Topic 'Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores' in forum 'Canadian Chat' - dslreports.com

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Wed, 15 May 2013 15:12:22 EDT

neko posted :

said by neko:

Staples on Bunting is closing later this year.

That's too bad, I really like that Staples. ..

Me, too. It's the one I use strictly because of the friendly staff. Real shame that one is closing. I hate having to go to the Fairview area for anything.

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Wed, 15 May 2013 09:16:55 EDT

Gone posted : I sat in traffic on North Service Road for 58 minutes waiting to make a left turn onto YMCA Drive one year on Christmas Eve. No word of a lie - literally 58 minutes. Not even Fourth Avenue and Glendale are that bad.

Now that Walmart is in there they're going to need a traffic light at North Service Road and the other part of YMCA Drive sooner rather than later. And four lanes. Good luck fitting those in! They should really put traffic lights on YMCA Drive near Petsmart, too.

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Wed, 15 May 2013 08:59:30 EDT

urbanriot posted :

said by Gone:

Since both stores are close together they probably figure it a no-brainer to close the one on Bunting Road since most of the customers will just go to YMCA Drive.

Hah, I always plan my incursion method when I visit a store in that area. We're only talking an added minute or two by going from the wrong direction at the wrong time of day, but it's still a funny spot. That area, including the Fairview Mall, on a warm sunny Saturday afternoon was a brutal mess of people and wall to wall traffic where it would take about 15 minutes (literal, not exaggerated) to leave the parking lot. I've never seen that mall so busy.

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:16:57 EDT

Gone posted : The Staples on YMCA Drive already rented out a chunk of their space where the copy centre used to be to some home decor-related store (if my memory is right)

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:09:35 EDT

elwoodblues posted : Looks like Staples is downsizing.

Office supplies giant Staples Canada is looking to shrink almost 40 of its 330 stores, underscoring the pressure that big-box retailers feel from rival e-commerce and discount players.
Staples has circulated a list to landlords and real estate brokers of 39 stores that the chain plans to downsize, industry sources say. The retailer wants to sublet space to other merchants to reduce its costs and improve its bottom line. About a dozen of the stores’ leases expire within a year, which means Staples could close them at that time without penalties, they said.

»www.theglobeandmail.com/report-o···0961629/
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Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Tue, 14 May 2013 23:30:10 EDT

Gone posted : Since both stores are close together they probably figure it a no-brainer to close the one on Bunting Road since most of the customers will just go to YMCA Drive. I wouldn't be so sure of that myself, as traffic around the mall is simply terrible.

They had been talking about two stores for St. Catharines for years even back when I worked at the Bunting Road Staples in the early 2000s. Fourth Avenue was always the place that was floated around, and it would have made a bit more sense if you're going to keep two locations going.

Aw well, so long Store Number 13.

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Tue, 14 May 2013 23:15:53 EDT

urbanriot posted :

said by neko:

Staples on Bunting is closing later this year.

That's too bad, I really like that Staples.

If I have to choose between the newer one or the older one, I always go the older one. I prefer the layout of the place and the staff too. The newer one seems bigger but there's just a lot of white space and I can never find shit.

It makes sense it would close since the newer, fancier one opened up a bit ago but it's still really busy every time I go there.

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Tue, 14 May 2013 23:04:06 EDT

Last Parade posted :

said by Gone:

Staples on Bunting Road was supposed to close when they took over the Office Depot on YMCA Drive and turned it into Staples. It was supposed to be a move rather than a brand new store. I'm surprised the one on Bunting stayed open as long as it did.

It's moderately busy. Just has poor highway access and in a weird spot. The Office Depot that was assumed on YMCA Dr was always dead.

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Tue, 14 May 2013 23:01:14 EDT

Last Parade posted :

said by Gone:

It was dead for a while a year or two ago but the more recent times I've been in there there's been a decent number of customers in the store. It could be deeper corporate restructuring at Staples that's causing the closure, who knows. The one in Port Colborne closed a while ago.

And yeah, I refuse to shop at Beatties for reasons beyond just price. I'll drive to Staples in Niagara Falls before I ever set foot in there.

In port Colborne it went from a Staples to a Staples Express to nothing.

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Tue, 14 May 2013 21:51:17 EDT

Gone posted : Staples on Bunting Road was supposed to close when they took over the Office Depot on YMCA Drive and turned it into Staples. It was supposed to be a move rather than a brand new store. I'm surprised the one on Bunting stayed open as long as it did.

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Tue, 14 May 2013 21:46:29 EDT

neko posted :

said by urbanriot:

...Staples I can't comment concerning Fort Erie but here in St. Catharines, we have two Staples stores within a 5 minute drive! If you live somewhere around Niagara street, you have a Staples within two minutes of either direction! Yet somehow they're both busy...

Staples on Bunting is closing later this year.

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Mon, 13 May 2013 12:48:40 EDT

zod5000 posted : I think BB/FS would be better served by downsizing into one electronics chain. The overhead of running two chains that sell very similar products seems pretty wasteful.

I don't think big box stores in Canada are done. The argument is that online shopping is killing big box stores. In Canada our online shopping options are mediocre at best. Our version of Amazon is greatly inferior to the American version. The selection is small and the prices aren't much better than a box store.

Mailing order from the US becomes more expensive by the year. When the internet was new it was so easy (and inexpensive) to import from the US. Barriers to trade keep going up. First they restricted warantees geographically (which made US tech sellers not want to ship outside their borders). Then UPS undercut USPS for insurance included orders, which meant Canadians were getting boned for insane brokerage fees when crossing the border.

Amazon.com added in "import fees" about two years ago and now Ebay is following suit (which sucks because Canada Post lets most things go.. unless its really big and expensive).

I guess my argument is that there isn't a lot of competition in Canada (online or otherwise). The barriers to importing from the US continue to grow (unless you're in a position to physically cross the border). I think it makes sense for FS/BB to consolidate their operations (eventually into 1 chain instead of 2), but I don't think the box store is in danger of becoming extinct in Canada because we don't really have a lot of options.

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Mon, 13 May 2013 12:24:32 EDT

Gone posted : Beatties as a company goes back well over 50 years. I've got old black and white photos of Downtown St. Catharines with the "Beatties Bros." store :)

Either way, I still won't shop at any of their stores.

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Mon, 13 May 2013 11:05:01 EDT

donoreo posted :

said by Gone:

Beatties is part of the Basics Office supplies buying group. There are independent dealers all over that all buy through Basics based in KW.
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Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Mon, 13 May 2013 10:53:44 EDT

urbanriot posted : I'm not entirely sure I agree, I feel it's a management and structural issue. The big box stores can last, they just need to change.

Examples specifically for our area:

We have a Wintronics computer store here with computer parts and even though the enthusiast parts industry has been dead for years, that place is always packed with people since they've slimmed down to the appropriate number of workers, sell what people want and have it at a decent price. It might be a few bucks more than NCIX but you can walk in there and walk out with something that you want while getting a good service.

Future Shop, you walk in there and there's a bunch of fucktwats standing around shooting the shit, never in the areas that people need them... unless you want to blow a few grand on some equipment, then suddenly there's two guys fighting over you. Best Buy, I walk in there to buy a blu-ray player a few weeks back and couldn't find a soul to ask a question... because four of them were standing up front having a good old time.

Staples I can't comment concerning Fort Erie but here in St. Catharines, we have two Staples stores within a 5 minute drive! If you live somewhere around Niagara street, you have a Staples within two minutes of either direction! Yet somehow they're both busy...

Walmart we have the same, two Walmart stores within a 5 minute drive and the same situation if you live on Niagara St., within a 2 minute drive you have two Walmarts... both equally seem busy too.

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Mon, 13 May 2013 10:34:07 EDT

elwoodblues posted : I'm thinking that the entire big box phenomenal is coming to an end.
You can't put a "big box store" at every street corner and expect it to be busy.

Local stores will continue to be closed down relying more on 'regional' stores instead. You already see the beginning with FS/BB and now Staples is showing it's cards.
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Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Sun, 12 May 2013 12:54:08 EDT

Gone posted : It was dead for a while a year or two ago but the more recent times I've been in there there's been a decent number of customers in the store. It could be deeper corporate restructuring at Staples that's causing the closure, who knows. The one in Port Colborne closed a while ago.

And yeah, I refuse to shop at Beatties for reasons beyond just price. I'll drive to Staples in Niagara Falls before I ever set foot in there.

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Sun, 12 May 2013 12:48:11 EDT

urbanriot posted : I had no idea they were closing... the only other type of store that I've seen in Fort Erie that carried office supplies was Beatties and they were horribly overpriced on everything so I figured Staples would give people what they were driving out of town for and a better price, so I'd expect them to have enough business to sustain them. Was it a graveyard?

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Sun, 12 May 2013 12:46:12 EDT

Gone posted : There was a "rumour" that the Staples in Fort Erie was closing, then that rumour turned into employees unofficially saying it was true, and then it turned into a large "Store Closing" sign outside this week.

So sometimes it is true.

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Sun, 12 May 2013 09:30:39 EDT

urbanriot posted : There's a rumour that the Niagara Falls location won't be sticking around and we're going back to one location in all of Niagara, rather than two Future Shops and one Best Buy...

... although in Niagara, there's always rumours that never pan out so we'll see. I hate spreading rumours but I've heard this more than once from people that work at the various stores in the area.

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Sun, 12 May 2013 00:51:23 EDT

telco_mtl posted :

said by df909:

said by Guspaz:

The other day, I wanted to buy the new Star Trek: TNG blurays. I asked in The Source. They don't sell blurays. I asked friends and co-workers if they knew of any place where you could buy DVDs or blurays. Nope. I had to pay $5 in metro tickets to go to the centreville futureshop to buy them.

Have you tried iNetVideo.ca in the carrefour industrielle alliance at Peel metro? Selection is just as good as futureshop from what I've noticed plus it's walking distance to atwater (well, atleast in the summer).

im old enough to still call it simpsons lol

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Sat, 11 May 2013 16:35:03 EDT

Guspaz posted : Well, it's slightly closer, but that's still a 45 minute round trip by foot, so it's not exactly convenient compared to the future shop thirty seconds from work or seven minutes from home :)
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Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Sat, 11 May 2013 14:59:15 EDT

df909 posted :

said by Guspaz:

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Sat, 11 May 2013 14:32:57 EDT

Guspaz posted : The Source is still there (I work in one of the Alexis Nihon office towers). I don't shop at them, because every time I've ever tried to buy something there, they didn't have it, and whenever I've checked their prices online, they're insanely high.

The other day, I wanted to buy the new Star Trek: TNG blurays. I asked in The Source. They don't sell blurays. I asked friends and co-workers if they knew of any place where you could buy DVDs or blurays. Nope. I had to pay $5 in metro tickets to go to the centreville futureshop to buy them.

I'm very hopeful for the new Target they're building. It's not an electronics store, but I'm hoping it can replace much of what I used to get at Futureshop.
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Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Sat, 11 May 2013 14:13:24 EDT

elwoodblues posted :

said by telco_mtl:

said by elwoodblues:

said by telco_mtl:

interesting note, in the early 90s i used to always get the american and canadian catalogs, i was always amazed at how products with the same cat no. could be labeled with different brands. A re-branded pioneer 6 disk player in the states was labeled "optimus" and in canada was "genexxa" same box, same cat. no.

there were some good deals to be had if you knew who made the products, The RCA branded stuff at RS in the states is all pioneer these days

i miss realistic, archer and tandy lol i even have a TRS-80 coco still in its box

Holy shit, that brings back memories.
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Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Sat, 11 May 2013 14:10:00 EDT

cognizantt posted : dang, I never even know the FS at the Forum shut down.
The last time I was there, mid December, I bought a router.

Friendly English speaking staff, very near to where I live.

Now the closest location is by The Bay.

I completely missed the media announcing the shut downs.

Nov 2011 I bought my current computer at FS/Forum.

Radio Shack / The Source was always overpriced. They were in Alexis Nihon - no idea if The Source is still there.

This area seems to be the death knell for retail outlets - long ago Wendy's and Burger King died, Dunkin Donuts shut down, Zellers is now gone with Target replacing them end of the year.

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 08:55:14 EDT

donoreo posted :

said by elwoodblues:

said by telco_mtl:

4, Georgian Mall and Fairview in Kitchener as well. That was a Keto thing. It got him ousted as President by the board of directors.
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Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:20:00 EDT

corster posted :

said by elwoodblues:

said by telco_mtl:

They were moving way from the Tandy owned brands, if it had taken off, Radio Shack would have become genexxa here in Canada, they had 2 stores, one in the Eaton centre, and one in Square one.

Back around 2005 they had a concept store at Vaughan Mills and Eaton Centre called "THS Studio" focused on Televisions, MP3 Players, and Mobile Phones. It would not have surprised me if they were testing it for when their RadioShack trademark license expired in 2010 (became a moot point when they lost it in 2005 and rebranded as The Source).

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 23:48:00 EDT

telco_mtl posted :

said by elwoodblues:

said by telco_mtl:

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 16:40:37 EDT

elwoodblues posted :

said by telco_mtl:

They were moving way from the Tandy owned brands, if it had taken off, Radio Shack would have become genexxa here in Canada, they had 2 stores, one in the Eaton centre, and one in Square one.

Never went anywhere.
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Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 15:01:35 EDT

zod5000 posted :

said by Gone:

When one considers all the additional back-end infrastructure and freight/courier costs involved to run an operation like Amazon, and that the actual stores are capital costs that are eventually paid off, I would expect that the costs wouldn't be as different as everyone automatically assumes.

Costs would be higher for a B&M and a slight increase in price can be justified by someone who wants something right away, but those costs are certainly not so high as to justify some of the obscene price differences between the two. It is for this reason why people showroom. If they were smart, they'd turn that into an opportunity rather than something to rant about.

To be fair the price differences between future shop/best buy and Amazon.ca (or any other Canadian online retailers) is minimal.

It's when you compare any Canadian retailer to a US retailer that that price difference is obscene.

I do think that B&M's have higher overhead. More staff, more expensive physical location, higher property taxes, more infrastructure, etc...

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:39:04 EDT

telco_mtl posted :

said by corster:

said by telco_mtl:

said by LazMan:

Circuit City ran it pretty much into the ground; and Bell took it over for pennies on the dollar, mostly to:

a) take away a big part of Rogers distribution chain (at the time, InterTan was in bed with Rogers)

and

b) increase Bell's retail presence almost instantaneously...

in quebec they were also probably the second biggest videotron distributor outside of videotron stores, videotron recently lost Brault and Martineau as well as a distributor

Back in 2005 when Bell bought them, RadioShack/The Source was Rogers Wireless' single largest source of activations.

yup if the compettition cant sell their product because you own the store...

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:30:10 EDT

corster posted :

said by telco_mtl:

said by LazMan:

in quebec they were also probably the second biggest videotron distributor outside of videotron stores, videotron recently lost Brault and Martineau as well as a distributor

Back in 2005 when Bell bought them, RadioShack/The Source was Rogers Wireless' single largest source of activations.

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:29:18 EDT

telco_mtl posted :

said by LazMan:

in quebec they were also probably the second biggest videotron distributor outside of videotron stores, videotron recently lost Brault and Martineau as well as a distributor

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:24:37 EDT

telco_mtl posted :

said by elwoodblues:

said by milnoc:

Do remember that Radio Shack in the US and Canada were originally two entirely different companies that shared both business models and brands until Circuit City bought out the Canadian company and changed the name to "The Source by Circuit City".

Later, Bell bought out the chain, and renamed it simply "The Source".

As for the fall of the electronic components department, that's not surprising. Today's consumer electronics are made with tiny SMT components that are close to impossible to service without highly specialized equipment. These aren't your granddad's resistors, capacitors and transistors we're talking about here. Heck, I rarely ever saw anyone browse through those sections before they were pulled.

They were and they weren't. Tandy, who owns the Radio Shack name, spun off all their international holdings into a company called Intertan, which they took public.

Slowly but surely all international holdings, except for Canada were shut down or liquidated (always liked getting Foreign catalogues). When Circuit City bought Intertan, Tandy pulled the license to use the Radio Shack Name, after all, you don't want your biggest rival in the US using your corporate name in a different country, thus the name change.

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 10:03:49 EDT

corster posted :

said by Warez_Zealot:

said by Guspaz:

said by TLS2000:

Ya, we'll exclude the fact that they actually have expensive stores to build, operate and maintain.

And what does that have to do with anything? If you have an item with a $100 profit margin, and you sell 10 units, or you have an item with a $20 profit margin, and you sell 100 units, which is making you more money?

NCIX also has stores, and they don't seem to have issues with profitability.

The only reason every Best Buy/Future Shop employee has their credit card is because Best Buy passes on the processing fee when an employee uses their employee discount and pay with a credit card. The BB/FS credit cards didn't have to pay the upcharge.

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 00:46:46 EDT

Warez_Zealot posted :

said by Guspaz:

said by TLS2000:

Ya, we'll exclude the fact that they actually have expensive stores to build, operate and maintain.

I knew Best Buy was doomed to failure when they started giving their employees their stupid store credit cards and encouraging them to get indebted to them. Anyhow, I'll be happy when Best Buy finally folds up completely. :)
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Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 00:44:26 EDT

TOPDAWG posted : working on that now.

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 00:07:40 EDT

Guspaz posted :

said by TLS2000:

Ya, we'll exclude the fact that they actually have expensive stores to build, operate and maintain.

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 00:04:55 EDT

Gone posted : When one considers all the additional back-end infrastructure and freight/courier costs involved to run an operation like Amazon, and that the actual stores are capital costs that are eventually paid off, I would expect that the costs wouldn't be as different as everyone automatically assumes.

Costs would be higher for a B&M and a slight increase in price can be justified by someone who wants something right away, but those costs are certainly not so high as to justify some of the obscene price differences between the two. It is for this reason why people showroom. If they were smart, they'd turn that into an opportunity rather than something to rant about.

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 23:54:43 EDT

TLS2000 posted :

said by Guspaz:

Futureshop/Bestbuy have nobody to blame for "showrooming" but themselves. The entire phenomenon only exists because Futureshop/Bestbuy prices are too high.

Ya, we'll exclude the fact that they actually have expensive stores to build, operate and maintain.
--
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Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 23:49:13 EDT

elwoodblues posted :

said by urbanriot:

said by elwoodblues:

You are taking things out of context.

... :uhh: You should probably re-read my post because I responded to him with direct context.

said by elwoodblues:

When you sell a commodity good like a TV, PC etc, there is almost no margin in it. If they sell you a $30 USB or HDMI cable , that's where the profit is.

Yet despite that, our area has two stores that focus on selling home theatre electronics, both of which have been around in some capacity or another since I moved to Niagara Falls and shopped for my first VCR back in the 80's.

Uhm it's called VOLUME, the item exampled above a commodity items, especially on the low end.

Those $30 USB/hdmi cables keep them afloat
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Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 23:04:55 EDT

zacron posted :

said by TOPDAWG:

well to have all part time workers is a smart business move. that way if one leaves it has no effect on your business as the person is not doing a key job you don't need a skilled person to replace them.

I do know best buys do have a shit-ton of mangers the one I was at in Barrie had at least 7 of them. Sucked as one would tell me one thing and the other would say something else. Sucked working there I even got in shit cause I was doing to much work. Forking teens were pretty damn lazy.

Work for yourself, it's much better!
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Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 22:27:41 EDT

TOPDAWG posted : well to have all part time workers is a smart business move. that way if one leaves it has no effect on your business as the person is not doing a key job you don't need a skilled person to replace them.

I do know best buys do have a shit-ton of mangers the one I was at in Barrie had at least 7 of them. Sucked as one would tell me one thing and the other would say something else. Sucked working there I even got in shit cause I was doing to much work. Forking teens were pretty damn lazy.

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 20:22:32 EDT

Guspaz posted : Futureshop/Bestbuy have nobody to blame for "showrooming" but themselves. The entire phenomenon only exists because Futureshop/Bestbuy prices are too high.
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Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 17:16:57 EDT

Gone posted :

said by sm5w2:

See if slaps you upside the head.

... and if you worked there and did that, you obviously wouldn't work there for very long because you don't have a clue of what you'd be doing.

Someone worth anything would provide you with the best service possible and point out that they price match online prices. Doing so would have the potential to turn that show-rooming into a sale, even if it may not be at posted price.

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 16:59:43 EDT

sm5w2 posted : > What's even worse, is at least for me, Best Buy has turned into a "showroom" where I go look
> at the merchandise, play with it, get my hands on it, decide if it's the one I want - model, type,
> etc - and then I go home and buy it online from wherever I get the best price and deal.

You do realize that they've coined a term for exactly that behavior - don't you?

It's called "show-rooming".

So the next time you're at a big-box store, and (by some miracle) a salesperson walks up to you and asks if he can help you, I dare you to say "No - I'm just show-rooming..."

See if slaps you upside the head.

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 15:35:38 EDT

Hydraglass posted : What's even worse, is at least for me, Best Buy has turned into a "showroom" where I go look at the merchandise, play with it, get my hands on it, decide if it's the one I want - model, type, etc - and then I go home and buy it online from wherever I get the best price and deal. If the BestBuy price was the best, I just end up buying it online from their site anyway - same price and home delivery so I don't have to go back and stand in line or answer questions about extended warranty.

The ONLY things I've bought in store at Best Buy the last 2-3 years are 4 flat panel TV's - shipping and delivery isn't reasonable on 36-55 inch tv's.

Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 15:09:22 EDT

milnoc posted : The only downside of regularly going to a small shop is that they quickly learn how to "poke" your geek factor, making you buy even more stuff! But at least it's the kind of stuff you can actually use -- most of the time.

"A water cooled system?"

"You don't really need it. Cooling fans will work just as well. But watch what happens when I add some fluorescent dye to the water and turn on the black light."

"Ooooooooo!!!"

:p
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Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 12:02:38 EDT

rickardsred posted : The crappy customer service and accessories upsell at these stores is nothing new. I remember back in the late 90's when I was shopping for a printer at the Futureshop in St. Catharines, back when it was on Ontario Street, across from the old K-Mart plaza.

Anyhow, I picked up an HP Deskjet printer that was on sale and the the sales guy says to me "Sir, you'll need a good USB printer cable to go with that?" and proceeds to grab a $60 "Belkin Deluxe-Premium, 24 Karat Gold-Plated, Oxygen-deprived, made from Unobtainum encrusted Saskatchewan Seal-Skin bindings" cable off the shelf.

Since the printer had both USB and Parallel connections, I quickly declined it with a "Heh Heh...uhm...no. I'll just use the parallel cable I already have, thank you". He proceeded to tell me that in order to get the best colour print quality that I needed to use the USB connection. Using a parallel cable would reduce the printing quality because it was only designed for black and white printing.

I laughed in his face, put the printer down and said, "On second thought, perhaps I will shop around a bit more then." And walked out the door.

I still bought a printer that day. I can't recall where....but I think I took my business to a small computer shop in town where they sold me the same printer, matched the Futureshop price, and even threw in a free USB cable. Of course, of the two stores, guess which one is still in business....