It is hard not to love Best Buy. As a guy I love everything Best Buy, from the huge TVs to mobile phones, computers to even the appliances. But the truth is that Best Buy has also sort of been one of those stores that made me feel a little guilty too. It has so much stuff that I love; but yet very little “active” type products for on the go. While there are plenty of digital cameras, GPS devices and now tons of video games that claim to inspire fitness, the truth is that Best Buy remains about those big, big TVs that draw you in, where you just want to sit back on a couch and let the day pass you by.
However, the retailer has announced a new national rollout of health and fitness products at 600 Best Buy stores across the country as well as online at Bestbuy.com. This is truly a good thing, as it should help inspire – dare we say “guilt” – visitors to do something besides sit on a couch whilst enjoying Blu-ray and HDTV. This also comes just in time for all those New Years’ resolutions that we hope readers will keep.
“We were encouraged by the enthusiastic response we saw from our customers during the initial pilot of these health and fitness products,” said Chris Koller, vice president of the Portable Electronics Solutions Group at Best Buy. “We clearly tapped into a desire for Best Buy to provide the latest and greatest technology to enhance health regimens, and to help people discover how they can integrate these devices with other personal technology to monitor and share their progress, and to stay motivated.”
This new rollout also builds on a successful pilot program launched a year ago, during which the company tested a broad selection of health and fitness gear in 40 stores in select markets. These stores offer a 30-foot-long in-store health and fitness presentation area enables consumers to sample many of these devices before they buy. On display were state-of-the-art heart rate monitoring watches, pedometers, special MP3 players, earbuds, headphones, yoga mats, scales, blood pressure monitors and other products from leading manufacturers such as Gaiam, GoFit, H2O Audio, MIO, Polar, Sportline and Yurbuds.
So while Best Buy won’t be mistaken soon for Sports Authority, let’s hope for healthier living through technology. That’s been our message since we launched last year. The only downside for us is that it means it will be even harder to leave the store.