Macs at Best Buy, OfficeMax, Wal Mart

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
According to yourdailymac (I know they have been full of shit in the past) ran this a few days ago-



[quote] I am a sales rep that works for Apple and I must say that you are doing a great job with your site. This is my first time writing to a news/rumor site so bear with me. OK, in our meeting last week at Cupertino we filled Steve in on the progress of our trying to sell the new iMac to 3 major chains. Right now we have sent 1 production version of the new flat panel iMac to: WalMart, BestBuy (used to be a Apple Re-Seller but now is thinking about rejoining since the new iMac doesn't come in colors) and OfficeMax (Apple is planning on purchasing store space so that when the Gateway Country's contract runs out they can have condensed Apple Stores within each store) So far we have been able to make deals with BestBuy and OfficeMax but we are having problems with Wal-Mart because they are unsure of the new iMac. But we do plan to make a deal with them after they see how much of a huge success this thing is.

<hr></blockquote>





Well, any truth or possibility to this? And I guess it would ONLY be iMacs? While limited, I think this would rock.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 18
    i used to work as an Apple rep. at Best Buy. i sure hope they've turned over a new leaf. for all of you who thought CompUSA was bad, Best Buy puts them to shame.



    they were blatently lying to customers to get them to buy the stupid service plans. inlcluding stuff like "Macs are broken more often than PC's"

    "This thing isn't really covered by a warrenty after 14 days".



    along with the service plan push, they tried hard to steer customers away from the Macs in the first place. they were getting better commissions on PC's, so they didn't want to sell Macs. it was really bad.



    i got into an arguement with the manager about some of the stuff he was saying and was two seconds away from a lifetime ban from Best Buy.



    oops. i don't get mad often or easily, but i hate when someone is lying to someone else to take advantage of them. in any case, **** Best Buy.



    after the manager and i had our chat, i asked him outright why they treat their customers so poorly.



    his reply stunned me, his exact words were



    "We can treat our customers however we want to, they have no where else to go."



    how's that for nice.
  • Reply 2 of 18
    Aww, man! That is shocking!
  • Reply 3 of 18
    fran441fran441 Posts: 3,715member
    I don't know if this is such a good idea. Apple is going to open more retail stores, so why create more competition?



    Wal Mart selling iMacs? Sounds good because they are such a large retailer, but how would they slash prices? Would they stack boxes like Televisions in the electronics section? There is no sales pitch for any of the devices they sell at Wal Mart either. Maybe that's an advantage? :confused:



    On the plus side, maybe they'd start selling Mac software.



    Best Buy selling Macs again is horrifying to me. I'm sure everyone has read my story about the Best Buy sales reps basically mock an older couple (think about your grandparents) when they tried to buy an iMac. They said they would go and get it after desperately trying to talk them out of it, and when they got up to the counter to pay, two more Best Buy salespeople came up and said, "Oh you don't want that", picked up the computer and left. Thankfully, they left the store with nothing, much to the astonishment of the Best Buy reps. Having them NOT sell Macs is Addition by Subtraction.



    OfficeMax seems strange to me. The only computers I've ever seen them sell are Compaqs and they don't even try and sell them. I go to OfficeMax to get pencils (maybe), not to get a computer.



    So while I can see Wal Mart as a potential good place to get the new iMac displayed (just because so many people go to Wal Mart (aka 'The Store') to buy everything), I can't see OfficeMax or Best Buy as good places to sell them.
  • Reply 4 of 18
    jrcjrc Posts: 817member
    [quote]Originally posted by Fran441:

    <strong>I don't know if this is such a good idea. Apple is going to open more retail stores, so why create more competition?



    Wal Mart selling iMacs? Sounds good because they are such a large retailer, but how would they slash prices? Would they stack boxes like Televisions in the electronics section? There is no sales pitch for any of the devices they sell at Wal Mart either. Maybe that's an advantage? :confused:



    On the plus side, maybe they'd start selling Mac software.



    Best Buy selling Macs again is horrifying to me. I'm sure everyone has read my story about the Best Buy sales reps basically mock an older couple (think about your grandparents) when they tried to buy an iMac. They said they would go and get it after desperately trying to talk them out of it, and when they got up to the counter to pay, two more Best Buy salespeople came up and said, "Oh you don't want that", picked up the computer and left. Thankfully, they left the store with nothing, much to the astonishment of the Best Buy reps. Having them NOT sell Macs is Addition by Subtraction.



    OfficeMax seems strange to me. The only computers I've ever seen them sell are Compaqs and they don't even try and sell them. I go to OfficeMax to get pencils (maybe), not to get a computer.



    So while I can see Wal Mart as a potential good place to get the new iMac displayed (just because so many people go to Wal Mart (aka 'The Store') to buy everything), I can't see OfficeMax or Best Buy as good places to sell them.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    I bought my Performa 6116 at Office Max. The 155% Price Match guarantee at the time netted me a great savings, too. Way to go K-mart! (owned them)
  • Reply 5 of 18
    fran441fran441 Posts: 3,715member
    Interesting.
  • Reply 6 of 18
    I got my Performa 6400 at Office Max in December of 1996. At the time Office Max was cleaning out every Mac they had, so I got the 200 MHz model (not the VES) for $900 and they were giving away the small 13" Apple Display with it, but I got the big 15" one with the huge speakers on the side (perfect for this Performa, with the built in subwoofer). They weren't supposed to give me that one. It was a huge upgrade from an LCII (which was painfully slow running Netscape 2). Considering that the model was going for $1500 in the major catalogs, and started out at $2000 when it was introduced a year before, it was an amazing deal. Its playing mp3s right now in soundjam, and makes a nice jukebox.



    Surprisingly the salespeople there actually knew their fair share about the Macs they were selling. Nowadays they seem to only sell Compaqs. There used to be a Gateway store inside that's now gone. It would be really cool if Apple could take that over, however our Office Max always seems dead so I don't know how much business they could do here.



    I've never been to Best Buy since we don't have them around here, but from what you've all been saying I surely hope they don't go back there.



    On another note the Circuit City here has a nice Mac display, but the salespeople seriously know absolutely nothing about them. There's usually one "iMac" guy to answer questions and he definitely did not know what he was doing.
  • Reply 7 of 18
    All I can say if that drivel is true...



    "Apple... STOP! You have retail stores now! Concentrate on every major city and get them ALL over and you won't even need to acklowledge the fact that Best Buy (ack), Office Max (Double Ack), and Wal-Mart ( Who are you trying to kid) even exist!!!"



    Mac Guru
  • Reply 8 of 18
    jrcjrc Posts: 817member
    [quote]Originally posted by Mac Guru:

    <strong>All I can say if that drivel is true...



    "Apple... STOP! You have retail stores now! Concentrate on every major city and get them ALL over and you won't even need to acklowledge the fact that Best Buy (ack), Office Max (Double Ack), and Wal-Mart ( Who are you trying to kid) even exist!!!"



    Mac Guru</strong><hr></blockquote>



    I think if done properly, perhaps placing a base iMac in Wal-Mart might bring in some new marketshare. I know the iMacs sold well at Sam's Clubs when they were there twice as a clearance item. And that was past their prime, IMO. I think a current model iMac would do fine. Especially if it's an LCD model.
  • Reply 9 of 18
    I think the movement by Apple into these streetcart markets is bullshit. I don't see why we are at all discussing this since it just will not happen. As was pointed out earlier, Apple now has its own stores, in highly diverse traffic areas, it doesn't need to tarnish its image with these variety junk stores. And that is part of the Apple mystique, and something that will not go away. Apple in any store other than an Apple Store? Not any time soon.
  • Reply 10 of 18
    let them do whatever they want. I will sell my dog if they can get a 10% market share by 2005
  • Reply 11 of 18
    x704x704 Posts: 276member
    [quote]Originally posted by Gigawire:

    <strong>I think the movement by Apple into these streetcart markets is bullshit. I don't see why we are at all discussing this since it just will not happen. As was pointed out earlier, Apple now has its own stores, in highly diverse traffic areas, it doesn't need to tarnish its image with these variety junk stores. And that is part of the Apple mystique, and something that will not go away. Apple in any store other than an Apple Store? Not any time soon.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Well although Apple does have it's own stores it doesn't have that many & it's not going to open one up in every city in the US. This is where places lice Wallmart come in.



    I really hope they don't go into best buy again.
  • Reply 12 of 18
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    The problem is finding people to sell them. I have a feeling most of these places will have salespeople worse than the typical CompUSA salesperson...the ones that will badmouth Macs to no end.
  • Reply 13 of 18
    kidredkidred Posts: 2,402member
    Well, the OfficeMax deal would give the smae GateWay exclusive store inside the store set up to Apple for the iMacs. And, like the GateWay setup, it would come equipped with a Mac salesman.



    This deal is only for iMacs as the article stated. Also, Apple knows Best Buy sucks and I'm sure they would have a condition that the employees learn Mac or hire a mac guy just for that like CompUSA has (hopefully better)



    The Wal Mart move I think is to just get Apple aout into the mainstream crowd so Aunt Joan can see it when she goes to buy a PS2 for little Joey. The Apple stores are nice, but they are almost as niche as the computers, so why not try and get some exposure. The new iMac would sell itself I think.
  • Reply 14 of 18
    emaneman Posts: 7,204member
    I think that since Apple's got their retail stores they don't need to put Macs into shitty stores like those, especially Best Buy.
  • Reply 15 of 18
    Best buy Is where I buy most of my dvds, and thats where I got final fantasy tactics(love that game) but I agree...they do suck for computers.
  • Reply 16 of 18
    torifiletorifile Posts: 4,024member
    Wal-Mart? You've gotta be kidding... I don't buy jeans there, why would I buy a computer there?
  • Reply 17 of 18
    kidredkidred Posts: 2,402member
    Well if you wouldn't buy a computer from Wal Mart then obviously you are not the target customer. People who do buy computers from Wal Mart are.
  • Reply 18 of 18
    As long as the retailer does a good job at selling Macs it shouldn't matter who sells them. My experience when I was buying my rev A iBook was goto an Apple Dealer (no luck, nothing in stock). I find out Sears has them. I goto Sears and look around in computer section. I think I see one iMac and a bunch of PCs setup. I get a sales rep and ask, "Oh yeah, we have iBooks" and goes and gets it from back (This was a few days after an official Mac Demo days at the store too). She takes it from box and opens it up and then says "hmmm, how do I turn it on". I had never touched an iBook before but being a Mac, it took me 1 second to say, "Hit the startup button". You get the picture. I can't imagine why Sears wasn't selling more Macs with tactis like that. How in the world is an average computer shopper going to know they have stuff hidden in the back? Duh!
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