retail

Best Buy has been criticized in the past for its short, 14-day return policy on major products like digital cameras, tablets, and computers. But the company might soon change that.

TUAW, an Apple enthusiast blog, reported last night that it received what is claimed to be a screen capture of a directive sent down by Best Buy headquarters to all of its stores. The alleged directive initiates a change in the retailer's return policy. Starting March 4, the screen capture reads, Best Buy will offer a 30-day return policy on all items.

Best Buy's current return policy is … Read more

One of the advantages the physical version of your Sunday newspaper has over the digital edition is the inclusion of all those weekly sales fliers. The ones I look forward to are from Best Buy, Staples, and other tech-heavy stores, with all the latest sales and new products. However, beyond the color photos and bold-face prices, the actual details about the products on display can be hard to decipher. … Read more

Are you still going to GameStop or Best Buy to pick up the latest video games? At least one developer thinks you better get your fill now because you won't have that opportunity in the coming years.

Speaking this week at the BAFTA Question Time event, the CEO of online-game developer Jagex said that a decade from now, we'll all remember when physical games were sold at retail, but we won't be buying them.

"I think, 10 years out from now, we'll be talking about [physical] retail nostalgically, as a museum piece," Mark Gerhard … Read more

Amazon has failed to sign up customers to its Prime service as fast as analysts had predicted, Bloomberg reported today.

Citing unnamed sources, the news service said that as of October, Amazon Prime had at most 5 million subscribers. Analysts predicted that Amazon would have 10 million Prime members at this point, according to the report.

Bloomberg didn't offer any reason for the shortfall. An Amazon spokesperson was not immediately available.

Prime costs $79 per year. Subscribers get free two-day shipping on their purchases as well as unlimited access to a limited pool of movies and TV shows that … Read more

Oh no, Apple. If you start to sell out of big-box stores again, you'll cheapen your brand. Don't let the iPad suffer the same fate as Calvin Klein jeans.

That was my first thought last month when I heard that Apple plans to create Apple boutiques within some Target stores and supply the merchant with even more gadgets and gear to sell. Then, last week, 9to5Mac reported that Apple was considering whether to do something similar in Sam's Club.

There's no mistaking what's going on. Apple continues to increase its presence in mass-market retailers after … Read more

Microsoft plans to open four new stores and launch brick-and-mortar retail operations in Canada later this year, according to a published report.

The Verge is reporting that Microsoft will open stores in Palo Alto, Calif., Austin, Texas and two locations near malls in New Jersey--in Bridgewater and Freehold.

All four stores will debut in April and be located in shopping malls that include Apple stores, the Verge reported. The blog wrote that Microsoft's store in Canada is supposed to be located near Toronto.

Microsoft execs have said they plan to open more than 70 stores over the next two … Read more

Google could open a new retail store at its European headquarters.

In November, the search giant filed a plan to open a retail store at its headquarters in Dublin's Montevetro office block, according to Bloomberg, which discovered the document on the Dublin City Web site. Based on the plans, it appears Google is considering opening a store that would span about 1,300 square feet.

The plans were approved by the Dublin City Council on January 23.

Google opened its first brick-and-mortar store last year in London. The store was a 285-square-foot "shop within a shop" where … Read more

The two online petitions asking Apple to improve conditions in overseas manufacturing plants ahead of the next iPhone will be hand delivered to a number of Apple's retail stores tomorrow, its creators say.

In a statement today, watchdog group SumOfUs said that it plans to deliver its own petition, along with one from Change.org, to a number of Apple's retail stores around the world. That includes New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, London, Sydney, and Bangalore.

Combined, the two petitions have amassed more than 250,000 signatures, the group said.

The petition from SumOfUs garnered 55,… Read more

Despite making a clean break with wholesale retailer Costco in late 2010, Apple could be looking to expand its footprint with one of its rivals, a new report suggests.

Citing anonymous sources, 9to5mac says Apple is in talks with Sam's Club, a membership-only chain operated by Wal-Mart Stores, to expand a current partnership. That could take the form of a store within a store at the wholesale retailer, similar to the deal announced last month between Apple and Target, according to the blog report.

Those store-within-stores would end up at 47 Sam's Club locations in the U.S., … Read more