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.

HP TO LAYOFF OVER 500 WEBOS EMPLOYEES THIS WEEK

HP will lay off as many as 525 employees from its Palm division this week AllThingsD reported on Tuesday. HP killed off its webOS mobile operating system in mid-August when it also announced it would discontinue the development of webOS devices such as the TouchPad and Palm Pre family of smartphones. “As part of this decision, the webOS GBU is undergoing a reduction in workforce,” an HP spokesperson explained. “Today’s actions are part of this initiative. During this time, we stand by our commitment to our webOS customers and will work to ensure that support and service for customers are not adversely affected. HP is exploring ways to leverage webOS software.”