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Best Buy today announced it will begin selling the Apple Watch in some its U.S. retail stores and online on August 7, marking a substantial expansion of retail availability for the device. Starting with 100 stores and expanding to 300 over the next few months, he company will offer 16 models from the aluminum Apple Watch Sport and stainless steel Apple Watch collections, as well as nearly 50 accessories including stands and watch bands.

apple_watch_milanese_side.jpg
Starting Aug. 7, Best Buy will be the first national retailer, other than Apple Stores, where customers can buy the Apple Watch. It will begin to arrive in more than 100 Best Buy stores and will also be available on BestBuy.com. Another 200 of our stores will have the Apple Watch in time for holiday shopping.

"The Apple Watch is an important addition to an emerging product category, and we know our customers want it," said Jason Bonfig, senior category officer at Best Buy. "We are excited to bring Apple Watch to more consumers, especially with the holidays coming up."
Apple has provided a statement to iMore, noting the focus on expanding availability for the holiday shopping season.
"Customers love Apple Watch, and we are thrilled to begin offering it at Best Buy locations across the U.S. starting August 7," an Apple spokesperson told iMore. "More than 300 Best Buy stores will carry Apple Watch and Apple Watch Sport models in time for the holiday shopping season."
The Apple Watch is currently available in 19 countries with Apple gradually expanding availability as supplies have allowed, and an additional three countries -- New Zealand, Russia, and Turkey -- will be added to the list this coming Friday.

Article Link: Best Buy to Begin Selling Apple Watch on August 7
 
awesome. this likely means we can get chargers/bands etc there too, the nearest apple store is really far from me but there are several Best Buys around so it's good news.
I'm sure that's it- there are way more Best Buy's in remote areas (think places like Pennsylvania for example... where most people with iPad and iPhones have never even been inside an Apple store) than Apple stores, and this will increase (by a lot) the number of people who can go see one in the stores. When you think about it, only a small fraction of the US really lives close to an Apple store- sure, a lot of people do, but a LOT of people don't. So in a way, up until now, the Apple watch hasn't really been fully released yet.
 
Based on my experience with Best Buy, this may not bode well. I have seen their store operations from the inside. They will definitely need to merchandise this within the Apple store area and hope they can have a dedicated Apple rep to oversee the process. My wife was also a mystery shopper for a company that did surveys for Best Buy. Let's say the outcome wasn't always very positive. Not trying to bash BB, but they really need to put their game face on for customer service. I'm not really surprised at Apple doing this as now it opens up watch sales to the masses. Just wondering what the return policy will be and if they are going to allow fittings. Seems they don't have the staff for that.
 
So I walked into the Apple Store at south coast plaza in Orange County California and the guy working there asked if I'd like to try one on. I said, yeah, sure!
I tried the leather one on and it was surprisingly light weight. Way lighter than it looks or than I thought it would be.
But... The leather band felt really soft. And looked almost dare I say. A little cheap.
The stainless steel looked better than I thought it would and now I want the stainless one. But I just don't like any of the bands they offer. Except maybe the mesh looking one.
But that's the one I dislike the least so that isn't saying much.
 
I live in California and I've seen a lot of people wearing it. I've talked to about 10 people and I'd say 3 out of ten people said they don't like it or see s point in having one but then again one of those three received it as a gift so perhaps he didn't want it to begin with.
Most people have told me they love it. And majority told me at first they were unsure and had a little buyers remorse "like what is it good for" but then they say it grew on them and they enjoy it a lot. So I'm torn. I'm gonna thing about it longer. I tried I at the store. The apps opened really slowly. So I'll reserve judgement after that new update. Then I'll try again. I want to like it but it isn't up to par just yet. Especially for the price I'm going to pay. In my humble opinion
 
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