Like a giant, unhelpful dinosaur mired in a tar pit, Best Buy has finally stopped struggling and realized that its big box store model might not be the best. The company announced they’re closing 50 of those stores this year, and will scale things back size-wise to try and boost revenue.

Forbes.com says Best Buy will be testing new store models in San Antonio, Texas and St. Paul, Minneapolis. Store square footage will be reduced by 20%, and the new iterations — called “Connected Stores — should be finished by next Christmas.

Those stores will focus on selling cell phones, tablet computers and e-readers and any service plans not offered by Amazon and Wal-Mart. Employees in those locations are expected to show customers how to connect their home electronics, but we all know what we can expect from sales associates at Best Buy, eh?

While this is all going on, Best Buy will be preparing to open 100 smaller stores that only sell mobile phones for 2013. Their goal is to increase their number of such stores from the 305 they have now to between 600 and 800 by 2016.

Part of the plan also includes $800 million in cost reductions, which, of course, means the loss of jobs for many workers. In an effort to cut costs, 400 positions will be eliminated to save around $300 million.

“We intend to invest some of these cost savings into offering new and improved customer experiences and competitive prices — which will help drive revenue,” CEO Brian Dunn said in a statement this morning. “And, over time, we expect some of the savings will fall to the bottom line.”

Perhaps they’d also like to invest some of those savings into customer service representatives who actually care/and or know what they’re doing? Just a thought.

Death Of Best Buy’s Big Box Store? Company Will Shift To New Model, Close 50 Existing Stores [Forbes.com]

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