Dell shuttering mall kiosks?

Sad news brewing in Round Rock this morning. After slashing "dozens" of call center employees in Ottawa yesterday (and scrapping plans for 1,200 more), it looks like Dell is taking its cost cutting initiatives retail. Unfortunately, we're not talking lower prices here. We have word from a number of sources that Dell's 150+ Dell Direct Stores are about to meet the business end of the corporate axe. Whether that be in full or a partial reduction we don't know. Nevertheless, with Dell now firmly entrenched in Wal-mart, Staples, and Best Buy, the mall kiosks sure seem redundant. Expect more on this later in the AM after Michael Dell's had a chance to address the troops.

Read -- Dell Ottawa closures

[Taylor @ Jan 30th 2008 3:13AM]

The kiosks are completely redundant. Theres one in my mall thats totally empty, and a Best Buy across the street that does more Dell business in a week then they do in a year. Nobody wants to shop at a Kiosk because they don't even carry stock, they just order online like you already could from home.

[Kyran @ Jan 30th 2008 3:58AM]

I totally agree. The only purpose my local Dell kiosks have is to give Dell an excuse to charge me tax for ordering their 24" LCD from across the country.

Okay, so I was able to get the kiosk guy to knock $25 bucks off an order of $500 or more, but it's still basically just ordering online in a public place.

[Mickey Jones @ Jan 30th 2008 10:44AM]

Oh great. This frees up a kiosk for another phone service, hand cream, toy helicopter sales person.

[Unemployed @ Feb 3rd 2008 1:00PM]

unfortunatly you don't have a clue what the kiosk do as far as business. I was a manager at a kiosk and although I am not thrilled about their decision I do know what kind of dollars they do and that they were extremely helpful to the consumer. In closing for the geeks of the world that know exactly what they want in a computer the kiosks weren't as important, but for the people who needed a good computer with more power than the ones offered at the retail locations the kiosk was a highly useful tool.

[m @ Jan 30th 2008 3:42AM]

dude, you're getting laid off.

[nxtiak @ Jan 30th 2008 3:44AM]

Dang, if they close their kiosks, where will people submit there subpeonas for small claims court to?

[teej @ Jan 30th 2008 11:17AM]

michael scott's special filing cabinet?

[michael @ Jan 30th 2008 4:20AM]

It's not a wonder. Looking at some big electronics at a kiosk, doesn't feel as satisfying as going to a real store. Usually any kiosk with electronics brings up thoughts of "junk". Usually little gadgets and doodads. And it's not like the Dell kiosks were that interesting.

If they open a store, and have interesting items and a crowd pleaser, then I might be interested.

[Jagannath A @ Jan 30th 2008 4:37AM]

all your call center jobs are belong to us

-India

[Glenn @ Jan 30th 2008 4:58AM]

I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders.

[Chosenbydestiny @ Jan 30th 2008 6:18AM]

Darn, where will the Dell employees go now? File for unemployment?

[Jeff M @ Jan 30th 2008 5:07PM]

They will be forced to get a real job that they won't be embarrassed to tell people about.

Uh, I work at a kiosk in the mall selling computers that people can't even take home with them. (inside head - and I don't even work for Dell. I work for a nine month hiring agency called Spherion only got a few months left. Dang! Maybe I can work for Apple! (That would be an even worse mistake!)

[Pastry Chef @ Jan 30th 2008 6:23AM]

Does this mean that they can stop charging tax again? Personally, there were many times that I didn't purchase things from Dell.com because they started charging tax due to the fact that they had those stupid kiosks in my state.

[aoeu00 @ Jan 30th 2008 10:12AM]

Very good point! Down with tax!

[Sam @ Jan 30th 2008 7:10AM]

ok lets think about this...i go to the apple store, crammed full of people, it has a nice atmosphere and good service and lots of toys to play with. 20 feet away is a dell cart with 2 employees and 5 computers. it looks pathetic and its physical placement make it something everyone will pass by and never visit. bravo dell.

[Dan S. @ Jan 30th 2008 8:56AM]

At Halloween, he morons in the local Dell kiosk, about 200 feet from a 45' Apple Store actually had obnoxiously-orange T-shirts on that read 'no one wants an Apple for Halloween.' They also made a point of loudly verbally harassing anyone who walked by with an Apple bag or wearing an Apple shirt.

You'd think that they would have noticed that every time they made an obnoxious comment, people who were actually browsing their kiosk would, literally, turn and walk away.

[Former Kiosk Employee @ Jan 30th 2008 7:22AM]

You know what? They did this to us overnight. Some of us are having our worst fears confirmed by Engadget before they even tell their employees. Yesterday we had jobs, and now we have a conference call in an hour with no details as to what is going on. I understand that we were not super busy but for a small cart in the mall we did a decent amount of business, despite out overhead. This is the nature of lay-offs I suppose, but we got f***ing screwed. The people they have on the kiosks are not some 16 year old in Best Buy that can't find the space bar, we are the only face in Dell sales you will EVER see and as much as I understand that Best Buy/Staples can sell and demonstrate our product they aren't capable(atleast currently) to do what we did. Alot of us are the enthusiasts, the people that get excited and buy computers every year, or more frequently, and Michael Dell(a former system builder) just said let me save a penny a share and C**K slapped us in the face. The best part about it is that we were not a cost to the company, despite what you think we were atleast in our Region very profitable.

[Skeezle @ Jan 30th 2008 7:42AM]

So go apply for a job at the Apple store now.

Like I've said all along - Dell sucks.

[Jeff M @ Jan 30th 2008 4:14PM]

Ha ha, sucks to be you. Now go get a real job and get a MAC! I worked there until last week. Never been happier now that I quit that stupid job. Dell treated me terrible. Gave me very few hours, terrible commission (.5%), and location had almost no traffic.

[HAHA JEFF @ Jan 30th 2008 4:29PM]

Hey Jeff glad you timed out so nicely, Even Spherion employees got a decent severance package you moron. Enjoy working at Apple(Mac is the product line) I'm sure they will welcome you.

[Unemployed 2 @ Jan 31st 2008 2:39PM]

I agree it sucks. I was with them for almost 4 years!! When Best Buy started carrying Dell, I had people coming to me saying how they(Best Buy) employees didn't know what they were talking about and they weren't helpful at all. They rather wait for the computer they really wanted instead getting something some punk kid points out. FYI most Spherion hires got hired on as Dell, if they were good enough. I know my paycheck said Dell and not Spherion. Sucks I won't be getting any more of those anymore.

[egloskerry @ Feb 12th 2008 8:47AM]

You don't want people generalizing Dell kiosk employees? Then don't do it to BBY employees. Most PCHO departments have some of the most knowledgable employees in the store, and that's saying something, because HT has some pretty smart people too.

[wickedpheonix @ Jan 30th 2008 7:46AM]

The kiosks weren't completely redundant - they would often have higher-end PCs for people to test run before buying online, and that was really pretty much their sole purpose. Sure, I can go look at one of these $700 Inspirons at the local Best Buy or Staples, but only the kiosk would have that new dual-8800M GTX XPS system.

[Andrew D @ Jan 30th 2008 8:25AM]

I used to work for the Dell kiosk and they weren't ment for the people who could order online. We were acting as consultants in the buying process.

At the Apple store you get a big inventory and lots of friendly faces. They don't need to consult you on anything cause you have like 4 things to choose from and seriously the normal consumer doesn't need to "upgrade" anything on a standard Apple.

Pc's are different and some people really enjoyed meeting face to face to discuss what they needed in thier computer.

It's sad they are getting rid of these as i know many were profitable. The kiosk i worked at made anywhere between 30k-60k a week depending on the time of the year.

[Max W @ Jan 30th 2008 2:49PM]

Is the 30-60k a week what was made in profit or how much product you sold, because those are two different things. I find it hard to believe that a Dell kiosk made 30-60k in profits per week. If they did they would not be closing them

[Andrew D @ Jan 30th 2008 2:51PM]

OH no no def not profit!!! That is revenue. However, we were very margin rich in what we sold. It was a case of 2-3 kiosks in an area doing great and 2-3 doing reeeaally bad. I guess Dell figured instead of consolidating the kiosks again to just axe it and focus on Best Buy etc.

[Ben @ Jan 30th 2008 8:41AM]

Yeah! No more sales tax!

[Joe @ Jan 30th 2008 8:42AM]

Dell has been asleep at the wheel for awhile. Retail is very simple. It calls for something called inventory on the shelf.

[Darrell Eads @ Jan 30th 2008 8:45AM]

I work for dell, and I am currently on hold awaiting a conference call on this subject. I work at a kiosk and we were not notified on anything until about 10pm last night when we where made aware our kiosk in the mall was being taken apart. The security guards called us to make sure we knew what was happening. Ill update if I can after our conference call. It was supposed to start at 8:15am EST, but its 8:40 now and I was just told it would be about 5 more minutes.

[Dan S. @ Jan 30th 2008 8:59AM]

Classy. Very classy. "Don't come to work tomorrow -- it no longer exists. Have a good night."

So, is Michael Dell giving this money back to the stockholders?

[Darrell Eads @ Jan 30th 2008 8:48AM]

I can confirm that the kiosks are shut down. As of last night I am out of a job, severance information should arrive today or tomorrow to us through the mail. They have arraigned partnerships with Staples and Best Buy for us kiosk employees to possibly work for them.

[Andrew D @ Jan 30th 2008 9:02AM]

...You're still going to have to pay tax

[Mikee @ Jan 30th 2008 9:06AM]

I find it absolutely ridiculous how a company as rich as Dell *desperately* needs to cut costs. Maybe if they put more emphasis on customer satisfaction rather than cutting costs, they would gain more money from new customers and they wouldn't need to cut our jobs.

Seriously, do the executives of Dell actually use their computers? How about their tech support? Indian tech support is the *worst* thing that could have ever happened to the technology industry. It's not like the major corporations don't know about the absolutely terrible service from India...They just don't care. Instead, they give them fake ass American names as if they are really fooling anyone.

The more these technology companies "cut costs" the more we the consumers get fucked.

Fuck you Dell!

[parki @ Jan 30th 2008 2:02PM]

Don't buy a Pontiac and expect to be treated like you're at a Mercedes dealership.

[Andrew D @ Jan 30th 2008 9:18AM]

2 months severance and options to go to best buy or stapels.

[opus @ Jan 30th 2008 10:10AM]

The cost cutting at Dell has spread to tech support too. Now when you call with a system problem they ask you if you live close to a Best Buy and suggest that you take your computer to Geeksquad. Obviously the deal between BB and Dell included making Geeksquad the defacto tech support department for Michael Dell.

[Craig Tucker @ Jan 30th 2008 10:23AM]

Sorry to the former kiosk employee(s) posting here, but I've found every Dell kiosk worker to be absolutely useless. You have a finite product line (handful of desktops, handful of laptops, maybe a printer and a tv), cant you take 20 minutes out of your time standing there to maybe, oh I dont know, learn the specs? Most recently I was inquiring about the thinnest laptops Dell had. I asked if they were offering solid state drives, and the kiosk employee had to look it up. I could've done that myself. When I inquired about the Sony tv, and what happened to the Dell-branded TVs, the employee had no clue. What happened to customer service? Salesmanship?

[Darrell Eads @ Jan 30th 2008 10:31AM]

Some Kiosk employees were not actual Dell Employees and may have been new. My kiosk, there were 2 dell employees and 3 non Dell employees hired through a company called Spherion. Our spherion employees where very knowledgable, but I can't say that for others. The non dell employees were hired worked no longer than 9 months before they were laid off.

[Sdeezeee @ Jan 30th 2008 11:46AM]

You had one bad experience but an finite amount of product "we" could sell virtually anything off the site and at better prices and Im certain that most of us knew a heck of alot more about the product more than what you know. You had one bad experience, dont bundle us all in that

[Craig Tucker @ Jan 30th 2008 12:14PM]

Never said it was my only experience, just using it as an example of why I'm not surprised they're being closed down. Did I say anything about your kiosk, or all kiosks other than the ones I have been to? No. This is a case study. Fact is, on more than one occasion I've approached a kiosk with the intention to buy, but the salesmen turned me off from it. They couldn't tell me one thing about the products sitting right in front of me without reading directly off the tag. Thanks, but I'm not an idiot, I can read. So I'm sorry I didn't go to your kiosk, or maybe I'd be typing this on a shiny new Dell, but sadly my experience was such that I am not the least bit surprised this sales approach has not panned out and Dell is eliminating it.

[Jacqueline @ Jan 30th 2008 10:47AM]

There's a Dell kiosk (I guess it's still there for now...) at a local mall around my way and the attention it gets from folks ranks just below a car accident. Barely any "rubbernecking" as you pass on towards the food court.

[Darrell Eads @ Jan 30th 2008 10:52AM]

Its not there now. All 155 were dismantled last night.

To the person who said 2 months pay, where did you get that from? I didn't hear that during the conference call. I did get some money deposited in my account this morning, but they said it was current pay and 100% of commissions to date. I am wondering about spiffs, holiday pay, personal time, etc...

[Was on the call @ Jan 30th 2008 11:04AM]

@Darrell They said we get 60 days (8.5 weeks pay) severance and all our commissions/spiffs/bonuses should have been on that check this morning. We should also according to our SM receive our holiday hours on top of that if you have not taken your vacation. We didn't get boned too hard...atleast not financially.

[Darrell Eads @ Jan 30th 2008 11:17AM]

@Was on call. Then my check isnt right. I got a deposit of $1173.05 this morning. That is nowhere near the 40hours of pay for 8.5 weeks, nor commissions, spiffs, etc. So if that is the case, (I did get a call during the conference call and missed about 1 minute of it) we must be getting another check or something. The other dell employee at my kiosk got about $1400.

[Jason Collin @ Jan 30th 2008 11:10AM]

In Ginza station here in Tokyo, there was a Dell center of some kind. I wouldn't call it a kiosk as you could walk through it. More like a room with only two walls and a roof.

Anyway, that disappeared a few months ago and that same space is now occupied by HP!

That said, last Wednesday I ordered a 2407WFP-HC from a "Dell Real Site" and the salesperson (Japanese) helped me order it from the Dell site, very useful as I can't write Japanese.

Incidentally they told me 2 weeks for delivery, which made me feel ill, but in fact it was delivered in 2 days. Don't know how their inventory system could be that off.

[Rich Welsh @ Jan 30th 2008 11:35AM]

As I understand, the pay we received today was essentially our next paycheck, and a commission payout. The severance package that they were talking about is going to be delivered via DHL in the next couple of days. In this package there is also some information relating job placement assistance with an external company, and probably some other information as well.

While I am really understanding of many of the cynical comments from other posters on this topic, let me be among those that say that I really enjoyed working for Dell, and was a true believer in what we had set out to do at the kiosks. There are always going to be bad experiences when you are dealing with 150+ locations, and Dell being as large of a corporation as it is, there is always a distant removal between those who make these kinds of decisions, and those of us who are impacted by them.

While I can only speak for my own territory, our customer base LOVED us, and were exceedingly appreciate of our presence. Not everyone needs that. I am removing the personal impact that reading negative comments, and I guess what I really have to say is, I am so sorry there are people out there who would jest someones career path without knowing the first thing about it.

Working for Dell Direct Stores was a very rewarding position, and was always a challenge. While I would have done many things differently, those of us who were successful become quite skilled at adjusting to change, and these next few weeks and months will surely be the true test of that. I wish all of you well. If I had any advice to give you, it would be to take some time and focus on yourself. Remember what you enjoyed about working for Dell, remember what effort and determination you put into it, remember your successes, and use those to position yourself for the next chapter in your life. In today's world, this won't be the last time something like this happen to you.

[Mark R. @ Jan 30th 2008 12:06PM]

Exactly right. I wish I had said it.

[Pastry Chef @ Jan 30th 2008 11:42AM]

If they no longer have a retail presence in my state, why the hell are they still going to charge me tax??? Nice way to turn more buyers away.

[aoeu00 @ Jan 30th 2008 12:10PM]

Hmmm.. so, if you buy a Dell in a BestBuy or Staples, yeah, you'll have to pay state/local tax. Does this give Dell the f*king right to say they still have a "presence" in these states (if you order online)? Damn scam!

[PastryKnife @ Jan 30th 2008 1:42PM]

Pastry chef needs to get a life. Your an anti-Dell A-Hole that has no idea what the hell he's talking about (which is obvious to everyone but himself)