Richfield-based Best Buy Company, Inc., plans to hire 29,000 seasonal employees during the 2010 holiday season-the same number as last year.

“It is our most important holiday season ever,” CEO Brian Dunn told reporters at a holiday preview event on Monday in New York. The event was delivered via a live Webcast.

Dunn said he anticipates a very “connected Christmas” with sales driven by smartphones, touch-screen tablet computers, new video-game devices (including some with 3-D games), and e-readers. However, he also acknowledged that “it's a tough environment out there,” saying that holiday sales will be “hard fought.”

Without revealing specific dollar figures, Dunn said that the retail giant's holiday advertising spending will be “higher than last year.”

He also said that Best Buy will open 44 to 50 new mobile locations in various U.S. cities before Thanksgiving in an attempt to boost its smartphone business.

Best Buy is Minnesota's third-largest public company based on its fiscal year 2009 revenue, which totaled $45 billion. The company reported $49.7 billion in fiscal 2010 revenue.