I just learned again why the retail world is struggling against the online world: I saw on Scoble’s blog that the new Cingular 2125 is available in Redmond stores. So I called up a couple different local Cingular stores. Nada. And from the local corporate store the word is they won’t carry it either. The reason? Their stores are at their max number of devices and they’d have to bump other devices to carry the new ones. And why add the new one when the old one is selling so well? It’s the old “shelf-space” argument.
So then I asked if there was someone I could call or email at Cingular. He said no and that it wouldn’t make any difference anyway. They would not change their currently successful store product line. I told them that there were others in town that I know of that would be interested in devices such as this. He said the stores in the region are all set.
His final advice: “You can buy it online.” Sure. I know I can buy it online. I will. Elsewhere.
Sometimes I feel like I don’t belong in the shelf world anymore.
