The expansion in Canada will be especially vigorous in greater Montreal, where the company plans to open seven new stores this year. Currently there are no Best Buy-branded stores in the area or the entire province of Quebec. The new Quebecois stores will be in the store's mid-sized, or 30,000-sf format.

"Just three years ago, there were no Best Buy stores in Canada and only 95 Future Shop stores," Dunn says. "At the end of the next fiscal year, we expect to operate 43 Best Buy stores and 116 Future Shop stores in Canada." Future Shops, which originated in British Columbia, are another brand owned by Best Buy, and are found only in Canada; two new ones will open this year.

All together, according to Dunn, about half of the 73 new stores are expected to be in the 30,000-sf format, with the rest either 20,000 sf or 45,000 sf. Most of the new stores will be opened in markets where Best Buy already has a presence, thus leveraging the company's existing marketing and distribution centers. The company also expects to relocate nine domestic stores during the coming fiscal year.