Dell Pulls Plug On Plans For New York Retail Store

The Round Rock, Texas-based computer hardware giant, however, said it has seen good results from its original retail store in Dallas, which opened last year, and that it continues to weigh new options for reaching the market.

"I can confirm for you that Dell is not moving ahead with plans to open a retail store in West Nyack," said Dell spokesman Dwayne Cox. "Our global consumer business is focused on meeting the evolving needs of customers around the world with new products and services, and doing so with overall shorter development cycles and flexible manufacturing and distribution methods."

Plans had already begun on a 3,000-square-foot retail store at the Palisades Center in West Nyack, N.Y., a massive mall near the New York State Thruway in the Hudson Valley. The Dell store was slated to be located between a Bed BathBeyond store and a SteveBarry's on the first floor of the mall. As recently as Jan. 18, the mall's Web site had been listing job openings for a store manager and retail sales clerks and technicians.

Though Dell never formally announced the Dallas store or the New York-area store, company spokesmen briefed reporters and analysts on their plans last year and the effort gained the company a number of headlines. But earlier this week, CRN learned that it appeared Dell was set to pull the plug on the New York store, and the company confirmed it Wednesday.

Dell currently has a sales "kiosk" in Palisades Center and hundreds of other malls, stores, airports and other locations. The kiosks generally serve to showcase a limited number of product models to consumers and provide Dell catalogs and other information about how to buy through other venues, such as Dell's Web site.

The rollout of two retail locations was considered a first entry by Dell back into a retail market it exited several years ago after limited, if any, success.

As was planned for the West Nyack, N.Y. outlet , the Dallas store doesn't stock inventory but assists customers in ordering products from Dell and getting help with technical issues.

"We are excited by the performance and early results of the experimental store in Dallas, where customer receptivity has been good," Cox said.

Dell competitors such as Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Toshiba and Gateway maintain a retail presence in several national retail chain stores, and Apple has a growing lineup of its own company-specific Apple Stores that sell only Apple PCs, electronics and other products in addition to providing limited technical support.