apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

i think in an attempt to equalize genders, this move is actually further separating the sexes. it ain't right. this doesn't help the situation.

if they really cared about women, corporations should give all employees free daycare and pay women the same salary as men for the same job. not open up another store that further illustrates that gender equalization, especially in the consumer market, is a total joke.

this is how serious they take women consumers? riiiight.

how's about not assuming women need to be separated to feel they are being included!

oh, and here's a link to the funniest illustrations of "target: women":

http://current.com/topics/88813968_target_women

kdkaboom - I don't want to start a fight here, but free day care just for moms? Free day care for both sexes, maybe. But then as a single person, free anything for parents really irks me too. I work just as hard as someone with kids - where are benefits for the rest of us? And the last I heard, working at the floor at best buy paid the same, man or woman. As for the girl Best Buy, I think stuff like that is crap. Offering pink tvs and floral covers for your DS doesn't equate gender equality. This lame new best buy seems more suburban big haired soccer mom oriented rather than just females.

Oh please. Equality for women doesn't mean adopting sterile shopping environments. I actually like L'Occitane, Sephora, and other stores that are INVITING and WARM. I'm so not a soccer mom either.

Yes, some of kind of low-cost quality daycare for moms and dads.

I work just as hard as someone with kids - where are benefits for the rest of us?

Yes, there should be benefits for all employees, but keeping working moms and dads happy with daycare eleviates or eliminates stress and emotional turmoil, which makes them better laid-back coworkers to be around, and the long-term benefits are a better society, and eventually these kids will be paying taxes to support your butt.

chusmabilly, absolutely agree about single parents of either gender, thank you. my sentiment is...if corporations actually CARED, they would have those types of benefits. instead, this is a kinda lameass attempt to show they care. i call bullshit!


stickyricemama, i'm not talking about their decor, i'm talking about the actual PURPOSE of the store. that is what is separative - the decor of certain stores appeal to me, too, but i won't shop at a purposefully gender-fied electronics store just cuz it's pretty.

If you have ever been into a Best Buy, you will realize it doesn't really cater to men- it's the products and tv advertising that do that. Maybe the electronics market needs to pay more attention to women, but this is just "pink washing". It's like opening a women's gun shop. I know women who love electronics and even some who love guns... but this market will only grow with product support.

It's also frustrating because not all women are (or want to be) mothers, and it seems like by putting the focus on "family rooms" and kid friendly carts they are implying that female=mommy.

I can't stand going into Best Buy (though occasionally I need something there), but I don't think the decor has anything to do with it. I think it's just all the TVs.

Quick! Somebody check the "Buy-More"!!! Chuck's newest adventure anyone?

I am so sick of companies making things for women by painting it pink. Ugh!

the fact that corporations could possibly believe the color pink could address the issues faced by women is laughable. almost as laughable as the idea that some readers think they can sum up gender equality in the workforce by saying "the last I heard, working at the floor at best buy paid the same, man or woman."

I think the whole making the "Women" store pink and adding wood panelling is stupid. Should they try to "Butch Up" Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel by painting the stores darker and having girls with short skirts work there?

Isn't it possible that women as a whole don't have the same interest and enthusiasm in gadgets and electronics that most men do. And is that a bad thing? As someone who worked for at a computer store for several years, whenever a customer came in looking for the latest, fastest, most powerful, etc...it was a guy. The female customers usually had more specific questions and needs.

Usually, when you watch the design/makeover shows, the one thing that the male of the house hopes for is his big screen tv. Maybe we're just wired differently.

This big-screen buying, gadget-obsessed woman (who often shops at Best Buy) thinks this "female" make-over is anachronistic and condescending.

However, as an intelligent, rational adult, I shop based on price, selection, and quality of customer service. So, you know, if this were the closest store to my home that offered the product I wanted at a good price, I would shop there.

But I couldn't care less about the color of the carpet or walls. I mean, it is an electronics store, for pete's sake. You go in, buy your stuff, and leave.

amt, I was't trying to sum up gender equality in the workforce in one sentence. I was addressing someone else's claim that if Best Buy cared about women it woud, "and pay women the same salary as men for the same job". I've known several people, both male and female, that work at Best Buy. They all had the same position, did equal work, were paid the same. For the sake of brevity, I didn't post my whole thesis on the current state of gender equality in the workforce. And Breann, I totally agree. I hate that woman geared stuff means mom geared stuff. Not all of us are want to be mothers and we don't want to be treated as such.

Um. I think the conversation is way off base here. This is not about gender equality at all. The article doesn't make that statement and I doubt Best Buy is making that statement either. This company is making a business decision. A business decision, not a socially aware decision. The logic? Their demographics state that women make more of the purchasing decisions than men. This is probably true whether the men are the ones that walk through the doors or not. Based on those demographics, they are going to alter the way that they sell their product. Sound business practice no? They are going to stage their selling floor such that it entices people ( I would suggest here that includes the men, whether we would admit it or not) to spend more time inside the store. The store will be more comfortable. Nobody said anything about making the store more feminine. Do women shop differently the men? Probably. Do certain aesthetics appeal to one more than the other? Possibly. Would BestBuy do this if they didn't think it would bring in more money? Absolutely not. Let's get off of gender equality please. BestBuy isn't ready for it.

"I was addressing someone else's claim that if Best Buy cared about women it woud..."

chusmabilly, i really wasn't talking about best buy in particular, i was talking about corporations in a general way. i don't care if it's best buy or walmart or morgan stanley or what. my point was: research shows women make less than men for doing the same job.

and rhb, i don't care about their business/sales practices - in my opinion, whether or not this COMES from a socially aware place, it is MAKING a social statement. just because it's under the umbrella of sales practices and tactics doesn't make it okay.

A better business decision would be not to overprice their products in the first place.

Try newegg.com

I'm not generally a Best Buy defender, but I think it's simplistic to compare them to an online store and conclude that they're overpriced. Newegg doesn't have to pay to rent stores, and you don't have to pay shipping fees when you walk into Best Buy.

i hate that they think all women like pink and thats how they rake them in. When I was going to buy a DS everyone was like what color are you getting? Pink? My reply NO!!!

And I do think its not a good idea because the only thing I care about when I go to Best Buy is that someone can answer my questions and help me. Has that happened? NO. The employees in my hometown are nowhere to ever be found and here in NYC (the best buy near my apt.) all the employees are chatting in a corner laughing hysterically and not working at all.

I thought they tried this in 2001 already and abandoned the idea. Then they went "upscale" with the Magnolia concept.
Why not try to address the needs of evryone and back it with good service?
Too simple.

Completely moronic. "woman" does not equal "mommy," bonehead Best Buy dudes! You know what I want in a tech store? Information, assistance when I ask for it, good prices, and for stuff to be in stock. To be treated like, you know, a *human being* and not a boob delivery system. Jeez.

Pink sparkly crap is for five year olds, not grown women.