Best Buy Debuts Cell Phone Concept Store in New York

Best Buy Co. Inc., Richfield, Minn., recently launched a pilot program in New York, banking on the idea that customers want more options for cell phone technology and service, according to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. The electronics retailer rolled out Best Buy Mobile with five standalone stores and another four in existing Best Buy locations. The standalone stores measure about 1,000 sq. ft., while the in-store locations average about half that size. Best Buy hopes the new concept will give the company a larger footprint in the cell phone market. "We think that there is a customer who is ripe and ready for having more control over their mobile phone choices, and that's really what this concept is all about," said Paula Baldwin, spokeswoman for Best Buy. Best Buy chose New York for the pilot because one in every 13 U.S. cell phone users lives in New York. The new standalone stores are located in high-traffic areas near Union Square, Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Terminal and on the Upper East and Upper West sides of Manhattan. Best Buy launched the concept through a partnership with Carphone Warehouse, the largest mobile phone retailer in the United Kingdom. Joe Feldman, an analyst for Telsey Advisory Group in New York, said Best Buy's wide selection of phones and providers should help drive sales, but the marketplace is already flooded with cell phone stores. Many consumers already have phones and service plans, so Best Buy will have to focus on upgrades. The small stores could help the retailer enter tight urban markets where it otherwise might be difficult to find space, though the company says that's not a primary objective. But Dave Brennan, co-director of the Institute for Retailing Excellence at the University of St. Thomas, said it is difficult to operate small stores with a limited assortment of goods, and Best Buy Mobile will face a lot of competition, ranging from mall kiosks to major electronics retailers. "I think it's more experiment than anything else, and just seeing if the small-format stores work," Brennan said. "I suspect that the store-within-a-store will work better than the freestanding stores."