July 14, 2014
Home Depot Inc. (HD), the world's largest home-improvement chain has partnered with MakerBot to bring MakerBot Replicator Desktop 3D Printers to customers. The 3D printers will be available on The Home Depot website and in 12 Home Depot stores in California, Illinois and New York beginning July 14, 2014.
This is the first time The Home Depot has offered 3D printers for sale in its stores and will be a pilot program for MakerBot and The Home Depot.
The Home Depot decided to offer the Makerbot 3D printer three months ago. Although the move will most likely not create much revenue for the chain, the company expects that the printers will appeal to makers, DIYers, and small businesses.
"It's a pilot for us to test a potential disruptive technology, and to make sure we are on the forefront of a new innovative product," Joe Downey, an online merchant at Atlanta-based Home Depot, said in an interview.
MakerBot's partnership with Home Depot is a "step into the mainstream," said Bre Pettis, chief executive officer of Brooklyn, New York-based MakerBot. "Mom, dad, contractors, interior designers -- we're looking forward to blowing their minds and making them MakerBot lovers."
Jocelyn Phillips, an IBISWorld analyst said this move will "become a more important way for stores to differentiate themselves" as the competition between specialist retailers and e-commerce increases.
via Bloomberg
Posted in 3D Printers
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Desperate?
craig billings wrote at 7/14/2014 2:27:21 PM:
Lol. Funny stuff I must say.