[early2bed]

Perhaps Chen should offer to license all of its smartphone patents to Apple in perpetuity in exchange for a small display in every Apple Store that features only BlackBerry keyboard phones. A win-win situation.

[Drenegade]

Remember that post Kevin posted a couple years ago of a BlackBerry retail location in an airport that had no customers? Can't remember where or when, but it was a sad sight.

I believe it was in the Detroit, Michigan area. No surprise why it was in rough shape. Detoilet is a black hole.

Posted via CB10

[birdman_38]

Perhaps Chen should offer to license all of its smartphone patents to Apple in perpetuity in exchange for a small display in every Apple Store that features only BlackBerry keyboard phones. A win-win situation.

That would only happen in Apple acquires BlackBerry in its entirety.

[JRF_1986]

I felt the same way. I've been to MS and Apple stores to look at future purchases but have always wanted to go to a BB store.

[RyanGermann]

BlackBerry phone stores in airports held up as the banner for success or failure in BlackBerry retail :facepalm:

Would you buy a phone and sign a 2-year agreement in the 15 minutes you have between connecting flights? Or consider a casual shopping trip to check out the devices if parking costs $20 and you need travel documents (a small p passport) and actually walk through a metal detector to get there? Is buying a new device something you want to do under stress of traveling on the way to a business meeting, or just after one? If bulk / fleet deployments are the new normal for BlackBerry sales, would a kiosk in an airport be a good place to carry out ANY part of a corporate BlackBerry device / BES deal? Would it be a good place to reach SMBs with a smaller deployment or BYOD strategy?

In short: I certainly hope that everyone behind the idea making BlackBerry stores in airports a key retailing strategy has such a terrible reputation that they have had to switch careers.

You want to reach the 'businessmen' you put your stores where they have time to browse and can come back repeatedly and conveniently, for training and support, not in the middle of an airport where a) people want to LEAVE as soon as possible (on a plane or in a car) and b) where your target customer is preoccupied about the trip they're about to depart on OR tired and just wants to go home or to their hotel or get to their meeting.

In short, BlackBerry-positive stores near business hubs: where the employees of blackberry corporate customers and prospects are nearby day after day, concentrated, where the employees of a business considering BlackBerry can go browse at their leisure and get some info from trained experts, and can be a drop-in centre for out of town business people who need help with their BlackBerry device. BlackBerry can even build features into BES / BBM to facilitate all of this. So many ways to make it a success that weren't done in the past. Stores that failed during the lapse between iPhone ascendancy and the availability of BB10 devices also only had undesirable products at a time where the 'smart money' was on BlackBerry disappearing, which is why a BlackBerry store shouldn't be EXCLUSIVELY a BlackBerry store, but a general mobile store that sells carrier services but is PRO BlackBerry, with extra BlackBerry-centric services, but still will sell Android devices, iPhones etc... and support BlackBerry services on Android and iOS devices.

Advertise in airports at the ARRIVALS gate as to where the 'BlackBerry Genius Bar' can be found locally so those visiting on business will know where to get help, and those returning from a business trip will be reminded about their home-town BlackBerry team.

Just because an initiative has been so fouled up in the past doesn't mean it can't be done well in the future: case in point: Windows 'Tablet PCs' (failure) vs. iPad (not really a failure). "Yeah, but that's different". Yeah, it is.

[Prem WatsApp]

BlackBerry phone stores in airports held up as the banner for success or failure in BlackBerry retail :faceplam:

Would you buy a phone and sign a 2-year agreement in the 15 minutes you have between connecting flights? Or consider a casual shopping trip to check out the devices if parking costs $20 and you need travel documents (a small p passport) and actually walk through a metal detector to get there? Is buying a new device something you want to do under stress of traveling on the way to a business meeting, or just after one? If bulk / fleet deployments are the new normal for BlackBerry sales, would a kiosk in an airport be a good place to carry out ANY part of a corporate BlackBerry device / BES deal? Would it be a good place to reach SMBs with a smaller deployment or BYOD strategy?

In short: I certainly hope that everyone behind the idea making BlackBerry stores in airports a key retailing strategy has such a terrible reputation that they have had to switch careers.

You want to reach the 'businessmen' you put your stores where they have time to browse and can come back repeatedly and conveniently, for training and support, not in the middle of an airport where a) people want to LEAVE as soon as possible (on a plane or in a car) and b) where your target customer is preoccupied about the trip they're about to depart on OR tired and just wants to go home or to their hotel or get to their meeting.

In short, BlackBerry-positive stores near business hubs: where the employees of blackberry corporate customers and prospects are nearby day after day, concentrated, where the employees of a business considering BlackBerry can go browse at their leisure and get some info from trained experts, and can be a drop-in centre for out of town business people who need help with their BlackBerry device. BlackBerry can even build features into BES / BBM to facilitate all of this. So many ways to make it a success that weren't done in the past. Stores that failed during the lapse between iPhone ascendancy and the availability of BB10 devices also only had undesirable products at a time where the 'smart money' was on BlackBerry disappearing, which is why a BlackBerry store shouldn't be EXCLUSIVELY a BlackBerry store, but a general mobile store that sells carrier services but is PRO BlackBerry, with extra BlackBerry-centric services, but still will sell Android devices, iPhones etc... and support BlackBerry services on Android and iOS devices.

Advertise in airports at the ARRIVALS gate as to where the 'BlackBerry Genius Bar' can be found locally so those visiting on business will know where to get help, and those returning from a business trip will be reminded about their home-town BlackBerry team.

Just because an initiative has been so fouled up in the past doesn't mean it can't be done well in the future: case in point: Windows 'Tablet PCs' (failure) vs. iPad (not really a failure). "Yeah, but that's different". Yeah, it is.

Yes, agreed. I can be done, and it can be done properly with the right approach. :-)

One in New York? It's the BlackBerry Hub. Banks and corporate.

Doesn't have to be super large. Surely a few thousand a month wouldn't hurt to spend. Even if it's just written off as an advertising expense, I'm sure I'd would catch on.


�   Passposted while waiting for the Z-lider....   �

[TgeekB]

A store for enterprise customers? lol. Nah. Blackberry ain't making phones for consumers anymore.

People won't accept this no matter how many times they're told.

Z30something

[alternator77]

And show off what exactly??? Don't get me wrong I looove my passport but aside from a few phones and a eol tablet there just isn't enough to justify opening a store. They had one at heathrow/hartford??? I think last time I was there and it was a ghost town

Posted via CB10

[RyanGermann]

At the mall near me the Microsoft store is not Apple busy but it is busy. Both Apple and Microsoft have more than three phones to sell.

Agree with the Kiosk idea if for no other reason but to support BlackBerry clients. I also agree that these kiosks must be sustainable through the sales they generate.

The Microsoft store at the Eaton Centre in Toronto is usually quite busy, but again, not Apple Store busy... I was at the apple store with a broken warranty replacement and they were half an hour late serving my genius bar appointment, so many people were there desperate for help! :-P

[bhoqeem]

I'd very much love to open a BlackBerry shop in Indonesia, retail or online. It's a wet dream since owning my Passport.

[RH1Pearl]

BlackBerry phone stores in airports held up as the banner for success or failure in BlackBerry retail :faceplam:

Would you buy a phone and sign a 2-year agreement in the 15 minutes you have between connecting flights? Or consider a casual shopping trip to check out the devices if parking costs $20 and you need travel documents (a small p passport) and actually walk through a metal detector to get there? Is buying a new device something you want to do under stress of traveling on the way to a business meeting, or just after one? If bulk / fleet deployments are the new normal for BlackBerry sales, would a kiosk in an airport be a good place to carry out ANY part of a corporate BlackBerry device / BES deal? Would it be a good place to reach SMBs with a smaller deployment or BYOD strategy?

In short: I certainly hope that everyone behind the idea making BlackBerry stores in airports a key retailing strategy has such a terrible reputation that they have had to switch careers.

You want to reach the 'businessmen' you put your stores where they have time to browse and can come back repeatedly and conveniently, for training and support, not in the middle of an airport where a) people want to LEAVE as soon as possible (on a plane or in a car) and b) where your target customer is preoccupied about the trip they're about to depart on OR tired and just wants to go home or to their hotel or get to their meeting.

In short, BlackBerry-positive stores near business hubs: where the employees of blackberry corporate customers and prospects are nearby day after day, concentrated, where the employees of a business considering BlackBerry can go browse at their leisure and get some info from trained experts, and can be a drop-in centre for out of town business people who need help with their BlackBerry device. BlackBerry can even build features into BES / BBM to facilitate all of this. So many ways to make it a success that weren't done in the past. Stores that failed during the lapse between iPhone ascendancy and the availability of BB10 devices also only had undesirable products at a time where the 'smart money' was on BlackBerry disappearing, which is why a BlackBerry store shouldn't be EXCLUSIVELY a BlackBerry store, but a general mobile store that sells carrier services but is PRO BlackBerry, with extra BlackBerry-centric services, but still will sell Android devices, iPhones etc... and support BlackBerry services on Android and iOS devices.

Advertise in airports at the ARRIVALS gate as to where the 'BlackBerry Genius Bar' can be found locally so those visiting on business will know where to get help, and those returning from a business trip will be reminded about their home-town BlackBerry team.

Just because an initiative has been so fouled up in the past doesn't mean it can't be done well in the future: case in point: Windows 'Tablet PCs' (failure) vs. iPad (not really a failure). "Yeah, but that's different". Yeah, it is.

You're talking from a diehard-fan's point of view. The last thing I want to do in my leisure time is to go to a store to discuss my work phone. I have better things to do at lunchtime or after work. If I have a problem with my work phone, I go to the IT department for help during "office hours". Since Enterprise stores are a good idea, why don't Microsoft or DELL set up a store that caters to people that buy their Servers. That would be exciting - IT people going on their lunch break to get support or staff that use those servers to get training. We can set it up right in the middle of downtown where rents are highest per square foot.

[FCSC]

You're talking from a diehard-fan's point of view. The last thing I want to do in my leisure time is to go to a store to discuss my work phone. I have better things to do at lunchtime or after work. If I have a problem with my work phone, I go to the IT department for help during "office hours". Since Enterprise stores are a good idea, why don't Microsoft or DELL set up a store that caters to people that buy their Servers. That would be exciting - IT people going on their lunch break to get support or staff that use those servers to get training. We can set it up right in the middle of downtown where rents are highest per square foot.

A+




Posted via CB10

[ponpiri]

They have a "flagship" office in NYC. I believe they could annex a small store... hell maybe even a rinky-dink kiosk or something.

Actually is that office still there? It doesn't show up on Google or Yelp smh

[OneofLittleHarmony]

I think a store would be worth expanding to New York. There would have to be more information before seeing if it would be worth it for smaller markets.

Really it might be more helpful to burst have a kiosk in major airports to display the phones for people to try out as a form of advertising.

Posted via CB10

[Ethereo]

They should have really good trained people and good display of the phones on Carriers a, cheaper and better. Imagine a guy very well trained and dressed like an executive, with a good big screen showing the Passport, something like that, BB is not selling not because its products not because the OS, or even the price, it is because most of the people think that BB is the past and is dead, they dont even know about the BB10 OS.

[RyanGermann]

And show off what exactly??? Don't get me wrong I looove my passport but aside from a few phones and a eol tablet there just isn't enough to justify opening a store. They had one at heathrow/hartford??? I think last time I was there and it was a ghost town

In airport: stupid idea... in Selfridges on Oxford St.? Much better idea. (they're owned by Canadians for pete's sake!)

I think a store would be worth expanding to New York. There would have to be more information before seeing if it would be worth it for smaller markets.

Really it might be more helpful to burst have a kiosk in major airports to display the phones for people to try out as a form of advertising.

New York: yes, I think it would be good if there was a couple of "not just BlackBerry" pro-BlackBerry stores where business people congregate in large cities... but the airport thing seems sensible from a "place where business people are" but maybe doesn't make sense because it's also a place "business people are rushing through to get out of and don't hang around to look at gadgets". Best Buy has a number of VENDING MACHINES in the Toronto airport where you can buy an iPad or headphones or something... basically things that don't need any human oversight to purchase, or a traveler may have forgotten to pack (spare batteries, USB cables, etc)... but they don't have full-service mobile stores in airports as far as I'm aware... is there anyone with knowledge of SUCCESSFUL full-service cell phone stores in airports?

You're talking from a diehard-fan's point of view. The last thing I want to do in my leisure time is to go to a store to discuss my work phone. I have better things to do at lunchtime or after work. If I have a problem with my work phone, I go to the IT department for help during "office hours". Since Enterprise stores are a good idea, why don't Microsoft or DELL set up a store that caters to people that buy their Servers. That would be exciting - IT people going on their lunch break to get support or staff that use those servers to get training. We can set it up right in the middle of downtown where rents are highest per square foot.

...and as a die-hard fan, I want to see BlackBerry continue to raise their profile and not spend money foolishly and not go out of business. I don't attribute 'blackberry love' to the masses: as I've said elsewhere, I believe that there are a lot of Android and iOS users who would be happier on a BB10 device, but they have no idea, they have no outlet to find out, they are mired in accepting the status quo of Android and iOS everywhere, and that can't change unless the devices come to the customers (big businesses AND their employees, both pre-sale, and for post-sale support)

If you're discussing your work phone, you're not doing it on your lunch or after work. You're doing it as part of your job, and your employer wants it to be close to your office so you don't have to be out of the office all day. If you have an "IT Department" that can help you, great: but not all businesses have IT departments that manage the mobile devices, and where does the IT department go when THEY can't help you? I guess if there was a store down the block, they could take your defective device there and get a replacement immediately, rather than someone spending half an hour doing up an RMA and preparing a shipment and waiting days for the turnaround: when the new devices are released and you need a new device, where do you go to see which device you want? If you don't have a choice, then you take what they give you, but maybe you could take a stroll to the BB store where you can pick the device, and they have your BB account info handy and you walk out with the device you want, already provisioned for your BES server even etc. It could even be like a "bridal registry": BlackBerry Ltd. tells the local store that XYZ Ltd. has just got a BES server and 100 employees are going to be showing up to look at devices, and after all the employees get to compare them and choose them, a trained staff member just down the road will give a presentation and show everyone how to get the most out of the device. That saves someone maybe all the cost of the rent for the store that month. Someone is on the ground ready to respond if there are issues: in theory a complaint could come in to BlackBerry and someone is there the same day to help them out. They may not need to have an actual storefront for much of this, but HAVING a store in front of whatever offices they DO have wouldn't be much in the way of additional cost.

...and again: these stores would be full service consumer facing cell phone stores that could ALSO serve the local business community, selling devices and carrier plans for all vendors (Android and iPhones too) BUT have the 'secret sauce' of being PRO BlackBerry (both devices and software) which would be the beginning of getting the BlackBerry brand back into a positive light. We've all heard the horror stories of the carrier store reps who inexplicably can actually ridicule the customer and not get fired... I imagine a store like this that was properly managed with professional staff would quickly become a favourite stop for consumers and local business leaders alike: a very different experience than people come to expect from carrier stores or 'technology salespeople' generally.

I think there are many reasons that having a BlackBerry store near high-density big-business centres would be useful, even if not for you specifically.

[OneofLittleHarmony]

I think we can all agree that a store in the US would have to be carefully chosen, since it is unlikely to turn a profit through sales alone. It would be more for advertising and support.

Posted via CB10

[TJ Strozier]

If they open the stores, they're not going to make money off of them right now, but that's not the point. They're not even going to see that much of a profit from developing and releasing new devices as rapidly as they have been as of recently. The purpose of the specialty retail stores is to establish a point of letting people know they're here and here to stay. You have to spend money to make money. They already poorly advertise their products, so how are they actually trying to rebuild? It doesn't seem like they're taking too much time to strategically plan any of the moves they've been making. They've released two new devices already this year with a third device on the way, and BlackBerry controls the smallest percentage of the smartphone market. That doesn't even make sense. The specialty stores wouldn't hurt, they would allow people to know that BlackBerry is here and they mean business. It's all about public perception. People don't buy into BlackBerry because most of them don't know it's still around and the rest don't know how much longer they're going to be around.

TJ Strozier of Astronomic Music Group

[FCSC]

If the point of a store is just to get the word out that blackberry is alive it's a huge waste of money.

Advertising is MUCH cheaper then running stores.


Blackberry can't get away with paying a low rent for a bad space and not investing much into the build out of the store. It would need to be a premium style storefront to fit the image, and that's not cheap.



Posted via CB10

[RH1Pearl]

If the point of a store is just to get the word out that blackberry is alive it's a huge waste of money.

Advertising is MUCH cheaper then running stores.


Blackberry can't get away with paying a low rent for a bad space and not investing much into the build out of the store. It would need to be a premium style storefront to fit the image, and that's not cheap.



Posted via CB10

Yup. A store has a small footprint. A huge billboard or LED Screen on a busy intersection or Highway would be more effective.

[early2bed]

Airport kiosks and stores primarily serve a couple of defined purposes. One is to pick up stuff you need when you travel that you may have forgotten like books, magazines, souvenirs, snacks. Those Best Buy vending machines are great for picking up accessories and iPods or media players you might find worthwhile for a long trip. Then there is the shopping that one might do to kill time.

Smartphones seem to fall into neither of those categories. Why would you buy a smartphone in an airport when you might have to come back for some kind of service or tech support? At best you have to go to the airport when you aren't traveling and at worse you don't even live in that city.

[RyanGermann]

If the point of a store is just to get the word out that blackberry is alive it's a huge waste of money.

Advertising is MUCH cheaper then running stores.

Blackberry can't get away with paying a low rent for a bad space and not investing much into the build out of the store. It would need to be a premium style storefront to fit the image, and that's not cheap.

A store serves the dual purpose of being an advertising outlet AND customer service centre: again, these aren't necessarily going to be "BlackBerry Only" stores that are doomed to unprofitability until BB's fortunes turn around... so if they were to consider this, it would be a "under the radar" general mobility store that BlackBerry would present as a "preferred partner" but actually be owned / managed by BlackBerry.

[FCSC]

A store serves the dual purpose of being an advertising outlet AND customer service centre: again, these aren't necessarily going to be "BlackBerry Only" stores that are doomed to unprofitability until BB's fortunes turn around... so if they were to consider this, it would be a "under the radar" general mobility store that BlackBerry would present as a "preferred partner" but actually be owned / managed by BlackBerry.

You really think apple is going to allow ios products to be sold in a store owned by Blackberry?

Posted via CB10

[FCSC]

If physical stores are the way people want to go the simplest way and cheapest way would be to give incentives and training to store associates at verizon, att etc. Maybe even put a blackberry rep in certain stores at certain times (as long as the carriers sign off on that, can't imagine apple or any of the andriod manufacturers being too happy about having a BlackBerry rep in those stores)


Posted via CB10

[TJ Strozier]

I don't know if you guys are familiar with today's pop or rap music genres at all, but back in 2011, Jay-Z and Kanye West released an album together. The day of the release, as a form a promotion, pop-up stores were constructed solely to sell the album. This expensive marketing scheme expresses marketing at a level above selling your product in retail stores. BlackBerry should service and/or sell other devices in their stores, but it should still be BlackBerry-based with BlackBerry technicians. Consumers will yawn at advertisements, but a BlackBerry retail store will spark curiosity within those same consumers.

TJ Strozier of Astronomic Music Group