Best Buy’s quiet home energy stores

The Nest learning thermostat sat front and center of the Home Energy section, as it is hands-down the most well-designed product out there (which is as indicative of the generally poor design in this industry, as it is of the gorgeous design created by the former Apple team). But as I reported last week, the Nest thermostat is sold out until 2012, and the Best Buy store didn’t have a single Nest thermostat for sale on Monday.

Overall, on just a single look, Best Buy’s Home Energy section has a lot of potential to educate consumers and grow the market for home energy products. It’s one of the only large retailers in the country paying attention to this market, though we’ll have to see how much volume goes through the section in the coming months, and whether Best Buy will recreate the section in other stores, keep it as a niche in just three stores, or someday shut them down if they aren’t performing.

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