The wait is over.  Handspring announced today that its line of Visor handhelds will be in retail stores next week.  There are three chains where the Visor and its accessories will be available: Best Buy, CompUSA, and Staples.  Even as you read this, Visors are being delivered to stores, so you may be able to find them as early as this week.

The Visor, the Visor Deluxe, the cradles, and most of Handspring's Springboard modules will be available for purchase at these retail stores at the same price that Handspring sells them for.  Retailers will determine what Visor Deluxe colors they carry, although they can special order a specific color if necessary.  The Visor Solo and Modem module will only be available from Handspring.  Third-party Springboard modules will eventually be available in retail stores as well.

This is a very important step for Handspring as the company works to expand its market share.  Many people who are still wary of purchasing products over the Internet or need to physically touch and play with a product before buying it will now be able to do so.  Customers will also be able to try out the Springboard functionality of the Visor using comprehensive point-of-purchase displays.

The move into retail also gives the company more exposure, since there has been very little visibility of the Visor outside of the Internet until now.  Many people have seen the Visor as more of a consumer-friendly product because of its low price.  Greg Woock, vice president of North American sales for Handspring, said that “fast-growing industries require new and innovative approaches to distribution to provide the best experience for customers, especially in the consumer market where we see the most potential to make an impact.”  This will be a real challenge for Handspring, because now there are even more people that will potentially be calling for technical support and customer service, areas that the company has worked hard to improve because of the demand they have faced.

So to sum everything up, starting next week you can buy the following from Best Buy, CompUSA, or Staples:

• Visor
• Visor Deluxe
• 8MB module
• Backup module
• Tiger Woods PGA module
• USB Cradle
• Serial Cradle