Virgin pay as you go phones in Superdrug?
A while ago, I don’t recall when — maybe 2-3 years ago — Hutchison Whampoa, owners of 3, the 3G mobile network operator (and operators of 3UK) purchased a chain of 900 drugstores here in the UK.
Why? Well, they’re big in health and beauty (See the Hutch site for more details). There was another reason: The 900 store chain could almost overnight get 3UK out to every high street. As a result, almost every Superdrug you can find has a 3UK concession stand, or in smaller outlets, a series of shelves featuring the 3UK pay as you go offering.
Imagine my surprise, then, when I walked by the Superdrug on Charing Cross Road, centre of London, and saw a Virgin Mobile concession stand right there.
Instead of snapping a picture, do you know what I did? I QIK’ed it! See above for my rather mumbled video explanation.
I thought it would be a good idea to do a video rather than snap a photo; although I didn’t recognise just how much of a fool you look with your E90 pointing at a shop window with it’s red ‘record’ light on whilst you chat away. That’s why I’m mumbling. Folk on the street were doing rubberneck looks at me as I recorded.
They announced this at the very beginning of the year, something to do with the technical nature of Three’s offerings (skypephone, mobile broadband etc) being too much for the average superdrug customer and so they’ll be concentrating on more low-end handsets.
Posted by Dan Lane on April 18th, 2008 at 6:05 pm.