Best Buy Boutiques to Hit Macy’s for the Holidays
rands like Gucci, Montblanc, TAG Heuer, Fendi and Tissot. If you’re planning to hit a Macy’s store to start your holiday shopping, you’ll notice something new to tempt your credit card this year. Macy’s will be teaming up with Best Buy to offer in-store electronics departments.
The shops, which will start appearing in early November in 10 Macy’s locations, will offer Samsung smartphones, smartwatches and tablets plus other items like phone cases and Bluetooth speakers. The electronics boutiques will take up about 300 square feet of floor space and be staffed by Best Buy employees.
It’s no secret that both of these chains have been struggling recently with Macy’s planning to close 40 underperforming stores while Best Buy tries to induce customers to buy from them rather than using their retail locations to check out the merchandise before looking for a lower price online.
In an earnings call last month, Macy’s CFO Karen Hoguet admitted that the chain’s target customers are spending more of their cash on electronics than the fashion items that the stores have been known for. “The overall growth in the economy is modest at best, and we are seeing customers gravitating to restaurants, recreational services, healthcare, and electronics rather than to traditional general merchandise apparel and furnishing category.”
This partnership could prove to be mutually beneficial as Macy’s shoppers could wander by the Best Buy boutique and be tempted to buy a new smartphone for himself or herself or a smartwatch as a gift. Shoppers attracted by the electronics department may be lured into purchasing a bottle of perfume or a designer bag on the way out. On the other hand, Best Buy may just take holiday revenue away from Macy’s bottom line. The experiment starts in November.
