When Best Buy (BBY -1.67%) launched Apple-branded (AAPL 1.06%) mini-stores within hundreds of its big-box stores, it was a genius move for both partners. Apple gained low-cost market reach as an alternative to diluting its high-quality Apple Store brand. Best Buy got its hands on Apple's premium gadgetry, with the added bonus of perhaps selling a TV or some CDs to iDevice fans.
Then Samsung joined the store-within-a-store concept. Okay, the two leading names in mobility duke it out under one roof. Fair enough, I suppose.
But Best Buy didn't want to stop there. Now Microsoft (MSFT -0.01%) is joining the party with about 500 Best Buy-hosted mini stores. Redmond will provide properly trained salespeople, Best Buy provides the floor space, and everybody wins.
Right?
Well, maybe not. In the video below, Fool contributor Anders Bylund explains why he thinks that Best Buy is stretching the mini-store concept one step too far. In short, Best Buy is likely to confuse customers and dilute the very idea of running mini-stores.
