Low BlackBerry 10 Interest At World's Only BB Store

When the first BlackBerry retail outlet opened in Farmington Hills, MI, Research In Motion

had hoped to create the start of an empire. Six years later, that empire has been abolished, dethroned and cast aside by two unexpected competitors: Android and iOS.

To be fair, BlackBerry does not need a single store to be successful. RIM smartphones existed for several years without its own branded retailer. Samsung, the world's largest smartphone producer, does not have any stores in North America. While RIM may never have a retail chain comparable to Apple

, that has not stopped the media from fawning over the new BlackBerry 10 OS. The hype has been unstoppable. In this year alone, Nokia has risen 25 percent as investors prepare for the first major upgrade since BB 7. That said, media hype and investor support do not guarantee that a product will be successful. To see what consumers really think of BlackBerry 10, Benzinga placed a call to the

to inquire about the upcoming OS.

Dale Wiltse, Store Manager: "They're supposed to be out before the end of the month, but we haven't gotten a release date for them yet."

Dale: "Yeah, but I haven't gotten anything to even show anybody what it's gonna look like."

Dale: "I don't know. We're at the mercy of everybody else."

Dale: "No. Not a ton. A few people."

Dale: "Correct. We switched the store over to a repair place. There will still be some BlackBerry stock but most of it's repair now."

Dale: "Repair for all phones."

Dale: "October is when we opened."

Dale: "Yep." After more than five years of service, the BlackBerry store is nothing more than a cellular repair shop. Worse yet, only a "few" people have inquired about BlackBerry 10. This is not a good sign for investors who are long Research In Motion.