dgbrown Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 When I was tooling around the C4 website looking for the '09 pres releases (see other thread) I stumbled on this:Fast FactsHeadquarters: Salt Lake City, UTIncorporated: 20031st Product Shipped: 2005Employees: 300Control4 is a privately funded companyFunded by Foundation Capital, Thomas Weisel Venture Partners, Frazier Technology Ventures, vSpring, Mercato Partners, and Best Buy CapitalIs there any question as to why c4 product is rolling out in BB across the US now ....BB Capital was formed in the spring of 2008, and C4 sometime in '03 - so BBC was a late to the game investor paying a premium in terms valuation and buy-in. They were apparently part of a $17M round last July. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wappinghigh Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 Dgb. Are you saying you can buy C4 gear at Best Buy? Is this a retail store? If so what is the instal process that goes along with the purchase? Very interesting post. What do you think this might say for the future direction of things??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henniae Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 Dgb. Are you saying you can buy C4 gear at Best Buy? Is this a retail store? If so what is the instal process that goes along with the purchase? Very interesting post. What do you think this might say for the future direction of things???Magnolia Home Theater is part of Best Buy (a large US retailer of home electronics and appliances). You can't just drop in an buy C4 gear and take it home. You still need an authorized installer to install it. In this case the installer is someone from Magnolia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 Magnolia will most definitely sell the product cash and carry, FYI. They don't have it in my market, but I have talked with people who have walked in, and walked out with equipment just as if it were a DVD or anything else they sell.wappinghigh, Best Buy is a huge retailer. www.bestbuy.com. They have thousands of stores, and they're large - 100,000 square foot plus and sell everything from CD's, to vacuums, to fridges, to TV's.One of my favorite stores to browse around in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgbrown Posted October 4, 2010 Author Share Posted October 4, 2010 Thanks Alan. Wap,Alan's spot on. What does it mean ? Well c4 just expanded its residential dealer base logarithmically. This will free them up to focus on and grow the commercial, hospitality, and energy business segments. For some dealers that do not have other product offerings, or fail to move up and into the other lines of business they may end up suffering or going out of business all together due to BB's presence in the market. This may reduce your choices as far as installer goes. It's also possible that somewhere down the road the residential (or some new variant) products are mainstreamed to the point where they essentially become an over the counter offering. Helping this along will be the comoditization of navigator - built-in to sets, receivers, etc - or perhaps as an add on/plug in to the new media players hitting the market - sitting right next to the built-in Netflix. Seeing navigator show up as a built-in in BBs Insignia brand of tvs would be telling. Disclaimer - this is just one view of the possible future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henniae Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 Magnolia will most definitely sell the product cash and carry, FYI. They don't have it in my market, but I have talked with people who have walked in, and walked out with equipment just as if it were a DVD or anything else they sell.Understood. I guess I should have said that you can't just take it home and use it since it will require a certified installer. It could be done remotely so I can see that you could plop down you cash and take it home, hook it up and have someone log in remotely to install. They also have the Greek Squad who can go out to your home and install. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ_ Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 This is great! I bought a laptop from BB and the RAM was bad within 2 months. Took it back - RAM was replaced, no questions asked. If I were to spend more money on C4, might as well spend it at Best Buy. Can't beat the support and customer service no matter where I move within the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 ^Except it is only at locations that feature "Magnolia" (only one of the ~8 stores in UT, don't know if that is true company wide). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgbrown Posted October 4, 2010 Author Share Posted October 4, 2010 ^ It is true. Not every BB has a Magnolia Home Theater in it. I don't know the percentage but it's the same in the Northeast market as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ_ Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 The NE market has more Magnolia stores. I have about 4 stores in my area (about 20 sq miles, state PA). First thing you see on the Magnolia Home Theater page is a C4 UI screen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigrzeye Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 The BestBuy store in Whitehall PA has been scheduled to get C4 gear since last October. So far nothing there .. except I did see 1 C4 iPhone dock. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMcJilton Posted October 8, 2010 Share Posted October 8, 2010 I Didnt know this. However, speaking from experience I would highly advise seeking professional advice, and or installation and programming from a specialty retailer or systems integrator. Seeking advice from some ill advised and unqualified teenager at Best Buy will only result in headache. I dont care what they tell you about thier so called "custom" or "high end" Magnolia name, its all the same people running the show. Having been through what they call special Magnolia "custom" training, I can speak from experience when I tell you that they dont know a damn thing about anything custom, let alone how to install or program an automation system. Even if that automation system is fairly easy to program. I could go off on a tangent here and explain why even the budget friendly automation technology doesnt belong in a big box environment, but I will leave you with only this: GO TO A PROFESSIONAL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3fingerbrown Posted October 8, 2010 Share Posted October 8, 2010 This is at least the third time a thread has been started on this topic.http://www.c4forums.com/viewtopic.php?id=4073http://www.c4forums.com/viewtopic.php?id=6042 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgbrown Posted October 8, 2010 Author Share Posted October 8, 2010 That's nice. Was there a question there. As the thread starter I was not seeking information, nor asking a question. I was sharing a bit of info I came across that I felt perhaps others may find interesting.The point of making a post like "This is at least the third time a thread has been started on this topic." is typically because the OP is asking for information and/or that has previously been given, perhaps numerous times.As the OP of this thread I was asking for neither and just sharing. And in fact your reference threads don't mention BBC's investment in C4. This said, I'm not sure what you're getting at.Perhaps you don't see it that way ... to each there own I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3fingerbrown Posted October 8, 2010 Share Posted October 8, 2010 You are quite right, the original post was just about Best Buy's investment in C4, which hasn't been discussed, unfortunately the thread went off track and degenerated into something we've seen many times before. So it wasn't your fault dgbrown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgbrown Posted October 8, 2010 Author Share Posted October 8, 2010 thanks 3fb. I feel the same way about beating the proverbial dead horse myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ELECTRICDON Posted October 9, 2010 Share Posted October 9, 2010 Regardless, bb is only going to carry a few sku's - enough to do one room or single display installs. They will sell controllers and remotes and maybe an outlet switch, but do not expect cash and carry. Their magnolia team will sell this as part of an install package. Just remember that proper networking gear is essential for the successOf a c4 install. Bb may or may not recognize this. Bb's commercial aspirations are a whole different matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigrzeye Posted October 9, 2010 Share Posted October 9, 2010 My understanding was that the retail BB / Magnolia store would sell and install the equipment but the programming was to be done at a remote location. Individual BB / Magnolia stores would not be involved in the programming process, just provide a blue print of the physical connections for the project. At least that is what I was told, and I for one believe EVERYTHING my BB rep tells me .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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