Another huge cost for Franchise Store Owners?

http://premierconstructionnews.com/2016/05/29/bang-and-olufsen/

I like it. MODERN! Thank goodness, that 80s grey carpet has gone! This is bang up to date and so it should be!

It may be a significant cost but B&O stores have to be high quality, up to date and appeal to both new and existing customers. It's part of the cost of being a high-end retailer. Seems like an excellent idea and concept to me.

I bet the struggling dealers can't wait to get the £120,000 bill for it, too...

I totally agree that the stores needed a serious revamp though. However, I feel so sorry for the dealers who'll spend this - and see about twenty people a week through the doors, with half of those looking to see and hear Play products... which they'll go and buy online at less than the dealer can buy it from Bang & Olufsen for.

Sorry to be negative : the new store concept does look lovely, on a positive note.

Lee

 

Its encouraging to see that they've really givrn this some thought and research....... and came up with somthing that looks like a temporary sale in a school gym!

Puncher:

Its encouraging to see that they've really givrn this some thought and research....... and came up with somthing that looks like a temporary sale in a school gym!

Not really fair Its only a small part of the shop that has the "Beoplay look". I think the walls with the turning speakers are amazing.

I remember my mum leasing a Beovision in the 80's from an electrical store in Swindon. The store was nothing cosmetically special, but the staff new its stock very well.

I often wander wether people don't go into B&O stores like they might have done, because of all these clever cosmetics. Why do people at work always say "oh I'd never go in there" It can't be just about the money.

I've bought two Rolex watches this year, from ordinary looking shops locally. No special carpets etc. So if Rolex can sell watches in ordinary looking shops to the general public in the north east of England, why can't B&O get the general public into their stores too?

I'm beginning to wander if all these clever marketing accessories aimed at the rich and affluent, is actually keeping the other 95% of the population at bay.

although I'm all for brand image I always feel lost when I walk into a shop/store and not sure where in the world I am...

can they not display values and standards whilst embracing local design and culture or is our future to be completely homogenised 

Hiort:

Puncher:

Its encouraging to see that they've really givrn this some thought and research....... and came up with somthing that looks like a temporary sale in a school gym!

Not really fair Its only a small part of the shop that has the "Beoplay look". I think the walls with the turning speakers are amazing.

If that is someone's best idea then I would say they are in the wrong job!

I would also suggest that no one (well maybe the oddest of the odd ones on this site) has ever shelled out several thousand English pounds for speakers because "the walls in the shop rotated"!

Hiort:

Puncher:

Its encouraging to see that they've really givrn this some thought and research....... and came up with somthing that looks like a temporary sale in a school gym!

Not really fair Its only a small part of the shop that has the "Beoplay look". I think the walls with the turning speakers are amazing.

If that is someone's best idea then I would say they are in the wrong job!

I would also suggest that no one (well maybe the oddest of the odd ones on this site) has ever shelled out several thousand English pounds for speakers because "the walls in the shop rotated"!

My thoughts exactly!  does it really matter that much what the store looks like and how it is designed. Its the products that are in them that matters!

 

Paul Sands, Director for Retail Development and Customer Experience at Bang & Olufsen commented: “The new concept replaces a design concept we have had for a long time. The sensory store will roll out across the whole world and it is very different to what it is replacing. What we are trying to do is make it very obvious that when you walk into a store, it is not a conventional audio visual retailer.”

Well we already know its not a conventional audio visual dealer!! Perhaps B&O should employ some 'reverse' engineering and ask dealers to contribute 50% of the refit cost as a fund to bring more up to date product into the stores just one look at the video offering is realisation enough that B&O has lost the plot

 

Chris Townsend:

I remember my mum leasing a Beovision in the 80's from an electrical store in Swindon. The store was nothing cosmetically special, but the staff new its stock very well.

I often wander wether people don't go into B&O stores like they might have done, because of all these clever cosmetics. Why do people at work always say "oh I'd never go in there" It can't be just about the money.

I've bought two Rolex watches this year, from ordinary looking shops locally. No special carpets etc. So if Rolex can sell watches in ordinary looking shops to the general public in the north east of England, why can't B&O get the general public into their stores too?

I'm beginning to wander if all these clever marketing accessories aimed at the rich and affluent, is actually keeping the other 95% of the population at bay. Beovision 7-55 Mk2, Avant RF 28, Beolab 9, Beolit 15, Beoplay A2, Beocom 2, Beotime, H8/H6/H2, Form 2, Beoplay A3, Beovision 5-42 connected to a DVD1

Agree. Looks very impressive and very flash but too much. There's a tangible risk of putting the common folk off completely. The average customer would never feel intimidated by a Bose store and parts of it are deliberately made a bit homely. It should look less Rolls Royce-Learjet and more IKEA or country cottage. My mates say they same; the look of the place puts them right off. Maybe B&O have done this deliberately and want to draw the Rolls Royce-Learjet crowd in.

For what it's worth, I like it! Much prefer it to the current design of the stores

I agree it looks lovely but might put people off -  I remember getting my first Beogram 1500 in 1980 from a store that was nothing like todays (Seawards in Reading) I returned as I was hooked and bought a Beovision 7002 for my 21st, then a Beocord VHS90. Being able to see B&O products alongside other brands cemented the fact that I had made the right choice. When it came to speaker they had a wall of different makes and it was easy to choose Beovox S65 against the competition - Same with the matching BM1500.  I still have that system, although it is boxed up and waiting to be installed in a guest bedroom one day when funds permit! 

It wasn't necessarily the store but the staff who treated a 17 year old bank clerk on next to nothing with respect and made the purchase special. They happily accepted post dated cheques over three months - i think that shows how long ago it was!. Thanks to them they steered me on a course that would last a lifetime.Maybe it is more about the staff and the training they receive than the cosmetics - having said that, I have never had a bad experience in a B&O store and everyone seems very knowledgable and nice

Just remembered it was Sewards in Wokingham for the stereo and a very lovely sales woman and Reading for the TV and video - does anyone remember Seawards?

Interesting thoughts Chris but i'll tell you the answer from my friends. 99% of my friends won't go in a B&O shop because 1. Some feel that the products are 'showy' and 2. They feel awkward entering a small shop with old sales guys sitting around and don't like the feeling of not buying the product.

Even I, would rather look at the range in a large open place such as Harrods, the guys remember me there and always make me welcome even when I tell them I don't like something.

Thirdly, the market has changed. People get out there and travel a lot more now. None of my friends sit in their houses watching the TV for hours on end PLUS music travels with you. Look at me, I've had 10 years in the music industry and were do I listen to 99% of my music? In my bathroom!

People listen to music not sat in a chair these days and sadly, of course, these showrooms selling products that very few buy suffer.

Also very few people Chris feel the need to buy Rolex, so it's probably a certain demographic for that. Materialism is pretty horrible in todays society.

How many times do they use the term "roll out" in that article?

as mentioned already , it would appear they've rolled out some floors from a school gym.

There really is nothing wrong with a bit of materialism bought as a reward or a treat. The self esteem must fuel the customers courage to cross the threshold of a store before it can do all the experiential stuff to the customer. Otherwise people will buy from online icons rather than picking up the products in the store to feel the materials and forms . They will get a pleasant surprise when they arrive feeling heavy and metallic cold to the touch but really people need to handle B&O products to appreciate them. 

I wouldn't say the north east is the ideal demographic for Rolex, but they obviously sell enough of them. 

Chris Townsend:

I wouldn't say the north east is the ideal demographic for Rolex, but they obviously sell enough of them. 

As long as you can keep them away from the south that's fine!  

Perhaps the gym floor us the nod to homely reality. 

 

Simonbeo:

They will get a pleasant surprise when they arrive feeling heavy and metallic cold to the touch but really people need to handle B&O products to appreciate them. 

You're so right. The reactions are truly astounding when I tell friends to touch the BV11 frame to see and feel that it isn't plastic; that the TV is heavy and substantial and not made of throwaway parts, and the entire package has been so well thought out. Unfortunately, though, those values are short lived in their minds, and generally aren't shared across the demographic which once may have bought into what B&O is about. 

People seem to want bells and whistles from their electronics. Perhaps luxury electronics is an endangered market.

Other luxury brands don't seem to suffer that dichotomy, like watches, or fashion... somehow there is an implicit understanding that there's craftsmanship in a A. Lange & Sohne, or Rolex, that the purchaser is paying for -- rather than a television or speaker. No one seems to mind that a high end watch may only be able to tell the hours and minutes. But when it comes to B&O, the old saying is "high on design, low on specs". I am purposefully discounting that high end watches do use precious materials in their manufacture, though even a Rolex Milgauss Stainless Steel fetches over $7000 new.

A changing time and perception I'm afraid.

Watches and audio are very different in longevity and audio is becoming a perishable product as people perceive faster and faster obsolescence !

Watches are currency in that they don't go out of date plus you can probably buy them with money you haven't paid tax on then cash them in. Not that anybody on here would do that. The number of premium quartz watches shows the ratio of production to sale cost. A quartz movement for £10-15 can be found in some expensive watches. 

Audio needs to create a way of making people think at least some of it is an investment , perhaps the equivalent to being able to upgrade the movement. This amounts to a free software upgrade at the moment, in some cases because the thing was launched prematurely.