Strategy in TECH...
Recode is reporting that Amazon is testing an installation service for smart home products in several key test markets – in direct competition with Best Buy’s Geek Squad. While these two giants battle over the rights to install smart home solutions into the home, where does this leave the independent integrator?
In February, we reported that George Leslie Manlove was convicted on approximately 170 out of a total of 200 Federal felony counts stemming from his tenure as CEO of the now-defunct Vann’s Electronics & Appliances in Montana. A few days ago, Manlove learned his fate in the form of a sentence from U.S. District Court Chief Judge Dana Christensen, and it wasn’t a pretty picture. Manlove has been ordered to serve a sentence of more than 5 years in a Federal Penitentiary.
In yet another clear sign that the era of the gadget is over, once prodigious gadget-seller Radio Shack files for bankruptcy on Wednesday…again. This is the second bankruptcy filing for the company in just two years. A strategy of partnering with Sprint didn’t produce the revenue the new owner’s anticipated and this second filing was unavoidable. So what happens now?
New research into what frustrates consumers when shopping in a retail store may give us a clue as to why brick-and-mortar retail is struggling – while online retailers are growing. Market research firm Capgemini asked consumers what they thought was a simple question that would elicit a simple answer. Little did they know that shoppers were only too happy to list the multiple reasons why they are frustrated with the retail shopping experience today.
Wal-Mart may be the world’s largest retailer, but when it comes to their ecommerce efforts…well, they’ve been much less than that. As behemoth Amazon.com continues to show strong growth, dominating category after category, Wal-Mart has seen its results lag.
[Read more…] about One Look at This and You’ll Understand Why Wal-Mart Bought Jet.com
A dramatic new high-end line of loudspeakers, Horns by Auto-Tech, is now available from Chane Music and Cinema, the newly appointed North American distributor/retailer for the brand. The brand offers five different systems, each of which features the use of “well-tried” horn technology. Paul Klipsch would be proud!
ProSource announced this week the addition of 21 new members, a fairly large freshman class, even for the organization that bills itself as the “largest audio, video and integration buying group in the country.” According to the organization, this freshman class is worth about $43 million in total retail sales.
In a report provocatively titled “Best Buy Isn’t Dead, but It Is Dying,” top investor service The Motley Fool (TMF) suggested that number one consumer electronics chain Best Buy’s “…best days are in the past.” Written by Rick Munarriz, the report dissects Best Buy’s last financial quarter report, as well as its future forecast.
What a weird Spring we’re having in the Northeast. It can be 80+ degrees one day, only to be followed by two or three days of cold and rain. Such was the case last Thursday as we traveled to a pre-Grand Reopening event at Bob & Ron’s World Wide Stereo in Montgomeryville, PA. It was raining and in the low 50-degrees as we arrived for the early evening event, motivating us to turn up our collar as we exited our vehicle for a little extra protection from the cold and the rain.
Gramophone, Ltd., a highly respected specialty A/V retailer based in Timonium, MD, announced last week that it is expanding into the Washington D.C. metro market with a new location in Gaithersburg, MD. The company says it is in the process of building a new Experience Center there that will showcase the retailer’s assortment of premium A/V solutions.
