I noticed Kobo’s ereaders were being sold on Best Buy’s website last month when they had that big sale on Kindles, but I just thought it was more BlueProton listings like they have on a bunch of other websites.
As it turns out, Best Buy is now selling Kobo ereaders directly from their website and in retail stores in the US (they’ve been available from Best Buy Canada for a long time so that’s not new).
I don’t know if stores have them on display yet, but some stores have them in stock right now for pickup today. Check your local area. Some of the stores in my area have all three Kobo ereaders in stock (the Libra Colour, the Clara Colour and Clara BW), along with some accessories, including cases, the Kobo Stylus 2, and the Kobo Remote.
However, Best Buy does not have the Kobo Elipsa 2E listed on their website so don’t expect to find that model in stores, but it’s over 3 years old at this point and it’s probably being phased out as they sell off their remaining stock.
It might not seem like much, but this is a big deal for Kobo. It’s been a long time since their devices have been available at any retail stores in the US. They had a partnership with Walmart for a while, but I think they only ever had one model on display and that was only in a few retail stores, and the experiment didn’t last long before they pulled the plug on it.
I don’t know how much of a difference it will make in the long run, but at least people have a way to see Kobo ereaders in person now before buying, and I assume they’ll be displayed alongside Kindles in stores.
Kobo still doesn’t list Best Buy as an official retail partner on their where to buy page in the US, but considering the fact that Kobo still advertises the Kobo Sage front and center on their website when it hasn’t been available for well over a year, it seems like they don’t prioritize keeping their website updated.
The prices at Best Buy are the same as they are at Kobo and from Kobo’s Amazon store.
Good for Kobo but it doesn’t bode well for refreshes on any of these. Surprised they didn’t list the Elipsa 2E just to try and clear out dead stock but maybe they were afraid BB would just end up returning them.