Shane Cole
Venerable office supply chain Staples has reportedly begun selling Apple's iPad in its real-world outlets just four months after the retailer kicked off online sales of the tablet.
Staples is said to offer only Apple's latest models —  the iPad Air and Retina display-equipped iPad mini —  in its stores, rather than the entire iPad lineup, though the older versions remain available for purchase online. The change was first reported by CNET.
Bringing the iPad in-store marks another milestone in Framingham, Mass.-based Staples's current alliance with Apple, which began last spring when the company started carrying smaller Apple products like the Apple TV and AirPort wireless networking lineup.
The relationship expanded in December with online iPad sales, and it was speculated at the time that Staples would be allowed to carry the tablets in stores if certain performance targets were met. Wednesday's launch suggests that those targets, which are thought to have included weekly online sales referral quotas for each brick-and-mortar store, were reached.
One item that remains unclear is exactly how the iPad will be marketed in Staples outlets. The tablets are featured on dedicated Apple-designed kiosks in most third-party iPad retailers, and in some cases small "store-within-a-store" arrangements are struck when broader ranges of Apple products are on offer.
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6 Comments
I would like to see what their trade in values are like, this 3rd ten iPad is looking a little dated
I bought my iPad air in a Staples store on launch day, so how is this new?
[quote name="JakeS2011" url="/t/161495/apples-ipad-now-available-in-staples-brick-and-mortar-stores#post_2455409"]I bought my iPad air in a Staples store on launch day, so how is this new?[/quote] Maybe Shane Cole only now realized that he didn't hit submit. :lol:
The Canadian Stores have had both the "mini store-within-a store" for over a year now. Nice to see but management needs to have knowledgable staff selling these products. The other day a couple were looking at a MacBook Pro, when I saw and heard the sales guy take them over to the many craptops in the next aisle and say, "These are truly for professionals" when he was asked where the software for Macs is lcoated. The iPads mostly sell themselves.
People need to be told---by the sales staff in all the 3rd party stores---that Apple Macs can do something no craptop can do: run both OS X and Windows. It's the best of all worlds, and as someone once said, 'Macs are the best Windows machines' (IF you MUST have it!) The GENERAL PUBLIC needs to be educated about this aspect of things. Apple needs to lead the way, and talk it up more.