Best Buy's MI Stores: This Is Not a Test
As first reported in MMR , in late 2005 Best Buy quietly dipped its toe in the waters with a test market of six MI "stores within a store." It now seems the tests have succeeded, and now with great fanfare, the chain is rolling out a pair in the Chicago area, with more reportedly on the way.
The Naperville (Ill.) Sun reported Tuesday that blues legend and Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame inductee Buddy Guy will perform at Best Buy's Downers Grove store this Saturday, and Grammy winner Jim Peterik will perform at the Aurora location on Sunday.
"We are trying some new things in different product categories that we've only dabbled in before," Best Buy's Jennifer Rudin said in 2005. "You'll see guitars and amps aren't new--we've had those products for years. But now we're offering more brand names that our customers will more likely recognize, and at higher price points." High-end products from Fender, Gibson, Roland, Korg, Yamaha, Line 6, Drum Workshop, Shure, and Zildjian will be featured. One thing that has changed from the tests is that both of these new Chicago operations will be offering lessons and doing in-store repairs.
So serious is Best Buy about its expansion into MI that going forward, all new Best Buys will be configured around and emphasize the store-within-a-store format.
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