Best Buy expanding mobile plans

Best Buy Co. Inc. has expanded its mobile retail experiment, bringing on additional wireless-only retail locations beyond the initial test market in New York City.
Best Buy Mobile started out with 13 stand-alone and store-within-a-store locations in the New York metro area, and now plans to extend the concept to more than 190 locations in a dozen states, including Boston; Philadelphia; Washington, D.C.; Baltimore; Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; Chicago; and Minneapolis. Ten of the locations will be stand-alone stores, and the other 170 will involve store-with-in-a-store upgrades. The new locations are expected to begin opening in July, with the expansion expected to be complete by February 2008.
According to Best Buy, the mobile stand-alone stores will average about 1,500 square feet and the store-within-a-store section will be located near the current wireless section and have about 800 square feet of display space. Both incarnations will include more than 90 handsets, eight network brands and 100 accessories. The company also said that it will not offer rebates and clearly mark actual prices, as well as provide services such as repairs and loaner phones.
“Customers deserve a pressure-free, personalized one-stop-shop that puts the emphasis on them, not on the latest gadget or service plan,” said David Sprosty, CEO of Best Buy Mobile.
Best Buy Mobile was created last year under a joint venture between the U.S. retailer and United Kingdom mobile retailer Carphone Warehouse.