Best Buy starts selling green vehicles
Best Buy Inc. (NYSE: BBY) continues to sit atop the consumer electronics universe with its largest competitor (Circuit City) now defunct and mass retailers struggling to keep their consumer electronics categories as beefed up as Best Buy's is. So, with that in mind, what is Best Buy's next trick? How about selling eco-friendly vehicles?
Can you see the place where you buy flat-screen televisions and laptop computers selling scooters and Segways? That's what is going on in 19 Best Buy locations on the west coast already. Add to this Best Buy's roll-out of the Brammo Enertia electric motorcycle this summer and the company may be on to something. After all, it has locations throughout the U.S., something most eco-friendly vehicle dealers would love to have but can't. Is Best Buy the next national vehicle dealer?
It could certainly become that. Now, buying a $12,000 motorcycle is a touch more than plunking $500 for a new laptop, but the fact that eco-friendly cycles (and later, cars?) will have the foot traffic only bodes well for eco-vehicle manufacturers, in addition to upping Best Buy's profile among the eco-conscious....MORE
And:
New McDonald's to include recharging stations for electric cars
McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) struck gold when it entered the breakfast market decades ago. Today it's fighting for Starbucks' boutique coffee business. Where will it turn next to expand its business? How about electricity?
According to our sister blog, Engadget, a new North Carolina McDonald's will include electric vehicle (EV) recharging stations, part of the ChargePoint network. While you stuff your face, your car could be stuffing its battery.
The cross-marketing potential is intriguing. Since most current EVs take a couple of hours to recharge, McD's would have a captive audience to buy desserts and frou-frou coffee drinks to fill the idle time. It could offer discounts on fill-ups with meals, and Happy Watts meals for the kids. And with over 30,000 locations worldwide, what company is better placed to establish a recharging network?>>>MORE
