[Shlooky]

Source: RIM to close all BlackBerry branded stores in the United States

At 550 King Street West in Waterloo, a little more than a mile from Research in Motion�s Technology Park, is the Conestoga Mall. Inside, as of last August 13th, local residents could buy iPhones, iPads and accessories at the Apple Store. There is not, nor has there ever been, a BlackBerry store in RIM�s hometown.
Research in Motion�s decline in the North American retail market, which began not long after Apple released its first iPhone, in 2007, has been well documented. The Wall Street Journal�s Will Connors, in a profile this past April, said �RIM has mostly decided to cede the continent and target the developing world in its own retail push.�
Today, Cantech Letter sources close to the company say RIM will soon close all its branded locations in the United States. The company operates nine airport locations, including ones in Philadelphia, Minneapolis and Atlanta, that are managed by Michigan-based Wireless Giant, which itself operates sixty wireless retail stores. RIM has just one stand-alone location, which was opened in 2007 in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Cantech sources says that store will soon be shut down.
Calls to that store yesterday were answered by an employee named Nathan, who said he had heard nothing about the store�s closing, but that there had been some recent problems with their phones.

This will further impact RIM's image in the US.

[smoothrunnings]

You know it sounds like RIM made bad choice at opening their own stores. They should have created a system to sell franchise rights to people who want to open their own RIM store. This way RIM doesn't have to pay to build, rent, power, etc the store.

That's how Bell, Telus, Virgin Mobile Canada, Rogers, etc have done it for years. They don't own any of their locations its all based on the franchise system were they collect a fee.

Btw carrier stores make 100% profit on accessories while its only about 10 ~ 20% on the devices and contracts.

RIM has just finally realized they made a mistake, now they are doing what they should have done sooner to correct it now.

[JBenn911]

Source: RIM to close all BlackBerry branded stores in the United States



This will further impact RIM's image in the US.

Doubt it will hurt them anymore than anything else has....I'm in and out of Philly airport often, took months to realize the store was even there...3 times I saw ONE person in it..not saying it couldn't have been busier other times

[amazinglygraceless]

Those stores never should have been opened in the first place. RIM simply does
not have the product line to sustain such an operation.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

They could probable generate the same sales using a vending machine....

[madman0141]

Image in the United States? Most people in the United States think RIM is already out of business.

[Thunderbuck]

Source: RIM to close all BlackBerry branded stores in the United States



This will further impact RIM's image in the US.

Empty stores in high-traffic spaces does nothing to help their image now.

[TRlPPlN]

good thing they are. they need to anyways to cut some cost down. when or if bb10 gets more popular with more circulation in the business and consumers, maybe they can reconsider then. for now RIM store in the US is not needed.

edited- didn't mean bb10 store.

[amazinglygraceless]

good thing they are. they need to anyways to cut some cost down. when or if bb10 gets more popular with more circulation in the business and consumers, maybe they can reconsider then. for now bb10 in the US is not needed.

Not even then. They will still only have a line of phones, many of which are similar,
and a tablet. This is not a sustainable model for a brick and mortar store.

RIM is best served letting the carrier stores and on-line sellers handle the retail
end for their products in the United States.

...and before the parade of geniuses come along to remind me that the world is
made up of more than the United States, I already know this.

[TRlPPlN]

^^^hence i stated "when or if" let's face it, BB10 is not even out and no one will know how it's going to fair out. if bb10 does extend farther than a tablet and a phone, then possibly test out a store front. until then, you are correct, let the carriers and online stores do the selling.

[goku_vegeta]

You know it sounds like RIM made bad choice at opening their own stores. They should have created a system to sell franchise rights to people who want to open their own RIM store. This way RIM doesn't have to pay to build, rent, power, etc the store.

That's how Bell, Telus, Virgin Mobile Canada, Rogers, etc have done it for years. They don't own any of their locations its all based on the franchise system were they collect a fee.

Btw carrier stores make 100% profit on accessories while its only about 10 ~ 20% on the devices and contracts.

RIM has just finally realized they made a mistake, now they are doing what they should have done sooner to correct it now.

Actually, they do.

There are certain carrier stores that the companies you've mentioned own, the vast majority are licensed dealerships which many are under the corporate name of the brand so it appears as the carrier owns that location but its really a dealership.

[Thunderbuck]

Not even then. They will still only have a line of phones, many of which are similar,
and a tablet. This is not a sustainable model for a brick and mortar store.

RIM is best served letting the carrier stores and on-line sellers handle the retail
end for their products in the United States.

...and before the parade of geniuses come along to remind me that the world is
made up of more than the United States, I already know this.

Yes, I think you're spot on. No argument from me.

Even in the best scenario I can imagine, BlackBerry as a brand in the US won't even begin to turn around for at least another year, and in the meantime those standalone stores will REALLY be 'standalone'. All that does is reinforce BB's lack of popularity to every single person that walks by each location.

[Laura Knotek]

Except for very specific niche products, the brick-and-mortar store will be a thing of the past soon anyway.

This is a good article. In the battle of clicks versus bricks, retail must transform or die | ZDNet

[Spencerdl]

Another sad day in America, not that it's easy to find a BlackBerry device in American stores nowadays anyway.......on line shopping will be RIM's bestfriend in the near future.

[kbz1960]

No surprise unless they carry ever rendition of phones for every carrier since a lot of carriers here esp CDMA do not allow a phone not branded to them. Most people buy on contract from their carrier or like bestbuy.

[Bobert_123]

wow iv never even seen a blackberry store, but if i had i would definitely gone in, i always prefer rim made accessories

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

[amazinglygraceless]

Another sad day in America, not that it's easy to find a BlackBerry device in American stores nowadays anyway.......on line shopping will be RIM's bestfriend in the near future.

I keep seeing this comment (and I don't doubt what you see where you are) but
in my travels in Connecticut, New York, NJ, MA, RI, PA and DE I have never been
to a carrier store or retail outlet that does not have a full complement of BlackBerry products.

[njblackberry]

The stores had little to offer. I see the one at Newark Airport every week or so. Empty.

A half baked idea which was poorly marketed.

[PineappleUnderTheSea]

The stores had little to offer. I see the one at Newark Airport every week or so. Empty.

A half baked idea which was poorly marketed.

The ones I've seen were also empty.

But I really could have used a BB store on my last trip to Germany: forgot my charger and cable, not one of the wireless carriers near the shopping district where I was carried BB chargers. And when I asked for a micro-USB cord so I could maybe charge from the computer or from a generic USB charger, none of them carried that either. I mean, come on! Then again, their BB offerings were poor.

Defeated, I went back to the bar next to my hotel and drowned my sorrows in Kolsch.

[pr1nce]

I keep seeing this comment (and I don't doubt what you see where you are) but
in my travels in Connecticut, New York, NJ, MA, RI, PA and DE I have never been
to a carrier store or retail outlet that does not have a full complement of BlackBerry products.

In my area of the midwest including some Chicago area stores Blackberry devices are unfortunately few and far between in both carrier and retail locations.I also think they should have closed the BB branded stores before now.

[chr1sny]

Sad to see RIMs stores go the way of the Nokia store. These types of stores always seemed like a bad idea, I attributed their existence to a corporate yearning for prestige.

[berklon]

Sad to see RIMs stores go the way of the Nokia store. These types of stores always seemed like a bad idea, I attributed their existence to a corporate yearning for prestige.

I think it has more to do with a "me too" approach of trying to duplicate Apple's success with their store. Unfortunately RIM couldn't stock the stores with products the average consumers want.

Just another in a long line of bad decisions based on arrogance and delusional thinking.

[pblakeney]

Yes, I think you're spot on. No argument from me.

Even in the best scenario I can imagine, BlackBerry as a brand in the US won't even begin to turn around for at least another year, and in the meantime those standalone stores will REALLY be 'standalone'. All that does is reinforce BB's lack of popularity to every single person that walks by each location.

Maybe some presence of marketing for RIM products other than YouTube would have helped fill some of these locations. Even now during the Olympics not one commercial that I've seen for a BlackBerry product on any of the prime networks.

[louzer]

There's only one store near me. It's at the airport. But it's beyond the security gate. The only time that I used the terminal where the store is, I was late for my flight on the way out, and was too tired to remember to check it out on the way back.

Kevin posted a picture he took at a Blackberry store which was empty. Most people here are reporting that the Blackberry stores they see are empty. And most all agree that for the limited products that RIM sells, the stores are a bad idea.

Maybe... just maybe, the decision to close all of the US stores was a smart move by the new CMO to correct an error that was allowed to linger way too long under previous management. Maybe it's not a sign that RIM is throwing in the towel. Maybe it's a sign that RIM is getting everyone on the same page about the product they are creating and the message that they want to be sent. And a bunch of empty airport stores is not consistent with the image that they want moving forward.

[Rob1]

Another sad day in America, not that it's easy to find a BlackBerry device in American stores nowadays anyway.......on line shopping will be RIM's bestfriend in the near future.

I think there are bigger things to worry about in NA then RIM closing a store(s).