Samsung's mini stores at Best Buy locations are starting to take shape.
The phone manufacturer is beginning to roll out its slate of stores within Best Buy retail sites throughout Canada and Europe in order to increase its presence in the localities CNET reported Tuesday. The stores are being added to the 1,400 sites in the United States.
"Both of us are very committed to making it successful," Hubert Joy, CEO at Best Buy told CNET when Samsung and the retailer made the announcement in April. "There's no doubt in our mind that it will be successful. The only question would be how successful. How big is big? We don't know yet," Joy told CNET.
"Anytime we do marketing initiatives or partner programs we look at a number of dimensions," Joy told CNET.
Samsung will open at least 75 of the stores within Best Buy in the months ahead. The number is an increase from 31 stores Europe already has as part of a three year plan CNET reported. Both companies will determine whether to continue the setup after this time.
Canada will have ninety makeshift stores in Best Buy locations come this spring. The country will also have small stores within its Future Shops.
All of the stores will have Samsung Galaxy S3, Galaxy S4, and Galaxy Note 2 smartphones, along with tablet computers, and personal computers. Consumers will also be able to buy cameras among other products.
"Retail is not something you jump into lightly, especially given consumers have been expecting this as a next step for Samsung," Ketrina Dunagan, vice president of retail marketing for Samsung told CNET in April, when plans were announced.. "Although the carriers and retailers today provide a solid retail experience for our consumers, what we find is a lot of [buyers'] deeper questions just aren't answered," Dunagan told CNET.
