Best Buy is looking to expand its 3% stake in the Carphone Warehouse, a UK based company, by opening 1000 stores across the US in a joint venture.
Carphone Warehouse’s unique way of selling in the UK has made it a popular choice in Britain. With AT&T allowing only exclusive authorized dealers (with a few exceptions), Carphone Warehouse offers all the carriers and phone brands under one roof thus giving the consumer a one-stop-shop experiance. This allows the users to compare plans and pricing side by side, something that is new to the US even though Best Buy does carry most but not all of the carriers.
With the recent price war coming from the unlimited plan offerings, the success of this joint venture will more seemingly provide a win-win situation for the consumers.
Actually the US already has stores like this with all carriers at a one stop shop….. an example in the Northwest is called Cartoys (big retailer).
Actually, I checked them out and they only offer AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon.
Carphone Warehouse isn’t making any money in the UK, where the market is past 100% saturation, so they asked Best Buy to help them out by suggesting they open third-party dealers under the name Best Buy Mobile.
The test stores currently open in the Northeast are doing surprisingly well, since most states have specific provisions on who can be a licensed sales dealer, whereas in the Southwest, (especially Texas) you could pick a direction and find third-party retailers for every mobile carrier in the US.
The intention with Best Buy Mobile is to offer every major carrier in the US as a purchase option with a network of stores offering after sales service and the like backed by Best Buy, even going so far as offering repair services.
Best Buy Mobile