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Comment by swdunlop | Hacker News Reader

Well, it is somewhat relevant to Forbes, since Best Buy has been giving all the indicators of following Circuit City into oblivion and Forbes has commented about it recently. The Apple Store (and Sony Store) is a contrast in how a well tuned, specialized store is better at selling the same product compared to a big box. Which is interesting, considering how long the Big Box retail scene has been considered the death of small independent shops. (Cue Elton John singing about the Circle of Life..)

The Best Buy in my neighborhood is more convenient by about 90m than the Apple Store. But I generally refuse to go to Best Buy for anything that I can't find on a pegboard, like cables or a USB drive. Everything else, I get random unavailability, clueless salespeople, and a really strange mildew smell from the upholstery.

Smells like doom, really.

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> a well tuned, specialized store is better at selling the same product compared to a big box.

are there some numbers to support that? I mean, f.ex. no of macbook pro and sony bravia or xbox sold in the supermarkets vs sold in brands' stores? I always get the feeling that such stores exist to keep appearances and attract new customers, not to work as a main selling point. selling 20 laptops through bestbuy is probably way cheaper and quicker than selling 20 laptops through it's own store.

Apple stores are the highest grossing retail stores in the world by a significant margin. Apple Stores produce over $5,600 per square foot. The next highest retailer is Tiffany, at a little under $3,000. The median for the top 20 retailers is well under $1,000 per square foot.

It's important to keep in mind that going into retail looked absolutely ridiculous when Apple announced their first retail store, for some of the reasons you have enumerated. Gateway was what people thought of as a computer retailer, and they were dying. Execution matters.

This is anecdotal, and I haven't worked there for close to 5 years, but back when I was at a mall Apple store, our store was clocking more revenue per square foot than any other store in the (upscale) mall. If I remember correctly, it was by a factor of 2 or more. Granted, it was only a 30 foot store, and the items are pretty big ticket anyway, rent there is more expensive etc etc, but all that being said, Apple stores are REALLY good at selling Apple products.

I once heard that the rent was $6,000 a month for a cart in one of the prime areas at our upscale mall. Usually these sell bamboo plants or cell phone accessories.

I wonder if your store was average for the AAPL universe.

For iphones:

http://allthingsd.com/20120323/best-buy-is-selling-nearly-as...

As far as laptops and computers go I don't know why it'd be cheaper for Apple to sell them through Best Buy. The prices are rigidly controlled and so their margin has to be lower for other retailers then when they sell direct.

I think Apple moves a lot of product through their own stores, but no idea what fraction compared to online or 3rd party. In contrast to Apple stores, where I've regularly seen people buy big ticket items like Macbook Pro, I've never seen anyone actually purchase anything from a Sony store. Maybe that's because I've never seen anyone in a Sony store (ha!).

I can't remember the figures, but at my Apple store interview, they claimed to be one of the top grossing stores in the world (in terms of gross per square foot).

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