“Apple products will soon be showing up at Staples stores, according to tweets from employees at the office supply store chain,” Steven Musil reports for CNET.
“Regis Mulot, the vice president of international human resources at Staples, made the announcement [yesterday via Twitter],” Musil reports. “In addition to Mulot’s tweet, Erin LaFlamme, a Strategic Accounts coordinator at Staples, tweeted her joy at the deal… [and] Mike Goggin, a field services manager at Staples, tweeted that it was a done deal: ‘Staples just finalized a deal to begin selling Apple products.'”
MacDailyNews Take: Finally!
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Mikey Campbell reports for AppleInsider, “Update: Mulot has deleted the original tweet regarding Apple product sales, but other Staples executives’ posts remain on the microblogging site.”
Read more in the full article here.
“Staples already sells Apple products internationally but had been unsuccessful in completing a deal with Apple for the U.S. market… While there’s no mention of what Apple products Staples would carry, MacRumors previously heard in mid-January that Staples would carry Apple’s full lineup of Macs, iPads as well as the iPhone 5 in their stores,” Husain Sumra reports for MacRumors.
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Better late than never.
To date, Staples has been this weird backwater of antiquated tech, with crappy Windows PCs, some pretend iPhones and assorted iPad roadkill crammed in a section alongside office furniture, chair mats, and manilla folders. In Staples, outside of a a smattering of Apple-related accessories, there was precious little mention of Apple (unless it was something derogatory said by Staples employees after you asked, “Hey. where are the iPhones and iPads?” because, the fact was, they knew they worked in a tech wasteland devoid of the products people really wanted from the #1 tech company in the world).
Sometimes, for fun, we’d go in there when we needed a binder or something and, blinking wide-eyed, ask one of the red shirts to see a MacBook Air or an iPad with Retina display. They’d then try to sell us on a 1-foot think plastic HP laptop featuring Windows Vista or dazzle us with some Chinese no-name plastic tablet running Fragmandroid Ding Dong. Needless to say, we were what they call “tough customers.”
Anyway, good luck, Staples! Hopefully, your employees will now have only good things to say about Apple products.
The road to worldwide ubiquity of all Apple products is confusing neandrethal alalists everywhere becuase, like everything Apple , there is no exisiting American business model whichit follows….
In less than a few years they’ll wake up wondering how this all happened.
All part of Tim’s plan to lock up the tablet market forever. It’s about getting iPads onto as many store shelves as possible. The enemy will not be given any corner to hide this time. The Microsoft Surface, for example, will not even be granted a chance at flourishing simply due to the absence of an iPad where customers shop for it.
Staples. Good for pens and paper and not much else.
Does anyone in the U.S. actually go to Staples to buy a computer? I occasionally go there for printer paper, binders, notebooks, pens, or similar office supplies. You might even buy a mouse at Staples. But their electronics selection is a joke.
Staples is probably well-suited to distribute the low-end tablets, such as the small versions of the Kindle, or the cheap non-iPod “MP3 players.” But I don’t see this doing much for Apple. It seems far too likely to end up delivering a negative view of Apple products like the CompUSA “store within a store” concept that was stuck in a corner and mostly filled with non-functional, last generation hardware and a few small shelves of Mac software.
Staples: lousy service, clueless teenagers for technical staff and high prices. I will not cross their doorstep again.
The video is actually kinda funny; as an Apple Consultants Network member (with the Apple and “Consultants Network” on my shirt), I’m often asked for help by Apple store customers when I’m in an Apple store. I do my best, but many times my best is simply finding a real store employee to help them.
iPad’s have been sold in Staples Canada for some time now, but no other products.
Expanding Apple’s market is always good.
I worked at Staples several years ago, during the dark days of Vista. Man, was it hard to recommend a Windoze box to someone back then, especially as a Mac user. The AeroGlass feature did not make for a very convincing demonstration of Vista’s “power”.
We did briefly sell iPods (classic and nano), though we never had many of them. I think it was only when Staples was able to get a small quantity of them through some outside means. We also sold the Zune, though I don’t remember anyone ever actually buying one…
Staples in Canada sells Apple products and some products that look like Apple products IE Apple peripherals that come in cheap Apple branded package the kind like what was stopped in Alaska a shot time ago.
For years I have supported and will continue to support my local grassroots Apple-Authorized Reseller, Sunrise Electronics (see http://www.digitalsunrise.com) since they have been with Apple since the late 80s.
However, It will be great to also see Apple merchandise rather than just accessories sold at the local Staples as well. We used to have a Circuit City around here, then they closed shop. I was hoping perhaps a Best Buy would open in their place with a built-in Apple Store, but unfortunately it only turned into a crummy Five Below instead.
Unfortunately, the nearest Apple Store is over an hour’s drive away.