Bromley B&O closing

I heard today from Kevin Blake that their Bromley landlord has decided to quadruple their rent so that it  is uneconomic to continue with the store. This is a great shame and I wonder what kind of business can operate with £100k a year in rent and council tax. The visibility of a high street presence will go from Bromley at the end of the month and I hope they will be able to maintain the sales with the remaining shops.

When I returned to my 15 yo haunts I walked past them, but I doubt they were there in 65-66

Still it is sad to see good dealers go

4X rent hike ... that's obscene

elephant:

When I returned to my 15 yo haunts I walked past them, but I doubt they were there in 65-66

 

 

Still it is sad to see good dealers go

 

 

4X rent hike ... that's obscene

They weren't there when I bought my Century in the late nineties. I had to go to their Tunbridge shop. Now they intend to deliver to customers but they've lost footfall now for the initial awareness. 

Simonbeo:

....but they've lost footfall now for the initial awareness. 

... which will be their biggest obstacle going forward.

Well , exactly. Unless advertising of the products is strong enough people aren't going to search them out between product launch events and they'll go and spend elsewhere/ on other things. There's a limit to how well you can communicate quality materials and audio on a website. Then, if there's installation to be carried out then mailorder doesn't work. 

The trouble with B&O is that they're staring down the end of a loaded gun here.  Who on earth will pay a premium price for a product they've never heard of?

Multibrand. Let's go back to the old days, when people knew what B&O was!!  Get B&O next to Samsung, where the B&O looks premium and you can see the difference - and, moreso, you can actually see it!

A Beoplay product looks a bit esoteric in John Lewis with insufficient space around it and only a box to explain itself,  however. 

Simonbeo:

A Beoplay product looks a bit esoteric in John Lewis with insufficient space around it and only a box to explain itself,  however. 

I actually agree with you there.  Sorry - to clarify, I meant the independent electronics stores.  

That said, many of them are going out of business or closing down because most people go in, have a demo, pick the salesman's brain, then go and order it from eBay or Amazon.

A sad fact, but a true one.