Best Buy Canada is going to the mall to open smaller outlets offering cell phones and the other wireless gadgets that it expects will bring younger consumers into stores.
The consumer electronics retailer announced that it would open the first two of its Best Buy Mobile stores in Toronto this fall. The chain is said to be actively scouting other locations in malls across Canada.
"We want to be where the action is and where the customers are," Phil Johnston, director of wireless solutions at Best Buy Canada, told The Globe and Mail.
Best Buy is entering a space already filled with competitors including those operated by phone carriers and The Source by Circuit City (formerly RadioShack).
The 123-store HMV Canada chain is also moving into mobile phone sales. The chain operates the majority of its stores in mall locations.
Humphrey Kadaner, president of HMV, said, "People go to malls with a broader purpose in mind, and tend to spend a bit more time there. It can lead to more impulse purchases."
Kaan Yigit, president of Solutions Research Group Consultants Inc., told The Globe and Mail that smaller stores address the needs of consumers.
"People don't want to navigate a huge box store if all they want is a DVD and a new memory card," he said. "Big boxes are great for the big-ticket items and when you know what you want, but ... are not really for casual browsing."
Discussion Questions: Is Best Buy Canada on target with its small store mall format? Will a similar concept work in the U.S.? Do you think it would be more effective outside the mall?