“Best Buy Co. said it plans to expand the number of in-store Apple stores to 270 by year end, from about 200 currently,” Mary Ellen Lloyd reports for Dow Jones Newswires.
“During a conference call with investors, Best Buy executives said they were very pleased with the partnership and will consider expanding the store program even more in the future. Apple products, including the iMac and new music and video products, are helping to boost customer traffic in stores and adding to sales, executives said,” Lloyd reports.
“Best Buy’s partnership with Apple is an example of how it is working with vendors to adapt as customers’ needs change, executives said. That has helped Best Buy gain market share, customer loyalty and improve its customer satisfaction scores, they said,” Lloyd reports.
Full article here.
The in-store Apple store at my local Best Buy is pitiful. It’s one table with a couple of MacBooks and an iMac and a display with some iPod accessories. The local CompUSA has an entire corner of their store set aside for Mac gear. Not as good as a full-blown Apple Store or a specialized reseller store, but a hell of a lot better than what Best Buy is doing.
The Best Buys in Los Angeles have absolutely HORRIBLE Mac displays. One tiny little table — WITH NO INTERNET ACCESS — and NOTHING LOADED ON THE MACS!!! No photos, no music, no videos, nothing!! It’s a PIECE OF SHIT EXPERIENCE!
Based on the comments above, Apple should wave, “BYE-BYE” to Best Buy.
Before they said 300 stores for the holiday season, now it’s 270 by year’s end.
http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/14117/
I have been to one in Minnesota, and actually it wasn’t bad. They had the iMacs and Mac books out on display. A nice huge wall with the Apple logo glowing – it looked nice, I thought…
I was at a crowded best buy in West Hollywood, noticed all the macs sitting there, turned on the airport internet on each machine, and within one minute every mac was being used.
The PC sales guys were pissed. They probably shut that option down.
Wish BestBuy sold the mini. I’m planning on buying my .Mac from BestBuy and get the reward points. IF I buy a iPod nano, I’ll probably buy it from BestBuy (to get the reward points).
At the BB in Torrance, CA there is about a 1/4 acre of various PC brand products displayed in an open area. You have to down to the next regular store aisle, a sad, poorly lit, dinghy area to “experience” the Macs. It’s nice that they are there, but BB does not do justice to the Apple brand. I also do not remember seeing any of the Pro products. It was just iMacs and iBooks.
Perhaps the comment made above were in Best Buy stores that ARE NOT designated as “Apple Store within a Store”
@MacWeenie,
They sell the Mini online:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8480315&type=product&id=1185267960204
Bizzaro Jeff & MacBill, could you give more exact locations that you cite? This is not correct and should be brought to Apples attention!
NeverFade… Thanks for your positive feedback! What store did you go to?
Thorin, Thx! Didn’t realize the mini was available online. Must be a new offereing as I have checked the BB site before. I have several BB gift cards. That’s why I want to do my mac shopping there. The Apple section at the local BestBuy is not half bad. Looks nice. There are usually a few folks sitting at hte machines. I haven’t talked to the sales folks to know if they have a clue regarding Mac.
I have visited the Best Buy in Orlando/ Altamonte Springs Florida and even though Apple had a corner of the store and the software for Apple was there too, it just looked like Best Buy did not really want you to buy Apple. There were sales people for the other PCs and for a short while there was even an Apple expert that was sometimes available, but — sadly not usually.
Then again, most of my experiences with Best Buy have been marginal. They want your money. Then you should die, just go away until you have more money to spend. Otherwise they have no use for you. Just my experience. (Note even bad stores have an occasional excellent employee, but with any luck, they will get a better job and move on.
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I went to one in Minnesota, and it was prominently placed next to their regular PCs, and was attracting interest. Could have had more software, but I thought it was pretty nice.
Our local Beaverton, OR Best Buy is a two-table store with big black backdrop, Genius Screen and carpeted area with a pittyful selection of SW and anything else really.
In short, it is weak, but it is branded correctly, albiet the Apple Best Buy guy is in his geeky blue and not Apple black (that needs to change).
All this to say that the Best Buys that have the Apple store-in-stores should fair very well, and that can equate to Apple gaining more footage as time rolls forward.
Should this area, right off the main incoming isle, be doubled, it would give Apple the perfect sized presense at the stores.
In time, this should very much deliver what Apple wants, and as that goes, make Best Buy more dependant upon Apple sales, which delivers Cupertino more leverage – and for the consumer thus far – that is a very good thing.
Is there an online site to find out which Best Buys will get the Apple kiosks? I’ve called Best Buy’s 800 #, as well as Apple’s and no one knows. I’ve also talked to salesmen at my closest Best Buy in Florida, and they didn’t know either.
The Apple displays in Best Buy stores are paid for, put together, and supported only by Apple, not Best Buy. If the displays are lack luster its through no fault of Best Buy, but Apple. Most of the new Apple displays in Best Buy are 1 table that have iMacs, macbooks, and macbook pros. How many displays do you need to show an experience with a Mac? The lowest spec’d Mac that Best Buy carries provides an exponentially better experience then most any PC carried by Best Buy thanks largely in part to OSX. Apple extends a fantastic market share with the Best Buy additions and typically Best Buy’s are shopped way more often then CompUSA and mostly have superior service to CompUSA. Quit criticizing Apple’s plans of world domination and Best Buy’s support of it ladies!
Apple User is correct. The only way this will work is for Apple to take charge in each location—don’t blame it on Best Buy.
Apple needs to train, pay & manage it’s Best Buy employees as well or better than it’s Apple store employees. And they need to have the same types of demos, gear, peripherals, displays, internet access, software available that they would have in a small Apple store.
Don’t leave this stuff up to Best Buy. We all know that won’t work.
Best Buy employees don’t know squat about Apple products – it’s a shame. We listened to a couple of them try and sell a guy an iPod and he walked away shaking his head because they knew less than he did. The display was dirty and pieces gone – it was a disgrace. Bad idea in my opinion.