Best Buy is at a critical juncture as the consumer electronics retailer aims to revitalize its performance under incoming CEO Jason Bonfig, who spoke exclusively with CNBC about his strategy for the company.
The company has been struggling with slumping sales over the past few years, which it has attributed to lower consumer confidence, less tech innovation and a slower housing market. In an effort to refresh its products, improve the customer experience and drive more sales, the retailer announced Bonfig will succeed current CEO Corie Barry this fall.
As he prepares to take the helm, Bonfig has said he’s focused on four key pillars: advancing Best Buy as a retail and technology company, improving its reach, enhancing the customer experience and focusing on being a human-powered company. Bonfig has also said he’s looking into ways to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom and Best Buy’s spot in that next chapter.
This week, Best Buy opened two new stores, one in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and one in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, which Bonfig told CNBC illustrates his strategy as he prioritizes returning the company to long-term and sustainable growth.
“What we’re finding is that there are markets that we just can’t be in with a traditional size Best Buy store, but they’re markets that absolutely make sense for Best Buy from a reach perspective,” Bonfig said.
Shoppers wait outside at a Best Buy store on Black Friday in New York, US, on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025.
Victor J. Blue | Bloomberg | Getty Images
To lean into those markets, the company is opening new small-format stores, ranging from 12,000 to 15,000 square feet, compared to its medium-format stores, which range from 20,000 to 25,000 square feet. Some of its largest stores, including its flagship location in New York City, exceed 40,000 square feet.
The new small stores tap into Bonfig’s priority of expanding the company’s reach, he said.
“We also know that when we put a store close to a customer, it doesn’t just change the customers’ behavior in the frequency of the visits of the store … it also changes their behavior digitally as well,” Bonfig said.
When Best Buy joins a new, smaller community, he said, the company has found more customers physically go to a store for the first time, but they also use the app and digital channels as well. The Jonesboro store marks Best Buy’s return to the town after a tornado destroyed its previous location.
“It’s a great example of a vibrant market, a place where customers are interested in our brand, but not a market that could support a 30,000- or 35,000-square-foot store,” Bonfig said. “An 18,000-square-foot store allows us to have the best of all of our different categories and meet the needs at that particular location.”
The second opening, in Cape Cod, is slightly larger than Best Buy’s normal medium-format stores, coming in at 28,000 square feet, but Bonfig said it’s another example of finding “the right size store in the right location in the right node.”
He added that Best Buy Canada, which can often do things faster than its U.S. counterpart, has been after the small-format store for “an extended period of time” and has seen success with locations as small as 7,000 square feet.
Still, Bonfig emphasized that the small stores are not a replacement for its more typical-format locations.
“It’s actually an enhancement of what we’re doing today,” he said. “But it actually allows us to reach more customers and more markets that we just were not in before.”
Trying to turn the page
Jason Bonfig to succeed Corie Barry as Chief Executive Officer.
Courtesy: Best Buy
Over the past five years, Best Buy has seen its stock sink roughly 20% after hitting its peak in late 2021, trading at $138 per share.
For the current fiscal year, Best Buy has said it expects comparable sales in the range of a decline of 1% to an increase of 1%. Though its most recent quarter outperformed Wall Street expectations, it came on the heels of years of declines, like the third fiscal quarter of 2026, when Best Buy reported net income of $140 million, down from $273 million the year prior.
The retailer was also hit by tariffs and is navigating the soaring price of memory chips, which have caused the costs of some consumer electronics to rise.
Bonfig said he attributes Best Buy’s recent stagnant performance to a general pull-forward behavior from consumers during Covid that created an unprecedented demand curve that led to a lull. Like home improvement companies, Best Buy saw outsized spending as shoppers were stuck at home and looking to upgrade.
He said Best Buy saw that behavior reset the technology life cycle for a lot of consumers while also forcing vendors to pivot from innovation to production.
“I wouldn’t say that Best Buy’s lost its momentum,” he told CNBC. “I think there’s been a very interesting couple years, or maybe more than a couple years, in the market where there was an interesting demand curve where everything was pulled forward.”
As he prepares to take the reins of the company, Bonfig said he’s focused on improving the customer experience, including upgrading TV selections and working with customers to replace their existing TVs.
Bonfig said he’ll define success during his tenure as CEO by the customer response.
He also said the company is leaning into AI for customers and the corporate side of the business, adding that Best Buy is actively investing in new products like Meta’s glasses. Best Buy also has an AI tool for customers to use, in addition to partnerships with OpenAI and Google.
“Agentic commerce and commerce through AI platforms is happening today,” Bonfig said. “We’re seeing traffic there, and we want to make sure that the Best Buy experience is represented.”
Still, he added, he expects AI to be an enhancement to the human power behind Best Buy.
And, ultimately, as he looks to step into his new role, Bonfig said he still believes in the core strength of Best Buy despite its recent stagnation.
“Corie had an amazing strategy, and my strategy is built on top of that,” Bonfig said. “There is a tremendous amount of momentum.”
