Best Buy smaller stores are central to Jason Bonfig’s growth plan

Best Buy smaller stores are becoming a key part of incoming CEO Jason Bonfig’s plan to restart growth at the electronics retailer. For investors, the idea is straightforward: Best Buy wants more places to reach shoppers without committing every market to a full-size store.

Bonfig, who is set to succeed CEO Corie Barry this fall, told CNBC that the company is focused on expanding its reach, improving the customer experience and using artificial intelligence across both customer-facing and corporate work. Best Buy announced the CEO transition as it tries to recover from several years of weaker sales, which the company has linked to softer consumer confidence, slower tech innovation and a cooler housing market.

Why is Best Buy opening smaller stores?

Bonfig told CNBC that some communities make sense for Best Buy but cannot support a traditional large-format location. Smaller stores let the company enter those areas with less space while still offering major product categories and local service.

Best Buy opened two stores this week, one in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and one in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Bonfig presented both as examples of matching the store size to the market rather than using a single format everywhere.

The company’s small-format stores generally run from 12,000 to 15,000 square feet, CNBC reported. That compares with medium-format stores of about 20,000 to 25,000 square feet, while some larger locations, including Best Buy’s New York City flagship, top 40,000 square feet.

The Jonesboro location marks Best Buy’s return to the city after a tornado destroyed its prior store. Bonfig told CNBC the market had demand for the brand but was not suited to a 30,000- or 35,000-square-foot store. He said an 18,000-square-foot location gives Best Buy enough room to carry its key categories for that community.

The Cape Cod store is 28,000 square feet, slightly larger than the company’s usual medium-format stores. Bonfig said the point is finding the appropriate size for the location. He also said Best Buy Canada has used smaller stores for longer, including sites as compact as 7,000 square feet, and has seen success with that model.

Bonfig said the smaller locations are meant to add to Best Buy’s current store base, not replace its more typical stores. He told CNBC that when Best Buy opens closer to customers, it can change both store traffic and digital behavior, including app and online use.

What is Bonfig trying to fix at Best Buy?

Best Buy’s stock has fallen roughly 20% from its late-2021 peak of $138 a share, according to CNBC. The company has guided for comparable sales in the current fiscal year to range from a 1% decline to a 1% increase. Comparable sales are a retail measure that looks at performance from established parts of the business, which helps investors see demand without the noise of new openings or closures.

The retailer’s recent results have been uneven. Best Buy’s most recent quarter topped Wall Street expectations, CNBC reported, but that followed years of declines. In its third fiscal quarter of 2026, Best Buy reported net income of $140 million, down from $273 million a year earlier.

Bonfig told CNBC that the company’s slower period followed a Covid-era pull-forward in demand, when consumers spent heavily on technology and home upgrades. He said that spending reset replacement cycles for many shoppers and pushed vendors to focus more on production than innovation.

Beyond real estate, Bonfig said he is focused on improving the shopping experience, including better TV selections and helping customers replace older TVs. He also said Best Buy is investing around AI, including products such as Meta’s glasses, an AI tool for customers and partnerships with OpenAI and Google. Bonfig told CNBC that commerce through AI platforms is already occurring and that Best Buy wants its experience represented there.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.