Best Buy Testing Electric Cars

By Alan Wolf -- TWICE, 7/15/2009

New York - Best Buy has begun testing the sale of electric-powered automobiles.
The pilot program follows tests of electric bicycles, motorcycles, scooters and Segways at more than 20 West Coast stores.
Few details were available about the company's plans for the battery-powered vehicles, which also join recent trials for categories as diverse as exercise equipment and used videos. One such experiment that bore fruit is musical instruments, which were rolled out to select stores nationwide last year.
The CE chain has recently stepped up its search for potential assortment extensions, which may be used to supplant declining categories like music CDs.
Speaking at a Best Buy holiday preview event here Wednesday, senior director of trends Jin Chang described the retailer's willingness to test new categories - and drop them should they fail to meet expectations - as one of the company's competitive strengths.