[MrFuts]

After a stroll through Conestoga Mall in Waterloo on my lunch the other day, 5 minute drive from RIM campus and the new RIM offices in the north of Waterloo, I had a good chuckle...

...standing in front of the Apple store, it got me to thinking. Does RIM really care about the consumer world? Or are they going to continue to be stuck selling corporate? Relying solely on the cellular companies to promote their product among the endless Android, iOS and Windows phones?

Please correct me if I am wrong, but with the advancements especially in the Playbook towards gaming, I think with the release of BB 10...more focus on the consumer world is starting.

Fairview Park Mall in Kitchener (no point going to Conestoga - endless reasons why you go Kitchener over Waterloo coming from a 30+ yr resident), time to grab some retail space and open a boutique. Nothing huge, but following similar principles in the Apple store, for the Blackberry's much smaller line-up = less retail space.

Grand opening to take place same time as the release of BB 10, with festivities being just as important there for the public as happening in some undisclosed location that no one is invited to except RIM execs as in the past.

PS - need to come up with a different term then boutique, I don't think you will reach the right client�le with that.

[James Nieves]

They are opening up BB stores in emerging markets. Why not here in North America? Because it's a real estate game. And land is cheaper over seas where the $ holds a bit more value** and the brand mindshare is up

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

[amazinglygraceless]

I do not understand why RIM is opening stores ANYWHERE. The company at present has three (3) things to sell. Phones, tablets and a limited line of accessories.

It seems a waste of resources to sink time, personnel and money into B&M stores.

[Blackberry_Boy]

The focus needs to be high end boutiques at airports, for example. RIM needs to set itself above the crown. An air of exclusivity is required. People always want what they think they can't have. Nobody wants to join a club that would have them as a member.

[sleepngbear]

I do not understand why RIM is opening stores ANYWHERE. The company at present has three (3) things to sell. Phones, tablets and a limited line of accessories.

It seems a waste of resources to sink time, personnel and money into B&M stores.

Agreed. What they really need to work on is improving their presence in the retail stores and locations that (claim to) carry BlackBerry's.

[amazinglygraceless]

The focus needs to be high end boutiques at airports, for example. RIM needs to set itself above the crown. An air of exclusivity is required. People always want what they think they can't have. Nobody wants to join a club that would have them as a member.

Did you get all of the cliches out of your system?

[James Nieves]

I do not understand why RIM is opening stores ANYWHERE. The company at present has three (3) things to sell. Phones, tablets and a limited line of accessories.

It seems a waste of resources to sink time, personnel and money into B&M stores.

Ehh laying the groundwork for BB10. It's a gesture based OS it requires bezel swipes as well it's something to really be showcased and shown off in person let people play with it. All the brick and mortar adds to their value overall as a company, I can imaging it all gets sold if RIM goes under assets are assets. I personally think the Playbook Experience over in NY is a tiny show of how they can engage people with the Playbook and use people to grassroot grow the user paradigm; ontop of BB brand loyalty and growing user base.

Apple lets its pretty face sell it's products in stores and BB10 must sell it's new paradigm if they are to soley rely on carriers to sell themselves I fear the worst, so beyond that having stores is a good idea, a website can't do everything. BB10 is going to be something you gotta 'see to believe' almost as unexplainable to the general public as the concept of an all glass screen phone was back in the mid 2000's. Jobs took no shame in spending a good chuck of his '07 keynote on just how the heck the iPhone worked from a user prospective. Beyond execution of the BB10 platform to market they have to sell it... BB stores coming up keep the brand fresh and relevant despite death spiral talks. It's as much a real estate/sales move as a marketing move. As they can push all that excess products ala PB and OS7.1 devices

victory loves preparation

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

[amazinglygraceless]

Ehh laying the groundwork for BB10.

Sorry, this makes no sense to me.

It's a gesture based OS it requires bezel swipes as well it's something to really be showcased and shown off in person let people play with it.

What? this can't be done in the already existing retail establishments?

Apple lets its pretty face sell it's products in stores

Everything eventually goes back to Apple but since you went there,
you do realize that Apple has a much greater product line than RIM does, yes?

For RIM to open B&M stores when all they have is a series of phones and a
tablet line they can barely sell is just a bad business move.

[kevinnugent]

They are opening up BB stores in emerging markets. Why not here in North America? Because it's a real estate game. And land is cheaper over seas where the $ holds a bit more value** and the brand mindshare is up

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

I think you'll find those stores are owned and operated by a third party business. Not RIM.

[Roo Zilla]

I can just imagine the BB equivalent of the Apple "Geniuses" telling the customers, "just pull out the battery and put it back in."