Some Best Buy stores fitted with snazzy new Apple displays (photos)

[AppleInsider]

Electronics specialty retailer Best Buy, which announced in April that it would be expanding its Mac pilot program to about 200 stores, has begun fitting some of its higher profile locations with radically improved Apple store-within-a-store concepts.

As can be seen in the photos below, isolated Apple display areas have cropped up near the front of some of the retailer's computing departments. A two-foot thick black display wall forms the centerpiece of the layout, packing stereo speakers and an embedded LCD display (or "mini theater") flanked by two glowing Apple logos.

A wooden table, reminiscent of those used in the Cupertino-based Mac makers own retail stores, sits in front of the mini theater. It's stocked with iMac, MacBook and MacBook Pro display units. Power and security cords, like in Apple's own stores, are channeled through recesses within the tables, reducing clutter and minimizing the appearance of wired connections.

It appears that Apple has even taken measures to jazz up Best Buy's ancient looking price tags, concealing them with Apple-branded plastic jackets that can be flipped up to reveal product costs, specifications and steeply priced extended warranty options.

Adjacent to the Apple display tables are shelving units that feature matching planograms for both Apple Peripherals and Apple Accessories. In stock appear to be the usual array of Apple cables, mice, routers and replacement notebook batteries. Those items are joined by a handful of third party offerings such as Iomega's MiniMax and Western Digital's MyBook external hard drives.

Apple and Best Buy have been working to expand the presence of Apple's Mac line at Best Buy outlets since last Spring. The initiative began as a 7-store pilot program on the West Coast and quickly expanded to approximately 50 locations by the Fall. In April, Best Buy used a quarterly conference call to reveal that it, along with Apple, had decided expand the pilot to approximately 200 of its stores by the fall of 2007.

Investment bank Morgan Stanley has said that a full expansion of the pilot to all of Best Buy's stores could generate as much as $400 million in additional Mac sales for Apple each year.

Apple is also running a similar, albeit smaller, pilot at Circuit City retail outlets located on the East Coast.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[donlphi]

You better have PLENTY of "information" cards laying on the display tables because the idiots working at Best Buy wouldn't know the difference between an Apple Computer and an Apple Pie.

I like the idea of expanding where you can look at an Apple. Curious if costumers will be able to connect to the internet with these machines like you can in the Apple store or CAN'T (couldn't) in CompUSA.

[Marvin]

I like how they have a flip cover to hide the prices.

[Bageljoey]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

It appears that Apple has even taken measures to jazz up Best Buy's ancient looking price tags, concealing them with Apple-branded plastic jackets that can be flipped up to reveal product costs, specifications and steeply priced extended warranty options.

Nice "feature."

[Kolchak]

This won't help me in the least. Aside from the fact that I hate Bust Buy, their nearest store as well as a Circuit City are both in the same mall as an Apple Store. Guess which sales people I trust to know what they're talking about.

[mike39565]

It sure would be great if Apple and Best Buy would use stores in areas where the closest Apple Store is over 500 miles away.

[city]

A Best Buy is still a Best Buy. It's like putting a Lexus label on a Ford.

[Frank777]

New store displays aren't needed. If the geniuses at Best Buy Canada would only stock a minimum of decent Mac software titles, and stop parking the stupid ladder in the Apple section, their sales would immediately quadruple.

[StrangeThingInTheLand]

Originally Posted by donlphi

You better have PLENTY of "information" cards laying on the display tables because the idiots working at Best Buy wouldn't know the difference between an Apple Computer and an Apple Pie.

I like the idea of expanding where you can look at an Apple. Curious if costumers will be able to connect to the internet with these machines like you can in the Apple store or CAN'T (couldn't) in CompUSA.

Was just in one of these updated Best Buy stores (Livingston, NJ) two days ago, and you *can* connect to the Internet.

Still, it's a pretty small island of Apple in the store, and without a dedicated sales rep standing by (no one was anywhere in sight when I visited) it doesn't yet provide an Apple store-level experience.

[parky]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Electronics specialty retailer Best Buy, which announced in April that it would be expanding its Mac pilot program to about 200 stores, has begun fitting some of its higher profile locations with radically improved Apple store-within-a-store concepts.

As can be seen in the photos below, isolated Apple display areas have cropped up near the front of some of the retailer's computing departments. A two-foot thick black display wall forms the centerpiece of the layout, packing stereo speakers and an embedded LCD display (or "mini theater") flanked by two glowing Apple logos.

A wooden table, reminiscent of those used in the Cupertino-based Mac makers own retail stores, sits in front of the mini theater. It's stocked with iMac, MacBook and MacBook Pro display units. Power and security chords, like in Apple's own stores, are channeled through recesses within the tables, reducing clutter and minimizing the appearance of wired connections.

It appears that Apple has even taken measures to jazz up Best Buy's ancient looking price tags, concealing them with Apple-branded plastic jackets that can be flipped up to reveal product costs, specifications and steeply priced extended warranty options.

Adjacent to the Apple display tables are shelving units that feature matching planograms for both Apple Peripherals and Apple Accessories. In stock appear to be the usual array of Apple cables, mice, routers and replacement notebook batteries. Those items are joined by a handful of third party offerings such as Iomega's MiniMax and Western Digital's MyBook external hard drives.

Apple and Best Buy have been working to expand the presence of Apple's Mac line at Best Buy outlets since last Spring. The initiative began as a 7-store pilot program on the West Coast and quickly expanded to approximately 50 locations by the Fall. In April, Best Buy used a quarterly conference call to reveal that it, along with Apple, had decided expand the pilot to approximately 200 of its stores by the fall of 2007.

Investment bank Morgan Stanley has said that a full expansion of the pilot to all of Best Buy's stores could generate as much as $400 million in additional Mac sales for Apple each year.

Apple is also running a similar, albeit smaller, pilot at Circuit City retail outlets located on the East Coast.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

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It should be "power cords" NOT "power chords" !

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by parky

It should be "power cords" NOT "power chords" !

I don't know, a C power chord can sound great sometimes!

[iPoster]

Interesting idea, but the only Apple hardware I've ever seen in the local BB is Airport Express and Airport Extreme, with a brief flirtation with the Mac Mini. We are only about a hour away from an Apple Store though, so I would be kinda surprised to see it go with the all-out display, unless BB decides to do it across the board.

[backtomac]

I have to say I like what I've seen from the pics.

True, it's still better to go to an Apple store if possible. But for me the Best Buy is one hour away and the nearest Apple store is about 1.5 to 2 hours away.

Let's hope the stores will hire Apple trained staff to sell the Apple products.

[boss1]

the look on the face of the lady with the glasses in that pic is golden. She looks like she just stepped into the twilight zone lol.

I wonder how long it's going to take for the iPhone to start popping up at bestbuys. We've already seen some advertising from bestbuy stores in Canada for it.

[a_greer]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

It appears that Apple has even taken measures to jazz up Best Buy's ancient looking price tags, concealing them with Apple-branded plastic jackets that can be flipped up to reveal product costs, specifications and steeply priced extended warranty options.

OH DEAR...I hope Apple didnt give up control of the warrenty experiance to BB...a BB extended warenty would be HORRIBLE comapred to applecare.

[mdriftmeyer]

Originally Posted by Ireland

I don't know, a C power chord can sound great sometimes!

He's being sarcastic over power chords being incorrect when the first response discussed costumers as the target market.

[a_greer]

Originally Posted by StrangeThingInTheLand

Was just in one of these updated Best Buy stores (Livingston, NJ) two days ago, and you *can* connect to the Internet.

because the internet can answer n00b questions so well...like "wheres the start button" "wheres the internet (ref to the explorer icon)"...and other gems that people have asked in the Apple store...just while I was there

[krye]

They already tried that at CompUSA and .....Sears, was it? Anyway, it starts out looking great. and after a few weeks it looks like crap. All the CompUSA stores that used to be by me looked like "who did it and ran". There's not a single employee over the age of 15 and no one knows jack about computers, not just Mac, but Mac and PC. Maybe you could find someone who knew a litttle about PCs, but no one ever knew about the Macs. Once I walked into a CompuUSA and was surprised to find an actual Apple emplyee there, and an adult too! Too bad he was only there for a week.

There are plenty of Best Buys around me and I'm surprised that 95% of the employees can figure out the time clock. So good luck getting your questions answered. I hope that Apple is going to stock the counters with their own emplyees.

I can also see the upside. I live in NY and I'm no more than 20 minutes from 3 Apple Stores. Image what it would be like trying to get your hands on a new Mac for a test drive without being able to go to an Apple store. Maybe with Best Buy, there will be that many more stores that you can go into and test drive a Mac. You'll just have to help yourself.

[aplnub]

CompUSA is dOOmed!

CompUSA is good for network stuff and that is it. I would gladly go to Best Buy (run by dummies) because the Comp in area sucks.

However, I go to the Apple store first.

[donlphi]

Originally Posted by krye

They already tried that at CompUSA and .....Sears, was it? Anyway, it starts out looking great. and after a few weeks it looks like crap. All the CompUSA stores that used to be by me looked like "who did it and ran". There's not a single employee over the age of 15 and no one knows jack about computers, not just Mac, but Mac and PC. Maybe you could find someone who knew a litttle about PCs, but no one ever knew about the Macs. Once I walked into a CompuUSA and was surprised to find an actual Apple emplyee there, and an adult too! Too bad he was only there for a week.

There are plenty of Best Buys around me and I'm surprised that 95% of the employees can figure out the time clock. So good luck getting your questions answered. I hope that Apple is going to stock the counters with their own emplyees.

I can also see the upside. I live in NY and I'm no more than 20 minutes from 3 Apple Stores. Image what it would be like trying to get your hands on a new Mac for a test drive without being able to go to an Apple store. Maybe with Best Buy, there will be that many more stores that you can go into and test drive a Mac. You'll just have to help yourself.

I think the upside is that people that live in smaller suburbs (or small towns) with Wal-Marts, Targets, and Best Buys only will get a chance to see a mac up close and personal. I have some family that lives in the "CENTRAL ILLINOIS AREA" that will never see an Apple Store go up by them, but if you drive 30 minutes in any direction, you will eventually hit a Best Buy.

Most people thinking about buying a mac already look at them online on their current computer. It's usually just a matter of making sure they are still going to be able to visit their favorite websites and check their email. Hopefully the clerks at Best Buy understand that Microsoft office is available without installing boot camp and Windows. My poor mother (who knows very little about computers) argued with a clerk for 10 minutes trying to explain that she wouldn't need to buy windows to use office. Idiots... seriously...

On the other hand, if you have a Fry's Electronics, the Apple section of the store is the only slightly organized portion of the store. There is hope.

[nagromme]

Looks like a nice improvement, although those price-flippers are pretty silly! I'm sure it's because someone didn't like the clownish yellow tags ruining the aesthetics of the display, but I guarantee you some trolls will claim that Apple is "hiding" the price in order to somehow swindle people

Also, to answer the question of the woman in the 4th photo: those are stacks of blank DVDs!

[Gustav]

Originally Posted by Frank777

New store displays aren't needed. If the geniuses at Best Buy Canada would only stock a minimum of decent Mac software titles, and stop parking the stupid ladder in the Apple section, their sales would immediately quadruple.

Heh heh, I thought they only did that in the Ottawa stores.

[Tummy]

I'm sure those black carpets will get dirty fast.

[Lafe]

I live many, many miles from my nearest Apple store. I have an iMac, but would like a MBP sometime between now and Christmas. I get the specs on the Apple site, but when I want to touch and feel, I'll be happy to head to Best Buy. I'm sure that there are lots of users like me. We don't even care if the 15-year-old Best Buy guy doesn't know a mac from a mic. We just love the chance to check things out that we wouldn't normally get without a two-hour drive.

[mike39565]

I live down on the Gulf Coast and the closest Apple Store is over 500 miles away in Atlanta. and what will probaly kill this trial at both Best Buy and Circuit City is that the stores that are getting the MAC's are in cities that have Apple Stores. Those of us that live in the boonies our only choice is the Internet. It sure would be good to be able to see my next MAC in person before I buy and get it the same day instead of having to wait 4 or 5 days for it to ship.

[Lafe]

Is that woman having a heart attack?

[city]

Originally Posted by donlphi

.

On the other hand, if you have a Fry's Electronics, the Apple section of the store is the only slightly organized portion of the store. There is hope.

The other thing about Fry's Electronics, so I hear, is that some item already have software that a previous owner of the product loaded on. My experience with Fry's Electronics is that you can wait a long time in the customer "service" line and that if the box you purchase has an inexpensive part missing there is nothing they will do but tell you you're wrong. They won't give you the part and won't except a return (because a part is missing). Given that last time I was there, the store was a complelte mess with boxes open and items scattered, missing parts can happen in a resealed box.

[blecch]

Best Buy's Mac software selection seems to be limited to MS Office and a few pieces of Apple software.

Who is going to buy a Mac at Best Buy when 99% of the software they sell is Windows-only? When Mac software is limited to 10 titles or less?

The only thing I can imagine is that Best Buy will encourage people to use Boot Camp or Parallels...

[blecch]

Come to think of it, I wish that the Apple stores would bring back the Mac software sections that they used to have!! (Those sections now hold iPod/iPhone junk, while Mac software has been relegated to a tiny set of shelves in the back.) Apple's Company Store (at 1 Infinite Loop) has a very *good* Mac software section - why can't they do that for the rest of us?

I'd have to say that Fry's Electronics actually has a decent Mac software section, although it is still dwarfed by multiple aisles devoted to Windows software and games.

[bobmarksdale]

Originally Posted by a_greer

OH DEAR...I hope Apple didnt give up control of the warrenty experiance to BB...a BB extended warenty would be HORRIBLE comapred to applecare.

Well, when I zoomed in, it was kinda blurry, but here is the screenshot:


From what I can read it says:
Full Manufacturer's Warranty Text Available on Request.
Warranty on Parts may vary.
2 Year Performance Service Plan only $299.99.
3 Year Performance Service Plan only $349.99.

Looks like best buy's crappy service will be competing with AppleCare. If would be logical about it they would go for AC, but some people might be coerced into a bad decision.

Edit: now that I look at it, the picture is much blurrier than what I could see, but you get the idea.

[tomkarl]

I think the photos showing the new Apple section directly in front of the Restroom sign is telling.

They park it in the back and it'll be neglected in a matter of weeks.

[britwithgoodteeth]

Originally Posted by Lafe

Is that woman having a heart attack?

No, she's not.

[JesusNerd]

I work at a small Best Buy, and we get 3-5 customers a day looking for macs. There is no Apple store in the area. I hope we get this display and some macs in-stock.

And not everyone who works at Best Buy is an idiot. I work with some really bright guys and gals. I know that several of my co-workers hate PCs and would love the opportunity to sell macs. I'm pretty up-front with people about the pros and cons of macs and pcs. I admit I have turned away sales to people who decided to get a mac after my presentation.

The only extended warranty option that would be good is the 1 year accidental for $99. I have a tendency to be pretty rough with my stuff. The accidental service plans there have gotten me out of a few different instances where I would have been screwed.

[Neil Anderson]

"I'm sure those black carpets will get dirty fast."

Actually no faster (or slower) than any other colour.

[badtzmaru]

I do remember when CompUSA put an Apple section in some of their stores. It was nice to see the extra products but no one ever truly manned that area. It seemed neglected and of course CompUSA has closed a bunch of stores.

Hopefully Best Buy will do a better job. I always see people in there looking and buying laptops so this idea might take off.

[bdkennedy1]

Jesus, they're still doing the pilot program? What's it been, 2 years? How does anything get done around there? Best Buy used to be my favorite store.

The last time I was at Best Buy I had to wait 10 minutes for a salesperson (typical), and then he didn't know if they had any bluetooth mice and recommended I try Fry's.

Stick to your own stores Apple, I think Best Buy hired CompUSA's ex-employees.

[bobmarksdale]

Originally Posted by bdkennedy1

Jesus, they're still doing the pilot program? What's it been, 2 years? How does anything get done around there? Best Buy used to be my favorite store.

The last time I was at Best Buy I had to wait 10 minutes for a salesperson (typical), and then he didn't know if they had any bluetooth mice and recommended I try Fry's.

Stick to your own stores Apple, I think Best Buy hired CompUSA's ex-employees.

Eh, last time I went into a best buy, I asked a guy about bluetooth mice, so he went and asked someone else coming back about five minutes later with a 'sorry, no'.

Best Buy is not a good place to go if you are looking for help/support, but if you know what you want and know where it is, they're ok (unless you want something at a decent price...)

[backtomac]

^^

Moral of the story; Don't get your bluetooth mice from Best Buy.....

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by Neil Anderson

"I'm sure those black carpets will get dirty fast."

Actually no faster (or slower) than any other colour.

Whatever you say. Not. Pure/solid colors are a bad idea for any high traffic area.

[bobmarksdale]

Originally Posted by backtomac

^^

Moral of the story; Don't get your bluetooth mice from Best Buy.....

yeah... because they don't have any...