July 27--Apple Watch will be available at 100 Best Buy stores come Aug. 7, including two in the Chicago area, before a larger rollout for the holidays.
Best Buy is the first national retail chain, outside of Apple itself, to carry the buzz-worthy watch, the company said Sunday.
The device, with a starting price of $349, will be sold at the Downers Grove and Gurnee Best Buy stores.
An additional 200 Best Buy locations will carry it in time for holiday shopping, though those are still being finalized, a spokesman said. Best Buy, based in Richfield, Minn., has more than 1,000 U.S. stores.
Last week Apple reported $49.6 billion in revenue for the quarter ended June 27, a 33 percent jump from the same period last year, and $10.7 billion in profit.
The company did not break out sales of the watch, which launched in April and started selling in Apple stores in June, but the company said during an earnings call that the watch exceeded its internal projections and has sold more in its first nine weeks than the iPhone and iPad did when they first came out.
aelejalderuiz@tribpub.com
