Daeline: Bangalore
The first Staples store in Bangalore just opened and I went to visit per Madhu's (Belkin's India Director) suggestion. Congratulations Madhu who is responsible for getting Belkin into Staples.
The store is on the Outer Ring Road in the Garunda Mall in the center of Bangalore. The mall is targeted for teens who are choosing from a mix of American wear and traditional Indian wear. The main attraction in this mall is the movie complex which had a long line of teenagers waiting to get into the first movie of the day. There are no high-end shops in this mall.
As soon as you enter Staples you sense it's new because the merchandise has rather slim pickings and store helpers seem rather unsure about technology. Only one person I spoke to was confident about answering questions.
When walking through the store I found the Belkin Wirelesss Router which had good placement on the end of an aisle ... easy to spot.
In another aisle, on the bottom shelf, I accidentally found a Belkin laptop cooling stand. The box was in sad shape - as if it was bounced around with tears and scratch marks on it.
Overall, Staples is not the Staples we know of in the States. This is a much smaller store with limited product offerings and a young staff; but given time to grow it will be an important location for Belkin.
No comments:
Post a Comment