Are Best Buy and Samsung Making J.C. Penney's Mistake?

J.C. Penney's big turnaround pivoted on the idea of a store-within-a-store shopping experience. The radical shift had Wall Street enamored at first, but the novel concept is far from new. The design has been tried with mixed success across all varieties of bricks-and-mortar retailers.

Best Buy is the most recent dying retailer to attempt such a move after announcing its partnership with Samsung to create retail shops within larger Best Buy stores. There are echoes here not just of J.C. Penney's attempted strategy, but also of Apple's own experience inside Target stores today and Circuit City stores of yesteryear.

Whether Best Buy and Samsung can pull off an Apple retail success will depend on their execution, but what seems on the surface to be a mimicking of J.C. Penney's ill-fated strategy is actually rather different. Check out the following video for more details.

One thing is for sure: The retail space is in the midst of the biggest paradigm shift since mail order took off at the turn of last century. Only the most forward-looking and capable companies will survive, and they'll handsomely reward investors who understand the landscape. You can read about the 3 Companies Ready to Rule Retail in The Motley Fool's special report. Uncovering these top picks is free today; just click here to read more.

The article Are Best Buy and Samsung Making J.C. Penney's Mistake? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Austin Smith owns shares of Apple. Eric Bleeker, CFA, has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of Apple. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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