Apple to open mini stores inside Target

[OneMoreThing...]

Apple to open mini stores inside Target

Target is one of those stores that quietly carries a variety of Apple products. In between speakers and keyboards, you can find iPads, iPods and iTunes gift cards. Soon, you may find an Airport Extreme and maybe even a MacBook Air. This prediction is based on a report from AppleInsider, which suggests Apple may be opening mini-stores within select Target locations. These stores will be similar to the Apple shops located within Best Buy.

The report claims Apple will open these "stores within a store" in 25 Target locations. It's a small fraction of the 1,700 stores Target has nationwide, but it's a start. If the program is as successful as the Best Buy one, Apple will likely expand into additional Target locations. It'll help Apple extend their reach into areas that don't have a nearby Apple Store without the cost of building a new store.

Apple to open mini stores inside Target originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 06 Jan 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.




SourceÂ*|Â*PermalinkÂ*|Â*Email thisÂ*|Â*Comments

Read more

 

[iWhat]

Increasing the chances that I'll never see an Apple Store in my city.

 

[RavingMac]

Increasing the chances that I'll never see an Apple Store in my city.

Hey, we just got one Little Rock, so don't lose hope.

 

[chscag]

Hey guys... What's even more interesting is the article in today's Forbes about Best Buy losing money big time. Forbes predicts they'll go belly up in less than two years. Don't you think Apple is aware of that and perhaps getting ready to move the mini stores to Target?

 

[BrianLachoreVPI]

Hey guys... What's even more interesting is the article in today's Forbes about Best Buy losing money big time. Forbes predicts they'll go belly up in less than two years. Don't you think Apple is aware of that and perhaps getting ready to move the mini stores to Target?

Wow - that's really surprising to me. Maybe I should go buy a new TV...

 

[Ghost Rider]

Wow if Bestbuy went under that would really boost the Department stores but I doubt that will happen. Someone will buy them out or they will get chapter 11 protection and bring in some big guns to change the direction of the place.

 

[pigoo3]

Circuit City went under a few years ago...and no electronics chain replaced them (they do have some sort of website). So if Best But went under...it may just end the large nationwide "brick & mortar" electronics type store here in the U.S.

Signaling (to me) that internet electronics sites are the dominant place to purchase these items. Why have walls and a roof when you don't need them!

- Nick

 

[baggss]

Circuit City went under a few years ago...and no electronics chain replaced them (they do have some sort of website). So if Best But went under...it may just end the large nationwide "brick & mortar" electronics type store here in the U.S.

Signaling (to me) that internet electronics sites are the dominant place to purchase these items. Why have walls and a roof when you don't need them!

- Nick

I would suspect that may be the case. CompUSA did the same thing a while back and they are now on-line only. They are still fairing poorly when up against Amazon and other on-line retailers.

 

[dtravis7]

I would miss Best Buy. Last place here to get some stuff at a decent price.

 

[pigoo3]

I would suspect that may be the case. CompUSA did the same thing a while back and they are now on-line only. They are still fairing poorly when up against Amazon and other on-line retailers.

Thanks for the reminder...I forgot about CompUSA. I used to go there often...they used to be a good source of computer parts for folks building Windows desktop computers.

- Nick

 

[dtravis7]

I almost lived at CompUSA before they closed and before we got our Apple Store. It was the only place I could go mess with the Macs and talk to Mac people. Bought my first Intel Mac there in fact just before they closed. Sad day for me when they did. Got all my good routers and networking gear there also.

 

[baggss]

I almost lived at CompUSA before they closed and before we got our Apple Store. It was the only place I could go mess with the Macs and talk to Mac people. Bought my first Intel Mac there in fact just before they closed. Sad day for me when they did. Got all my good routers and networking gear there also.

Yeah, they were a decent chain. The one in my area was NEVER crowded but the ones in San Diego and the one in Honolulu were always packed every time I went. I think they just over extended themselves in the end and couldn't afford to compete with on-line retailers. CompUSA actually bought Circuit City and tried to integrate the stores and then went under.

I guess the number of folks who wanted to go in and touch stuff and pay a bit more for instant gratification got low enough that they just couldn't meet their bottom line. I'll always remember when Apple first opened the "Store in a store" in CompUSA though. Best thing to happen to Apple at that time and it helped them sell the original iMacs and the Cube even.

I see a lot of parallels between Comp and BB, and frankly BB has worse customer service than Comp did, except at the very end.

The one big store retail electronics chain that know of that is still doing well is Fry's, but they are regional. Actually Micro center in the eastern US seems to be doing OK to, but they are a serious geek kind of a shop.

 

[dtravis7]

Baggss, I love Frys. Just wish they would open one here. We have 234k people just in my area and in the county 500K. They would do well here. I have to drive 70-80 miles now to get to Frys at minimum. I love the Sunnyvale Frys though and always try and go the extra distance to visit there and also hit WeirdStuff Warehouse also in Sunnyvale. Amazing collection of used and old computer stuff!

 

[chscag]

We have three Fry's stores and two Microcenters here in the Dallas Fort Worth area. I love Fry's because I can get anything electronic I want there - from a simple resistor capacitor kit to complex components. The largest one along the LBJ Freeway even has a Starbucks inside.

 

[dtravis7]

Chscag, the one in Sunnyvale has a restaurant and I think a Starbucks. That is another reason I like that one store so much. There are many Frys in the Silicon Valley but I always find myself going to that one store. There is even a Frys in my home town of Campbell right next to San Jose and Sunnyvale. They knocked down the Elementary school I attended as a kid and built Frys and Home Depot! So now I can say I went to school at Frys!

 

[ezcompane]

That's pretty interesting. I'd hate to see Best Buy go because I love to just go in there to peruse the store when my GF needs to hit the mall for shopping.
Can Best Buy order custom configured iMacs?? I never bothered to ask because I figured I'd just go through Apple for my computer purchases, but if they could I might as well order one and get 0% on my Best Buy card.

 

[stratguy]

The news of Best Buy being in trouble doesn't come as a surprise to me. I have a Best Buy less than 2 miles from my house and go there on a regular basis just to look at their goods. I haven't bought any big ticket items from them in several years due to the fact that they charge outlandish prices for some big ticket items and some of their accessories as in 45.00 bucks for a 12 ft HDMI cable, that's just plain robbery.

The only things I buy there are the items being phased out on their discount table or guitar related things our BB has a small Guitar Center inside which is nice. Sometimes along the back wall you can find a few hidden goodies but as far as most products I use online stores such as Tiger Direct and a few others. Amazon has good prices on a lot of their items due to them drop shipping a large portion of their advertised goods but you have to shop carefully.

stratguy

 

[chscag]

Can Best Buy order custom configured iMacs?? I never bothered to ask because I figured I'd just go through Apple for my computer purchases, but if they could I might as well order one and get 0% on my Best Buy card.

As far as I know you can only custom configure and special order those items that Best Buy sells as a store brand.

 

[XJ-linux]

Online will prosper at killing brick and mortar until online sales taxes start to kick in in earnest. .gov is both broken and broke and they can't afford to let people buy things online tax-free indefinitely. We will have to start covering a fraction of that 100.3% of our GDP debt at some point so we can borrow more against our kid's future labor.

 

[_Stormin]

Sales tax won't save the brick and mortar stores... Buying at Amazon, where I pay WA state's insane 10% sales tax, is still siginificantly less than going to Best Buy for just about anything.

Target old be a great retail partner, especially if Apple is worried about their partnership with Best Buy.

And while I love Frys, I do hate going there... It's like Costco. I just can't leave without spending $300 or more.