Archived Looks like were getting another partner in Electronics

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Confirmed from an e-mail I got today, we are going to take the Geek Squad on as a partner in Electronics and offering their services. Only the Denver Market is testing this right now. Its also been confirmed online.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...7YCoCQ&usg=AFQjCNEjiGP3z2NdgoMmtv_bkq8rzDFNsw

""""The Denver area will serve as the test bed for a partnership between two of the most recognizable names in retail and consumer electronics: Target and the Geek Squad.
Starting in early October, all 28 Target stores in the Denver area will feature Geek Squad tech experts and services. Geek Squad "agents," clad in their trademark white shirts and clip-on black ties, will provide Target shoppers with the full slate of services, from in-store gadget repairs to home-theater delivery and installation.
"What we are looking to do is to really include all of the services that a typical guest could get at any Geek Squad in a Target store," said Scott Nygaard, Target's vice president of electronics. "These will be Geek Squad employees that are Geek Squad-trained and have all the same expertise."
Each Denver Target store will feature Geek Squad technicians for 80 hours a week during the six-month trial, which will also include one Target store in the Minneapolis area, where the companies are based. Target won't decide on whether it will take the partnership nationwide until after the Denver test is completed, Nygaard said.
Geek Squad was founded in 1994, billed as the first round-the-clock consumer technology repair and support service.
In 2002, the company was acquired by Best Buy, the troubled electronics retailer it is widely associated with today.
Nygaard said Target pursued the Geek Squad partnership because of the blurring line between mobile and home electronics.

"The themes coming out of CES (Consumer Electronics Show) last January were all about connected devices and how the family can be connected and how you can have all your devices connected," Nygaard said. "The guest doesn't always understand how all that works. We think that this is able to bring us a bit of simplicity."
Burt P. Flickinger III, managing director of retail consulting firm Strategic Resource Group, said he believes the partnership will benefit both Target and Best Buy.
"It is a very smart and strategic initiative for both retailers," Flickinger said. "It benefits Target because Target sells more high-end consumer electronics."
Flickinger said the partnership will also help Best Buy improve its reputation for customer service. The electronics chain has struggled to compete with online retailers and announced it would close 50 big-box stores this year as part of a new cost-cutting strategy.


Read more: Geek Squad will plug into Denver-area Target stores in early October - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/business/...ll-plug-into-denver-area-target#ixzz236bJwgey
 
Helping out two failing companies (Radio Shack and Best Buy) won't make us a successful one.
 
Oh boy. I am happy I am not in electronics anymore. If corp keeps adding on more and more of these extra services like whats the point of having Elec TMs then!?? Just another example of them adding vendor type services instead of Team Members. Saw another vendor go into the TSC full out with PDA to do whatever it was he had to do last night. Makes me cringe every time I see a Vendor doing someting on the sales floor with a PDA.
 
There goes the neighborhood...Pizza Hut Express, Starbucks, RadioShack, Apple, then Geek Squad. Lets just rent out space to McDonalds, Bed Bath Beyond, and Bank of America. And the only actual Target TMs in the store will be the cashiers. Then again they will probably be even replaced by self scanning kiosks.
 
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UGH! I hope this fails hardcore! This is going to undermine the "Target Brand" experience! My department runs circles around the clowns at Best Buy/Geek Squad because we actually care about the guests, not just getting to buy items/services they down't even need and giving them wrong and false information! We've even been told by guests that we give better service than Best Buy! If this goes national, then I'm seriously considering transfering to a different department.


EDIT: Ugh, this whole thing just disgusts me.... if Target really wants to spruce up Electronics, then they need to bring back the "Electronics Specialist" title and beef up their own services instead of relying on somebody else's failed and overpriced model. I was reading some more articles on the issue, and it just makes me mad!

http://www.startribune.com/business/165578256.html?refer=y

"It can be a little iffy what you get in consumer electronics," said Mary Van Nolte, also of Ginger Consulting. "You sometimes get a good person in Target khakis who knows what they're doing, and you also can get someone who transferred over from the jewelry department. They need to find an additional service level in that department that they don't provide in the rest of Target."

REALLY???? Show what she knows. In my store if you don't provide quality service, you aren't in Electronics. Everyone in our department either knew something about electronics coming into it, or has already learned it with the Electronics Champions training.

Now the article did mention something I liked:

"The company has been using a different third-party vendor for consumers who want to purchase additional services, such as in-home installation of big-screen televisions. That third party will not be in the Geek Squad test stores, said Target's Kristy Welker."

AKA ZIP, which is garbage, and should have been booted a long time ago.


http://tcbmag.com/News/Recent-News/2012/August/Geek-Squad-to-Join-Target-Stores-as-Part-of-Pilot

"The partnership comes at a time when Target has been working to beef up its electronics department. It has remodeled that area within some stores and is testing mini-Apple stores within a couple dozen of its locations."

Ok, I understand the mini-Apple stores, because that service is provided to a specific product, but they can't compare Geek Squad being in there to the mini-Apple stores because GS would be doing stuff that the right kind of Target TM's could do themselves!


Overall, I hope to God that this "partnership" is temporary and that Target will decide to take what it has learned from this and maybe decide to start it's own "Bullseye" services. Because if they decide to roll this out nationally, it's death to Electronics and the "Target Brand" experience it offers.

/END RANT
 
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It was only a matter of time. I saw it coming when they introduced Target Mobile. The entire electronics department will probably soon be 100% third-party operated.
 
It's always cheaper to subcontract.
Never hire directly if you can avoid it and never pay for full timers if you can get part timers to do the job.
Welcome to Wally World econ 101.
 
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Don't forget being able to employ illegal aliens on the cleaning crew!

Dont get me started
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I have looked into the future...

"May 3, 2013

MINNEAPOLIS -- Target announced today that they will replace Scott Nygaard, its vice president of electronics, over a failure with its partnership with Geek Squad. The test started in early October of last year in 28 Denver-area Target stores and one in Minneapolis, where its headquarters are located.

"It just didn't work out between the Best Buy-based Geek Squad and Target," Tina Schiel, Vice President of Target stores stated. "It was a major failure. Guests complained about the lack of professionalism and the high rip-off prices of the Geek Squad."

Target, which is trying to undermine competitors such as Best Buy, is seeking a replacement of Nygaard, who has taken a $300,000 severance package."
 
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