I came across this story today. Wondered what you all all think about the idea of redesigning a store for female customers....
The new Best Buy store opening Saturday in suburban, southeast Denver feels just a little different from the chain's older, warehouse-like blue interiors.Skylights let natural light fall on floors carpeted in blue and earth tones. There's wood paneling where gray metal shelving might typically be. And flat-screen televisions and appliances are placed in model rooms that look like they came from a customer's home.
It's the first Best Buy store in which the company asked 40 local female customers to work with employees, beginning last February, on ideas for the new store, said Ginger Sorvari Bucklin, Best Buy Co.'s director of Winning With Women.
Female customers said they wanted to see how products fit into their own lives and what products could work together...
...In one display, Apple laptops and iPods are displayed on dark wood cabinets topped with crisp white counters, with accessories like laptop cases in red and green from fashion-forward brands displayed nearby.
One section typically labeled "home theater" in other stores has been labeled "family room" here, because customers pictured home theaters as something for affluent homes.There's a lower sink for children in the bathroom, lotion near the paper towels, and a private room for new mothers, with carpeting, a rocking chair, free diapers and softer lighting.
Re: Best Buy Redesigns Store for Women
I think the concept is interesting...
I would like to see if other stores, like Home Depot, jump on the bandwagon.
Adam & Shoshie 10-21-07: "My family is big and loud and everybody's in each other's lives and business. ... but wherever I go, they will always be there." * My Blog: Tales of a Hopeful Jewish Mom to Be *
Circuit City did this a few years ago - widening aisles, more natural looking lighting, store--> home-look conversion. It didn't work very well for them; I have my doubts it will work well for Best Buy. The problem in retail electronics right now is that you have competitors like WalMart that are driving down the prices of items that should be making profits for other companies.
I think its great, but I think its important to note that the "design" of the stores right now are male/masculine oriented - so really they are making an equalizing adjustment.
and woohoo about getting that those nasty glass/metal/plastic shelving and such outta there! oh god how Dh feel in love with that bachelor pad crap!!
Best Buy has for a few years split their stores into segments designed in a particular way, with a particular product selection, for the area's demos. There's stores geared towards young men interested in toys, towards business people and small businesses, towards families and home systems. I forget all the categories, and I'm not sure if they've changed their strategy recently - it's been probably a year or so since we've actively sold to Best Buy. They have cute little code names - Roy, Buzz, etc.
My guess is this is a new segment targeted towards women, or a new design for their female-geared stores.
Ditto that! OSH and Ace are waaaay more helpful.
That's why you marry a man who used to work there, and whose father is a store manager. He can walk me through any store anywhere by phone. He's mixed his own paint before. They weren't particularly pleased about that.
I will report back since I have to go buy a laptop once I get to Denver.
I get so pissed off at the big box computer stores. I am the computer nerd in my relationship. I'll ask very specific and knowledgeable questions, and they respond to H, not me. They don't even look at me. I'm the little woman, what could I possibly know about computers? A hellofa lot more than the store drones, that's for damn sure. I just need them to answer my questions; not attempt to sell me or educate me. So, why do I need special lighting and aisles? I just need the stuff, with good information and signs. Don't woo me.
My dad is a computer engineer, and it was always entertaining going to these stores with him since he often wears a red polo shirt. People were always mistaking him for someone who worked there. He was very happy to answer questions, but often they contradicted what the store had been attempt to sell people on. I would just stand there snickering.