BestBuy tries to know its customers ? especially how they spend their money. BestBuy?s Inner Harbor location at 600 E. Pratt St. opened last November. Already, the retailer is finding that downtown shoppers ? particularly visitors to the harbor ? prefer high-end, portable electronics to microwaves and washing machines.
Emphasizing digital products is “a move we have been talking about,” said Matt Dagostino, general manager of the Lockwood BestBuy. “We want to look at moving the digital merchandise, the cameras, printers and [more].”
With projects such as the $250 million Ritz-Carlton Residences on Key Highway springing up in the area, a downtown influx of luxury condos is on the horizon.
Michael Yerman, a trustee of the Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors Foundation, previously told The Examiner area condo prices range from $300,000 to $5 million, depending on the state of the market and the type of condo.
Dagostino wants to position his relatively new store to take advantage of these trends. His vision for the store includes prominently displaying plasma televisions and other high-end electronics. Putting these items front and center, he believes, can reach customers not only in the new luxury condos, but the redeveloped rowhomes in the area with residents looking to save space.
And if he gets his way, the traditional model of placing dryers front and center will become a thing of the past, at least in his store.
“With so many condos currently going up, we want to make sure we are prepared,” Dagostino said.
But tourist dollars are just as important to stores in the Inner Harbor. For the last fiscal year, the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association reported that visitors added nearly $3 billion to the economy. That?s one reason the Dagostino?s digital cameras may soon have a new home in the front of the store, with a great view of the harbor.
