Beleaguered Dell today announced that it will close its 140 kiosks in the United States.
MacDailyNews Take: It’ll be a joy to walk through the malls on our way to the Apple Stores without having to negotiate around Dell’s empty aisle-hogging eyesores.
The Dell Direct Store model, which began in 2002, enabled customers to touch and try Dell products before purchasing systems direct from the company. Why anyone bought after that experience is beyond us. Maybe they didn’t; hence, the suddenly kiosk-less U.S.
“Moving into retail is a prime example of Dell listening to its customers,” said Tony Weiss, vice president for Dell’s Global Consumer business, in the press release. “Ever since we began our journey into retail, we wanted to give customers the opportunity to call, click, or visit Dell and have access to our award-winning products. This move fits in with how our broad global retail strategy is evolving.”
Dell Inc. likes to say that they “listen to customers and deliver innovative technology and services they trust and value,” yet we can find no proof of these things anywhere. Dell assembles boxes that are OS-limited, rely on third-party operating systems that often add their own frustrating issues, and Dell’s PCs are a waste of money compared to Apple’s OS-unlimited Macs. If dime-a-dozen Dell closed up their entire shop today, nobody outside of their employ would care.
MacDailyNews Take: Well, Mikey, you’ve shut the kiosks down, but are you going to give the money you’ve saved back to the shareholders?
I think that take was a bit on the bitter side, even for me.
Is anyone surprised by this when Dell’s retail model of customers going into the stores, trying out the PCs, and then not being able to take one home with them when they decide to buy it is totally flawed?
There’s no sense of satisfaction in Dells ‘try in-store, delivered to your door’ model – when I buy a PC in store I WANT IT NOW!
Now we must burn them and salt the earth underneath. And we must mark this day and return every year hence to warn all future generations of the plight of the damned. Yea, it shall be written so just as the skies blacken and the seas boil with fury and condemnation. Witness, the Dearth Mall.
I’m thinking on starting an internet provider service.
To avail yourself of this service I’ve decided on a marketing plan that allows you take time out from your day, drive down to the local (or not so local) mall, look at the internet, admire it, play with it, but not be able to purchase a monthly program to sign up your home for access to the internet. To actually sign up, you have to go home and sign up online. Or, you could go to the local Apple Store and access the net there… just not at my kiosk.
What do you think – is this flawed?
(blinking eyelashes vapidly)
@MDN: “Well, Mikey, you’ve shut the kiosks down, but are you going to give the money you’ve saved back to the shareholders?”
In a word, “NO”.
@Bartsimpsonhead – Gateway made the same assumption, with the same result. It obviously costs more to stock a store with inventory; Gateway and Dell both gambled that their stores/kiosks would be cheap enough without inventory to compensate. It would have been a nice idea if it had worked. Much like the idea of simply asking everyone who passes you on the street for a hundred dollars, and getting it.
“Much like the idea of simply asking everyone who passes you on the street for a hundred dollars, and getting it.”
ANOTHER great business plan, can I use it?
(More eyelash blinking – hmmmmm should I dye my hair blonde?)
All those Dell kiosk employees are going to have to go ask for their old jobs back at Radio Shack.
The problem was…
…as I hear it from a friend of a friend inside Dell…
…is that Dell’s kiosks looked pathetic compared to the crowds at the Apple Store’s and was harming Dell’s image in the marketplace.
Retail marketing is tricky, empty stores don’t lure more customers in. No matter how low the price is.
Apple had a trick for awhile to get customers waiting in line for a operating system advance. They emailed previous Apple customers and offered a 10% across the store discount on the night of a OS release. Just to get people standing in line and create headlines.
Of course I didn’t see this happen for Lepoard.
Did it?
“Well, Mikey, you’ve shut the kiosks down, but are you going to give the money you’ve saved back to the shareholders?”
Shareholders? PAH! Dell has to fund quite a few golden parachutes especially Mike’s.
Dell kiosks and Gateway stores could at least have given customers little cardboard cutouts of PCs to moon over while they waited for their shipments. A companion for the Lonely Guy.
@Jim – TIV
Blonde – what’s the use?
I’m gonna wear a miniskirt and fake breast implants, while keeping my bald head and full beard. People are gonna pay me just to go away
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Old Mac Man,
Apple gave out free t-shirts at the Leopard release.
@Old Mac Man
Can’t remember any discount. Leopard really got people intrested, or maybe it was coffee and t-shirts – both free.
What’s the Dell’yo?
Anyways, all those big screens will be for grabs.
–“It’ll be a joy to walk through the malls on our way to the Apple Stores without having to negotiate around Dell’s empty aisle-hogging eyesores.”
Your commentary sounds like a spoiled 12 yo kid. Grow up MDN and write professional commentary. This kind of rhetoric makes me embarrassed to be a Mac fan.
I just want to know where that faker Zune Tang is? Have you noticed that he never posts on articles that show a weakness to Pee Cee related bad news.
“Well, Mikey, you’ve shut the kiosks down, but are you going to give the money you’ve saved back to the shareholders?”
First, sorry for the folks losing the jobs.
Now the fun part. Hey Dude ( M Dell ) you’re customers are not getting a DELL anymore. At least in the malls. Oh yeah, another arrogant company/leader who thought they were masters of the universe dolling out ridiculous advice to Apple gets their butt bitten by it.
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“All those Dell kiosk employees are going to have to go ask for their old jobs back at Radio Shack.”
LOL Mike.
I’ll add that they can’t go back to CompUSA either.
ROFL!
“Award winning products” – from Dell????
Biggest joke Ive heard this year!
I nearly pissed myself laughing at that one!
I hope they replace those Dell kiosks with a more tasty product – maybe Hot Dog on a Stick or something. Mmmm…Hot dogs……..
I saw one of these at a Mall in the Midwest, and it was right next to a jumpin’ Apple store. The Dell employee was sitting and surfing the web, undisturbed, while Apple products were flying off the shelves just 20 meters away.
The day that my friend switched to Mac was the very day that a Dullard at a Dull Kiosk couldn’t recommend any Dell laptop for doing video editing. This was under two years ago.
Since when did Dell have innovative technology? and were do you get awards for such things?
It was actually a ward winning. Several mental hospitals near Round Rock received donated Dell refurbs. Psych!