BEST BUY CLOSING IN UK

Best Buy Europe, the joint venture between Best Buy Inc. and Carphone Warehouse, has been shuttered after just 18 months in business. In that short amount of time, it lost £80 million ($127 million), largely due to consumer belt-tightening and increased competition from cheaper online retailers. Up to 1,100 jobs will be lost at the eleven UK stores currently open in Thurrock, Bristol and Wolverhampton, among other locations, bringing to an end the company's ambitious plan to open 200 stores across Europe.

At the same time, the US giant declared it would buy out its European partner's stake in the Best Buy Mobile chain as it continues to pull out of unprofitable foreign operations.

GOOGLE TURNING THE LIGHTS OFF IN THE LAB

Google Labs, that breeding ground for the wacky, sublime, and sometimes useful experiments that Mountain View's scooter-loving employees are so fond of, is getting ready to "wind down." The software giant announced today that the experimental forum for testing out potential features is being sidelined, in order for the company to focus on bigger picture ideas. Some of the more useful experimentation for properties like Calendar and Gmail will stick around, as will the Labs experiments that eventually made their way into the Android market. Google has promised to keep us all in the loop during the transition.

BORDERS BOOKSTORE TO COME TO AN END

Borders is closing its 399 remaining stores and 11,000 employees are being laid off. In a statement, Borders Group President Mike Edwards said, “We were all working hard towards a different outcome, but the headwinds we have been facing for quite some time, including the rapidly changing book industry, e-reader revolution, and turbulent economy, have brought us to where we are now.”

Yesterday’s deadline for new bids on Borders came and went, with Phoenix-based venture capital firm Najafi “reluctantly” declining to submit a new bid and liquidation firms Hilco and Gordon Brothers the only bidders left at the table. It appears that discussions with Birmingham, Alabama-based bookstore chain Books-A-Million and other interested parties about last-minute arrangements just didn’t pan out.

NOKIA CLOSING UK WEB STORE AT END OF MONTH

Nokia’s affiliate team has confirmed that Nokia will close its UK online shop by the end of the month. In a letter to partners, the Finnish firm said, “This message is to inform you that Nokia is closing their affiliate [program]… in keeping with a strategic business decision to close down the Nokia UK online shop.” The company argued that it has been hard to compete with wireless carriers that are offering products at subsidized prices. “We are planning to close the current UK online store to simplify our channel structure and focus our resources on our key trade customers,” a Nokia spokesperson told Tech Radar.