Alienware opens retail store

Holiday shoppers at Miami’s Dadeland Mall get a surprise on December 10, an Alienware retail store. Alienware, the high-end desktop and laptop maker, has traditionally been mail-order only, but is finally venturing into the retail market. To kick off the opening, the computer maker is giving away a fully-loaded system and several digital audio players.

The store is actually a kiosk that looks to be twice the size of Dell retail locations in many other malls. Potential customers will be able to play around with Alienware desktops, laptops and media players.

A few years ago, Gateway opened around 300 full-size stores called Gateway Country. The operation failed horrible and the company had to close all the store in 2003. In contrast, Apple has done well with their retail locations. Dell has gone with smaller scale kiosks which just demonstrate the product - Buyers still must go online to purchase the computers.