Earlier quoted context omitted.
In both standard written and colloquial British English it's almost always "shop", but the term "store" is normal in the jargon used by people in the retail business. It's quite common to hear the word "store" used in a public announcement in a shop, for example. There are many things like that. For example, normal people say "tin", in my experience, but the signs in a shop seem to use "can" more often than "tin", bi…
Purchase vs buy, beverage vs drink. Not sure what the point in these slightly more technical sounding words that people seem to like to use.
Raspberry Pi Opens First High Street Store in Cambridge
121–130 of 153 posts
Re: Raspberry Pi Opens First High Street Store in Cambridge
#122Earlier quoted context omitted.
They should have area for group meeting area to host regular meetup / learning tutorial sessions for hobbyist and students. Also a lab/work bench where anyone can plug and play different components together and experiments, measure voltage, signals with an USB oscilloscopes (make with PI? ). Volunteers can come in regularly to demo, share info, organizer classes. Instead of just shelf full of the products - it should…
Why should they? This is trying to reach new people, not cater to existing hackers in the same way. You could always just visit a hackerspace. Having this in a high street locations would be extremely expensive and waste of resources.
Stuff on the high street seems more likely to reach new people than stuff in a hackerspace, which are a bit intimidating if you don't know anything about hackerspaces.
Offering taster classes and workshops to get people interested in the product could be a great use of the space.
Re: Raspberry Pi Opens First High Street Store in Cambridge
#123Hurry up and announce a Raspberry Pi 4 already! I want to give you more money
Is there a computer in the Raspberry Pi price range that has >=4gb RAM and can play full HD movies? The 1GB limit is basically what's keeping me from using a Pi as my main computer.
ROCK64 is currently your best bet AFAIK.
Re: Raspberry Pi Opens First High Street Store in Cambridge
#124Earlier quoted context omitted.
In my understanding, the new reality here is that brick-and-mortar stores are increasingly becoming showrooms to support online sales, with brands closing smaller shops and focusing on big "experiential" flagship stores. The description somebody else gave here of the Pi shop as "more of an event space than a store" would tie in well with this strategy.
Yeah that's what I've noticed, too. In Cambridge we have a Tesla store in the main shopping centre, which is just a Model S and a Model X on display in a small room with some people that talk about it. I don't think they actually make any sales there, it's just for marketing purposes.
> I don't think they actually make any sales there, it's just for marketing purposes.
They do. The sales process is basically the Sales Rep sitting you in front of a PC and letting you order it through the Tesla website while they sit idly by to answer any questions and guide you through the ordering process. It takes less than 15 minutes.
It's stupid simple and zero pressure compared to regular automotive sales.
Re: Raspberry Pi Opens First High Street Store in Cambridge
#125Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah that's what I've noticed, too. In Cambridge we have a Tesla store in the main shopping centre, which is just a Model S and a Model X on display in a small room with some people that talk about it. I don't think they actually make any sales there, it's just for marketing purposes.
> I don't think they actually make any sales there, it's just for marketing purposes. They do. The sales process is basically the Sales Rep sitting you in front of a PC and letting you order it through the Tesla website while they sit idly by to answer any questions and guide you through the ordering process. It takes less than 15 minutes. It's stupid simple and zero pressure compared to regular automotive sales.
For clarification, the entire process isn't done in front of a PC in the showroom and everything you do in the showroom you can also do from home.
In the showroom you customize your vehicle, place a reservation order, and pay an initial order amount (e.g. ~$3500 for the Model 3). You'll then receive two emails, the first confirms your order and the second provides you next steps you must perform.
The next steps are:
1 - Select Delivery Location
2 - Provide copies of Driver's License
3 - Provide proof of Vehicle Insurance
4 - Provide Payment Method
5 - Process Trade-In
The steps don't have to be completed in any particular order but I was instructed to wait on steps 3 and 4 until after I received a hard delivery date from Tesla.
It's all handled electronically and is relativity simple. The Payment can also be done upon delivery.
Re: Raspberry Pi Opens First High Street Store in Cambridge
#126Earlier quoted context omitted.
It was sad to see Maplin go. Does anyone know of any other DIY electronics stores / chains in the UK? (I miss JayCar in AU, or what DSE/Dick Smiths used to be before it went under)
Rapid Electronics or Farnell are the ones I use. Online only as far as I know, but that's fine by me, the Maplin staff rarely knew anything of use IME, and delivery is fast enough.
Yes I’ve used RS and Farnell in the past. Hoping for someplace that I could easily reach same day to buy parts, rather than wait for delivery etc. Last one I needed was some small screws to attach a mSATA, but pointless to wait a day and was preventing me from working on the project. Could imagine the same thing with SATA adapters, power cables, etc.
Re: Raspberry Pi Opens First High Street Store in Cambridge
#127Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The "RPi is for nerds" shtick is specifically what they're probably trying to get rid of with that store. Companies should be very careful not to alienate their core audience that made them big. In the past, lots of companies in their plans to widen their audiences made this mistake.
I fail to see how having a clean looking store alienates anyone. If it does, these people should look back at their priorities in life.
A "clean look" means not having the inventory, not having a vast selection on the shelves. It means selling packages, clean boxes of parts, rather than individual bit. I wouldn't walk into a "clean look" to replace a broken connector or motor accessory. And it isn't just because I don't think they will have the part. I don't want to be upsold the newest model. I don't want to be told my device is out of date. I wouldn't walk into the apple store asking for a new headphone jack.
Re: Raspberry Pi Opens First High Street Store in Cambridge
#128I had a minute to check it out over lunch - most of the floorspace is dedicated to demonstrating what the raspberry pi can do at a high level. They had stations for coding, gaming, sensors, etc. but only ~1/4th of the space was devoted to inventory. While they have a decent selection of Pis, sensor kits, and accessories, it's definitely not a replacement for Maplin. Additionally, Already__Taken seems to have been cor…
Did they sell the Pi at the $35 price (+VAT I guess) ? Because it seems that the brick-and-mortar stores I've been to strugle with this very-thin margin pricing. If you had a physical place where you could source sticker-price raspberry pis it would already be quit good.
This is why I feel the high street is failing. It is assumed that a single store’s value is in the products it directly sells. And if it’s making a loss... shut it down!
A store itself should be an “experience”. You go in, play with products, be inspired and get an appetite for them.
Sure you may leave the store empty handed — just like 99% of people that walk into an Apple store. But if the store convinces you that you want... no _need_ their product, you can then buy later from their online store.
People and businesses really need to think of all sales and PR channels of a business as a whole, not a subset of each part. Only then will we see initiatives like this Pi store start to revive the high street.
Re: Raspberry Pi Opens First High Street Store in Cambridge
#129Earlier quoted context omitted.
Rapid Electronics or Farnell are the ones I use. Online only as far as I know, but that's fine by me, the Maplin staff rarely knew anything of use IME, and delivery is fast enough.
There is also RS Components - the RS / Farnell rivalry (or duopoly) is the big one for low volume electronic components in the UK. RS do have trade counters in a couple of dozen industrial estates around the country but I think they are only open office hours.
Interesting, RS indeed has some physics stores, one close enough to me! Thanks!
Re: Raspberry Pi Opens First High Street Store in Cambridge
#130Earlier quoted context omitted.
It would be ace to be able to walk into a RPi shop and be able to purchase LEDs, resistors, OLED screens, ESP8266 modules, breadboards etc. Maplin was a great shop and open on the weekends was often a lifesaver.
When Radio Shack in the US still had components for sale, they were absurdly more expensive than Digikey or Mouser. I think I remember a 5 pack of 220ohm resistors being $2.99. Digikey will sell you 100 for under two dollars. I suppose it would have to do if you're in a pinch, but there's a reason walk-in electronics stores have mostly vanished.
It was still a lifesaver when I wanted resistors, LEDs or other components ASAP.
$3 is still cheaper than digikey shipping.