A combination of changing customer habits and operational costs proved too much for Best Buy to keep its Topsham Fair Mall location open. It will close Oct. 29.

“We review every store that has an expiring lease before making a decision on whether to renew,” said Jeff Shelman, a Best Buy communications director, in an email to Press Herald. “We look at a number of factors including lease costs, strength of a retail area and consumer shopping patterns. In this case, we made the decision not to renew this lease.”

Best Buy maintains four other stores in Maine – in South Portland, Auburn, Bangor and Augusta. Its Topsham employees have been encouraged to apply for work there.

The chain has about 1,600 stores. The company’s second-quarter domestic gross profit rate was 24.0 percent versus 24.7 percent last year, but overall the company had better-than-expected revenue and profitability, according to an Aug. 23 news release.


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