First Best Buy Express store opens in Canada with ‘exclusive’ Bell telecom services

Bell’s first Best Buy Express location opened in Surrey, B.C. today. Best Buy Express is the new branding for surviving The Source locations that was first announced back in January.

In a press release shared with MobileSyrup, Bell said it plans to open 167 Best Buy Express locations across Canada, which will offer a “curated selection of consumer technology from Best Buy with over 100,000 products available through its world class fulfillment network.”

The first Express location in B.C. marks the start of a phased rollout that will take place over the next six months. Bell plans for all Express locations to be open by the end of 2024, following the completion of renovations.

Notably, the press release also mentions that Best Buy Express locations will have “exclusive telecommunications services from Bell, Virgin Plus and Lucky Mobile.” It’s not clear how this squares with Best Buy’s existing Best Buy Mobile branding, which offers services from several Canadian wireless providers. MobileSyrup reached out to Best Buy and Bell for more details about this and to see if there are plans to expand service offerings to include other providers.

It’s also quite interesting to see the Best Buy Express brand exclusively offer Bell telecom services, given recent issues about retail availability for some smaller wireless players. For example, Freedom Mobile’s owner, Quebecor, has raised concerns over a deal between Loblaws and Glentel, a telecom services retailer jointly owned by Bell and Rogers, that would oust Freedom services from The Mobile Shop kiosks operating in Loblaws’ stores.

Images credit: Bell

Distributed also on: Best Buy, Bell