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Best Buy to start Apple Watch sales next week as Apple ramps up availability
Major U.S. retailer Best Buy Co., Inc. announced on Saturday that, starting August 7, it will sell Apple Watch in 100 Best Buy stores as well as online at BestBuy.com. The retailer – the first to sell Apple Watch outside Apple’s own retail stores in the U.S. – will roll out Apple Watch sales to an additional 200 stores leading up to the holiday shopping season.
Best Buy will stock 16 Apple Watch models across the Sport and Watch range in both 38mm and 42mm sizes. Additionally, Best Buy customers will be treated to a choice of around 50 accessories, including a variety of watch bands, stands, chargers, screen protectors, and more.
“The Apple Watch is a big addition to our stores and website, and we know our customers want it,” said Jason Bonfig, senior category officer at Best Buy in a statement. “We are excited to bring the Apple Watch to more consumers, especially with the holidays coming up.”
Notably, Best Buy will not stock the 18-karat gold Apple Watch Edition, which retails $10,000 to $17,000.
The announcement from Best Buy comes just a month after the Apple Watch went on sale in Apple Retail Stores around the world and is seemingly a move by Apple to quickly ramp up the number of points of sale for the Watch leading up to the holiday period.
As at the end of June, Apple Watch was available at 680 locations worldwide, significantly limiting its reach compared to the iPhone which is available at 220,000 locations worldwide.
“We’re very bullish on the Watch being one of the key, top holiday gifts and want to have it in more places than we currently have it,” Apple CEO Tim Cook told The Wall Street Journal.
In addition to online sales, Apple made starting selling the gold Edition model via a handful of high-end boutiques and retailers, including Galeries Lafayette in Paris, Isetan in Tokyo and Selfridges in London.
Since its retail launch in late June, Apple Watch is now available in 19 countries and Apple intends to add Russia, Turkey, and New Zealand to that list in the following week.
Best Buy said it will update its website over the next few days to start selling the Apple Watch on August 7 and provide information on stores that will stock the wearable.
Image credit: Shinya Suzuki, Flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0
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