Whether that figure will be enough to prevent forced layoffs remains to be seen, as the company continues to analyze its revenue and expenses, said spokeswoman Susan Busch.

An exact number of buyouts won't be known until Jan. 16, the deadline to back out of the plan, but the losses represent a 12.5 percent reduction in the workforce at the corporate offices in Richfield, Minn.

The buyouts come in the midst of the worst retail climate in decades, as beaten-down stock markets, unemployment fears and a lingering housing slump have dried up consumer spending.

The nation's largest U.S. chains confirmed dire predictions of a dismal holiday shopping season on Thursday, reporting that sales dropped 1.7 percent in December compared to a year ago, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. And as part of a wave of store closings that could reach an estimated 73,000 locations in the next six months, Macy's decided to close 11 stores nationwide due to slumping sales.

"There's just no incentive to spend out there," said retail analyst Ken Perkins, president of RetailMetrics. "People are strictly buying what they need, and they're forgoing virtually all other purchases."

Best Buy Co. Inc. will release its December sales results Friday, and Wall Street is not expecting good news. Best Buy is the nation's largest consumer electronics retailer, but it is fighting off competition from discounters such as Wal-Mart, Costco and Target, which now carry a growing selection of iPhones, MP3 players, video game consoles and televisions.

Best Buy executives said the company experienced a "rapid, seismic" drop in sales after September's crash in the financial markets, and said October sales at existing stores dropped 7.8 percent.

The company offered a voluntary severance package to nearly all of its 4,000 corporate employees on Dec. 15, saying it needed to "reduce significant expenses from its corporate payroll." Best Buy President Brian Dunn said at the time that he didn't have "a quota in my head" for how many jobs the company hoped to eliminate to meet cost-cutting goals.

Workers from across the company signed up for the buyouts, including hourly workers and managers, Busch said. Most will leave the company Feb. 12.

Among those taking the buyout was Julie Gilbert, a senior vice-president who launched an initiative to make Best Buy stores more female-friendly and to recruit, retain and promote women within the company.

Gilbert said Thursday she will form a consulting business to take that program, known as WOLF (for Women's Leadership Forum), to companies worldwide. She said she already has interest from businesses in London and Amsterdam.

"It's time to live out my destiny," she said.

In 2004, Best Buy outsourced about 650 workers in its IT department and 115 others in human resources to Accenture. As part of the move, it eliminated about 160 company positions, Busch said.

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