Office Depot and Apple

[7on]

mmmmm Office Depot, not as high-class as Circuit City, but I hope it works out. Because I'm positive that their are no Mac users near me within a 100mi radius. Maybe more. All Apple needs to do is hire their own employees and send one to every Depot. Then it definitely work out. The main reason this does not work is that PC zealots often work at this PC department stores. And in turn deliberately turn people away from Macs or just don't bother to read about what they can do.

 

[Savage Henry]

http://www.appleturns.com/scene/?id=4812 covered this quite well with their take on what this means for the image of both Apple and Office Depot.

To me it seems really weird. I wonder if Office Depot in the UK will follow suit. It's pretty small here, so I doubt it.

 

[virividox]

woo hoo but then again i hope this reseller doesnt mess up like best buy and apple should be able to supervise a little more

 

[dogbyte_13]

I sure hope apple either trains or puts their own people in office depot, because you have a bunch of chuckleheads that are usally pc only and are most unhelpful. On the other hand i no longer have to drive that far anymore to get apple products.

 

[jjmaximum]

This is a good thing

And they are even showing In-Stock status for most products

 

[jdechko]

i think part of the reason that it didnt work out too well at best buy is that they dont actually stock apple computers & computer accessories in store (at least here around atlanta (GA), the only evidence ive seen of an apple/best buy partnership it on the bb website. I sure hope that office depot has some floor models so people can test them out. thats whats gonna help up apple's appeal

 

[slowtreme]

Office Depot, not as high-class as Circuit City

Since when is Circuit City high-class? (not a fan of CC)

Personally I think this might be helpful for different reasons than having products in Best Buy and CompUSA. Office Depot is a Office supply store.

I have never had any worthwhile assistance in Office Depot, except for them to maybe point me in the direction of some oddball supply. These people seem to have no opinion at ALL about anything they sell. So they may have less change of steering someone away from a new Mac. When you walk up and say "I'll take that" they'll run off and get you a box (like web shopping, dont bother me till I'm ready to checkout). This is opposite of just about any other retail place selling Macs.

 

[kansast]

This was tried before ... was it not ?

seems I remember this being tried before.. like around the initial release of the iMac ?? Not that I ever shop at Office Depot.. I also seem to remember a few members of our local Macintosh User's Group getting into a few shouting matches with the manager at our local Office Depot. The displays were always in disarray, not working, and the salespeople did everything they could to steer customers away from a Macintosh purchase.
would be nice if it works out better this time. But I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Quixcube]

timing?

This seems like a good idea at a bad time to me. I hope they sell a lot of eMacs because iMacs are getting a bit scarce... I see on their website that they offer PowerMacs too, but I don't think they will move many at a consumer outlet targeted at bargain shoppers.

 

[temptatino]

All Apple needs to do is hire their own employees and send one to every Depot. Then it definitely work out. The main reason this does not work is that PC zealots often work at this PC department stores. And in turn deliberately turn people away from Macs or just don't bother to read about what they can do.

The problem isn't so much that Best Buy and Office Depot are stocked with PC zealots as it is that they are filled with technological idiots. It'd be difficult for anyone to keep track of as many products as these large retailers offer, and on top of that do you think that the salaries are high enough to draw in true professionals? Besides, the biggest reason you don't find Mac users (or even knowledgable PC salespeople) is that anyone who cares about quality computers would have to be seriously sick to feel at ease selling $499 ('After Rebates!') buckets of crap to unsuspecting customers.

Okay, maybe I'm coming across too strong here.. Sorry, had to vent

 

[mklos]

seems I remember this being tried before.. like around the initial release of the iMac ?? Not that I ever shop at Office Depot.. I also seem to remember a few members of our local Macintosh User's Group getting into a few shouting matches with the manager at our local Office Depot. The displays were always in disarray, not working, and the salespeople did everything they could to steer customers away from a Macintosh purchase.
would be nice if it works out better this time. But I'm not holding my breath.

I don't ever remember seeing Apple Products in an Office Depot. I remember seeing some Mac products in a Sears stores which was an absolute JOKE! Christ I was 12 years old and knew more about Macs than the supposed "Mac Specialist" at Sears.

Apple just needs to put their own employees in there and not let the PC idiots that don't know anything about Macs get anywhere near the Apple section. From what I see, they do a fairly good job with that in CompUSA.

 

[rosalindavenue]

I'm in western Virginia and the Apple pilot program was in the local Best Buy. They had a couple of imacs, a couple of powerbooks, an ibook and a G5 set up. For the first couple of months, there was an apparent apple employee around demoing ilife, but she wasn't there all the time. After she left there were only 20 year-old PC gamer employees who generally told customers they didnt know anything about macs. There needs to be some salesmanship to get people to abandon what they know (PCs) for generally more expensive macs, and if there is no salesmanship, no non-technical customers will buy them, at Best Buy or officema

 

[ojames]

confirmed in stores?

Appleinsider posted a story on this yesterday claiming that they have confirmation that the macs will be in Office Depot stores toohttp://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=546. This makes sense, i mean, why would they do it just online? it would compete with apple.com then.

 

[Daveway]

This is good news

This is very good new for apple and people like me that can only go to compusa for mac stuff (i think theyre tired of seeing me).

But seriously. Its good that apple can now get to a larger audience. for example. when im in the stores a lot of people go right over to the pc area but then they look up and see the macintoshes and theyre wowed by them. The end result is someone buying a mac or really wanting one and cant afford it.

Office Depot really needs to fix their website, the product detail are all wrong and the items dont even have the correct photos!!!!!!

Circuit City did sell macs at one time i believe and it didnt work out but i could be wrong.

 

[bar italia]

mmmmm Office Depot, not as high-class as Circuit City...

I guess you're right, but where do you live that Circuit City is the standard by which others are judged?

 

[slowtreme]

On the Office Depot website, they have a picture of Airport Express with a caption underneath that says "Airport Extreme"

The Airport Express is Airport Extreme also (802.11g). Not sure if thats the implication, but it's not totally wrong if both are listed.

 

[coumerelli]

did anyone notice that they say they have ipod minis in stock??? i guess they are the only people in the world. i hope this is true.

I DID notice that and got kinda excited as I'm trying to find one right now...

So, I just called, and here's the answer..."We don't have them, you'll find them online tho through tech depot"

'OK' I said, "I just saw that you had all the apple stuff online and thought you might have them in the store, too.'

"NO, we're only selling through tech depot, online. Thanks"

So, not to burst anyone's bubble, but at this point (at least in Madison, WI) no goods in the brick and mortar.

 

[slowtreme]

Did this get merged with another thread, comments seem out of order.

 

[Frozone]

Did this get merged with another thread, comments seem out of order.

Yeah, It got merged with the MacBytes thread.

 

[g4macuser]

i assume this is only in the US. nothing on the canadian officedepot web site.

 

[DGFan]

mmmmm Office Depot, not as high-class as Circuit City, but I hope it works out.

I like Office Depot. Circuit City reminds me too much of a sleazy ABC Warehouse or Highland (for those in the midwest). I refuse to shop there. The 300 foot long receipts don't help either (although Best Buy is catching up to them)

 

[Porchland]

Not really a good fit.

If you really want to move in the business sector it would be great to move revision behind or refurb merchendise at lower prices. Also would be a great place to sell the eMac. You could use your business line of credit and see the difference at the store.
Also a key to partnered retail sucess is keeping the pipple faced jerk off selling the apples from bashing them while they sell them. Sure they like window's they have just downloaded every piece of software they need illegally. Not really an option in business.

Sam's Club and Costco aren't a very good fit for Apple. Their major hook is that they sell things at a discount. Apple is a premium product, and I don't see Steve-o trying to play for price against the cut-rate HPs.

 

[GFLPraxis]

Whoo! The nearest Apple Reseller to me is CompUSA, halfway across town. Office Depot is MUCH nearer, and the only PC's they sell are cheap crappy Wintels for $400.

Though they do have some nice business card paper.

 

[brooklyn]

Educational discounts at the Depot?

Will they offer educational discounts at Office-Depot? I had a BestBuy Two blocks away from me but I would always drive 4 miles to the Apple store to take advantage of the discount.

 

[sinisterdesign]

I see this as a key move for Apple in the business sector, especially with small businesses...

yes, thank god. i work at another not-so-small business that has the word "Depot" in the name and Office Depot is our office products supplier. up until now it's been a HUGE pain in the butt to order ANYTHING for my Macs b/c our purchasing dept only stocks PC stuff (you wouldn't believe the uphill battle i fought to order 3 G5's and associated software).

maybe, just maybe i can now order such exotic items as Mac software and RAM w/o getting permission from 3 dept heads, signoff from a VP and a written letter from my mom.