01/25/2005 07:44:00 PM 
The store is basically a health and wellness superstore, selling everything from new age music cds, to wireless access and prescription drugs, through an in-store pharmacy.
The concept seems to make sense, there is nothing out there like it and with an aging Baby Boomer demographic, health and wellness is a category set to explode
EQ-Life, is just one of a triumvirate of test stores Best Buy has created, another is; Escape, located in Chicago. This store is aimed at males in their late 20s and early 30s. This is a "third place" concept that allows you to drop in to play video games on Plasma TVs. It also has rooms that can be rented out for parties.
Then there's Studio D, a technology store designed for women aged 35-45 years old. It features a more "female friendly' environment with better lighting and more contemporary design. Its main focus is on consumer education. Studio D has borrowed heavily from Apple with its Apple Store classes, Studio D, even has a class entitled "Discovering your iPod".
Best Buy has no firm plans to roll out any of these concepts nationally, but at least it has the guts to test them by creating the stores and seeing what happens. These concepts that are incredibly difficult to test via traditional research, so the only way to understand the potential, is to build them.
Not that Best Buy hasn't done its homework, the concepts clearly show the company has been following trends closely. In April 04, Influx wrote about new video game lounges that were emerging and that type of knowledge clearly informed the "Escape" concept. Studio D shows that Best Buy has been paying close attention to Apple's recent retail success.
In addition, it has also been looking at other electronics retailers and brands who are developing retail concepts for the female consumer.
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