"In fiscal 2003, our Company has increased comparable store sales despite a difficult consumer environment," says Brad Anderson, Best Buy vice chairman and CEO. "In the coming year, we plan to continue to build our sales by focusing on our core customers. At the same time, we anticipate increasing profit margins by boosting our efficiency, including improvements in our expense rate, speed to market and allocation of capital."

Most of the new stores will be opened in existing markets, with six stores in the New York City metro area including one at 86th Street and Lexington Avenue on New York City's Upper East Side. In addition, eight Best Buy stores are planned for the Toronto market, where the company currently operates 16 stores under its Future Shop brand. Throughout Canada, the company expects to open 13 new Best Buy locations. New markets for fiscal 2004 include Edmonton, Alberta; Winnipeg, Manitoba; and Ottawa, London, and Windsor, Ontario.

"We view this as an opportune time to proceed with our store expansion plans," says Al Lenzmeier, president and chief operating officer of Best Buy. "The new stores support our long-term goals of providing a unique and exciting experience to our customers while continuing to increase our market share. We continue to focus on our target of at least 1,000 superstores in North America."