in the next year.

According to a news release announcing the closures, Best Buy's retail store strategy is to increase points of presence, while decreasing overall square footage. Based on results from store pilots conducted in 2010 and 2011, Best Buy will be deploying "at-scale" market tests of its new Connected Store format in the Twin Cities and San Antonio metro areas. The store remodels are expected to be completed before the 2012 holiday season. Connected Stores are remodeled big box stores that focus on connections, services and multi-channel experience through a total transformation of both the store and the operating environment.

The company expects total big box square footage in these combined test markets to be reduced by almost 20 percent through store downsizing and closures, while points of presence will increase by more than 20 percent.

In a statement tonight quoted by KARE 11, the company said: "This is not an easy decision to make. We recognize the impact this news has on the people who deserve respect for the contributions they have made to our business, and for customers who shop these stores today. We are working to ensure the impact to our employees will be as minimal as possible, while serving all customers in a convenient and satisfying way."

In the statement, Best Buy added it will work to help the 301 store employees affected by the closings.

"These changes will also help lower our overall cost structure," CEO of Best Buy Brian J. Dunn said in the release. "We intend to invest some of these cost savings into offering new and improved customer experiences and competitive prices—which will help drive revenue. And, over time, we expect some of the savings will fall to the bottom line."

To read the entire news release click here.