Oshkosh could absorb laid off Best Buy workers

Best Buy announced Monday it will close its Fond du Lac location, while its store in Oshkosh will remain open and may absorb displaced employees.

Best Buy Spokesperson Megan Boyd told Action Reporter Media Monday the Fond du Lac store, 335 N Pioneer Drive, will close when the lease on that property expires Oct. 31.

“(Best Buy) has chosen not to renew the lease, because of a declining retail node,” she said.

The company's 59 employees displaced by the layoff can apply for jobs at "nearby" stores — the Oshkosh location is closest. Workers that aren't hired at outside locations will qualify for a severance package, Boyd said.

The company Monday evening filed notice with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development as required under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, Act.

"Some employees ... may obtain other jobs within Best Buy before that date through internal transfers to other jobs," Best Buy Market HR Manager Tom Phillips wrote in a filing to the Wisconsin DWD.

Boyd said Best Buy opted to close its Fond du Lac location — which opened in 2005 — thanks to a contracting retail market. Best Buy shares surged 15 percent Aug. 25 after the company announced better-than-expected second-quarter earnings.

The Richfield, Minnesota-based company posted $164 million in net income from April to June, up from $146 million in the same period the year before. Meanwhile, Best Buy’s online sales rose 17 percent.

Best Buy also announced Monday it will close a location in Jackson, Mississippi, Oct. 31, displacing 61 workers.

Reach Nate Beck at 920-858-9657 or nbeck@gannett.com; on Twitter: @NateBeck9