Best Buy and Virgin showcase digital home in UK stores

Best Buy, a leading consumer electronics retailer, has partnered with Virgin Media to provide customers in its UK stores with Virgin Media products and services. The stores will feature interactive demonstrations of Virgin Media products, making it easier for customers to understand the benefits of a connected digital home.

Best Buy will be opening its doors from May 2010, starting with Thurrock, Essex, followed by Hedge End near Southampton and Merry Hill in the West Midlands in June.  Best Buy’s store in Aintree near Liverpool will open in the following weeks, with Croydon expected in Autumn 2010.

Whether browsing around Best Buy’s extensive home theatre areas – which will offer the latest audio and visual technology – sitting down to watch television in a cinema-style HD TV room, or walking round the computing and broadband sections, customers will be able to see and try a large number of Virgin Media products and services, including:

The market leading, ultra-fast 50Mb fibre optic broadband which Best Buy will feature as a live feed in some stores, enabling real time and rapid downloads and streaming capabilities;

the nation’s most advanced TV on-demand service with thousands of hours of top quality entertainment, including HD channels and programmes;

V+ HD boxes which can pause, play, rewind and record live TV meaning viewers never miss a thing;
plus the very latest pre-pay mobile phones, home phone service and offers.

The Blueshirts, Best Buy’s expert and impartial in-store team, will be on hand to offer demos, explain how customers can access, share and watch their content on their mobile, laptop or TV, as well as suggesting ways to add more value to existing Virgin Media packages.

In response to recent research conducted by Best Buy, in which UK consumers said they wanted a better retail experience when buying games, Best Buy’s store in Thurrock will feature the Ultimate Games Experience room. This will be kitted out with the latest HD TV home theatre equipment featuring 5.1 surround sound, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 consoles and PC equipment. Sponsored by Virgin Media, the room will feature the latest games, showcasing them at their full potential in both sound and vision.

Harry Parmar, Merchandising Director from Best Buy UK said: “I’m really delighted to be working with Virgin Media. Together we can allow Best Buy’s customers to truly experience all the benefits of a connected digital home – first hand.

“Central to creating the fully-connected digital home is the availability of super-fast home broadband. We know that customers want to be able to watch, share and access their entertainment at home and on the go, so I’m confident that together with Virgin Media we’ll help our customers to get the most out of their technology through ultra-fast connection speeds and fantastic content.”

Peter Taddeo, Virgin Media’s executive director of consumer sales, said: “We're passionate about bringing new technology and our products to life. Best Buy’s mould-breaking stores will provide a perfect environment in which to do this.

“Virgin Media’s products and services will feature across the store, giving customers the chance to try before they buy and to get a real idea of the high quality and range of experiences that we can offer.”

Virgin Media now has a significant high-street presence in the UK, having already opened new stores in central London, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh and Leeds and Leicester, taking the total number of own-branded stores to 57. In addition, the company also has 26 ‘retail lite’ sites in prominent locations within shopping centres across the country.