ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
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Article
Sad to read - The dealer in my town shut down about a year ago, but I think that was the dealers own decision due to some personal issues - But they weren't really selling anything either way. They didn't even have a pair of BL5s on display through the last years...
- Dennis
I'm always amazed how a niche brand has so many stores to begin with and how close they are to each other.
If they really want to make themselves special surely they should make it harder to buy their stuff rather than easier ?
Give the product a bit of magic.
Otherwise they'll end up like any other hum drum hi fi company and they'll be selling bno at sainsbury's.
And yet Bose stores are everywhere and they do very nicely thank you. Dreadful news to those affected.
Beosound Stage, Beovision 8-40, Beolit 20, Beosound Explore.
Although awful news for those in line for closure, most of the dealers who are performing badly only have themselves to blame. Far too many are more concerned with their own profile, trying harder to emulate the lifestyle of their clients rather than concentrate on their jobs.
The brand once set the standards for quality, not only in the build of it's products, but in the service offered by it's staff. In the majority of stores that ethos has gone out of the window in recent years.
Maybe if Bang & Olufsen are shown to be a little harder in their management style then the dealers in question might buck their ideas up....
Chris Townsend: And yet Bose stores are everywhere and they do very nicely thank you. Dreadful news to those affected.
The Bose stores locator shows 10 stores for the whole of the UK!
Until relatively recently you could only buy direct from Bose by mail order or go to their factory outlet at Cheshire Oaks where the returns were sold at a discount. Their main seller was the Wave radio, which I have owned for many years. Very reliable, nice acoustics, but overpriced and made from materials almost bordering on cheap and nasty!
Graham
Edit
Bose have kept the same basic Wave radio design since 1984 with CD and DAB updates. There's a lesson for B&O!
Tonker:And yet Bose stores are everywhere and they do very nicely thank you. Dreadful news to those affected. Beovision 10-46, Belab 11, Beosound 8, Beocom 2, Beotime and a shed load of A8's and Form 2's. Oh and a Beo4 and 6.
I thought it was more than 10 but there you go. When i go into their stores they tend to market surround sound systems from about £800-2,500 so i wouldn't say their stuffs exactly cheap either. Bose comfort 2's are nearly £300.
What they do well is market some pretty average stuff very well, whereas B&O have some excellent kit that is virtually not marketed at all. Look at hastle Puncher has trying to find what inputs this new Beolab15/16 system has. Most audiophiles smirk at me for merely mentioning the B word in front of them, as they see the brand as rebadged Phillips etc.
Well, over here I can have about 20 B&O stores at max. 100 km away, but the area has the highest population in Germany.
Bose is sold at most electronics stores over here, so will be available at >100 shops for sure...
Ralf
Living Room: Beosystem 4, Beolab 7-2 (Center), Beolab 9 (Fronts), Beolab 8000 (Rears), no Subwoofer. Screen: Sony KD-85XH9096Dining Room: Beosound Essence MK II with Beolab 4000 on stands, fed by Amazon Echo Show 8Home Cinema: Beosystem 4, Beolab 7-4 (Center), Beolab 1 (Fronts), Beolab 4000 (Rears). Projector: Sony VPL-HW55Home Office: Beosystem 3, Beolab 7-4, Beolab 5000, Screen: Sony KD-55XH9005 on Beovision 7-40 stand, ML to Beosound 9000 MK3 and Beosound 5/Beomaster 5 (1 TB SSD version)Bedroom: Sony KD-65XH9077, Beosound Essence MK II with Beolab 6002 and Beolab 11 (all white, wall-mounted)
In storage: Beolab 5000/Beomaster 5000 (1960s).
ironic as a lot of audiophile gear has been proven to have less than esoteric guts , the emperor's new clothes etc
look at the oppo debacle a few years ago where a jurno opened up a high end blu ray player costing a fortune and it was IDENTICAL to an oppo costing a tenth - identical
Tonker:I thought it was more than 10 but there you go. When i go into their stores they tend to market surround sound systems from about £800-2,500 so i wouldn't say their stuffs exactly cheap either.
And the big losers? The poor dealer who might have put his house on the line.
Too long to list....
IMHO the day it started to go downhill for B&O was when they upped the ladder for the common man to have a look at their products...
The B1 stores are a joke. A bad joke.
It's more inviting and relaxed to enter an Audemars Piguet boutique than to enter a B1 store. You are greeted by an idiot in 99% of the cases, that looks you over and decides in 3sec if you are worthy of his attention and B&O at all.
If he decides wrong, and think I'm worthy, he will soon regret his decision as I'm only asking for a BV10, and not the 200K euro complete house installation.
So maybe I'm not feeling bad for the dealer after all... We saw some great dealers in Denmark when we visited the factory last spring. These where the old school guys that actually sold many different brands in their stores. They where not B1 stores.
I miss the old B&O dealers. Down to earth, mom & pop shops that didn't judge you or snob up if they bother to lift there *** at all.
I know what you mean,I am sure it was a krell or lexicon player.Saying that b&o dvd 1 and 2,I could say the same about,all the companies are guilty to an extent.
MHO the day it started to go downhill for B&O was when they upped the ladder for the common man to have a look at their products...
butch1:I have sold expensive cars to guys in overalls,who have haulage or engineering companies.
I recall a boat salesman back in the mid-80's ... a real big shot.
He made a few quick, easy sales working at a (world's largest volume of two different brands) marina outside of Ft. Lauderdale. He showed up with a brand new henna red 635csi (remember those?) That very day a big, burly West Virginia fellow (looked EXACTLY like Grizzly Adams) wearing nothing but bib overalls and a moonshiner hat (no shoes, no shirt, nothing but the overalls and the hat) walked down a gangplank past the newly crowned Mr. BMW -who rolled his eyes on queue.
A few hours later, Mr. Grizzly left the marina having spent several hours with another, less assuming salesman.
He had bought a brand new 58'-0" sportfisherman. There was no financing.
Mr. Grizzly owned land -A LOT of land. Under that land was coal -A LOT of coal.
Dennis:The article
If I am understanding the link -is there a separate story developing about B&o-proper layoffs coming as well???
ɓʋɾɑɳɫɘɮ: Dennis:The article If I am understanding the link -is there a separate story developing about B&o-proper layoffs coming as well???
That's the way I read that second linked article too.
I suspect that all retailers (B&O and everyone else) are having a hard time as the recession bites.
That could explain the large drop in the stock today.
I know that some B&O stores doesn't put a lot of interest in people who, at first glance would not buy B&O. I visited two local B&O stores back when I was 15 years old; The first didn't care about my presence at all, though I was very interested in buying a used Beogram 4002 they had, and maybe a brand new Beosound 3200. I went disappointed to the next B&O store in my city for the first time; a salesman was very keen on telling me about B&O and how the basic link systems functioned. It was a good experience which in turn makes me want to buy B&O at that particular store if I wanted some.
The first store closed a couple of years ago because they didn't sell well, I guess they couldn't realize that normal people can save up for a quality product. I went to the store (now only B&O store in town) to see the Beosound 8 a little later; same seller, same nice introduction though I with great interest had read about it before I went there. The introduction to the store is crucial on making people save up to buy B&O - that is my opinion at least. A peculiar note is that I later became friends with the store workshop owner
Vinyl records, cassettes, open reel, valve amplifiers and film photography.
It's not just the B1 stores. I had my worst shopping experience ever before the B1 shops were there. When I entered one shop the sales guy was on the phone talking in a very loud voice to somebody. He told the guy on the other end of the line that he thought it was ridiculous if a customer wanted to listen to a sound system costing more than half a year's average income... When he put down the phone he told me that you had to be arrogant to be a good salesman... This shop had been a B&O dealer since the early 60's! I think they lost their dealership in 2000 or there about.
Not all stores are like this. I've had many good experiences as well. But sadly there are still shops were you don't get a good customer experience.
Vähintään yhdeksänkymmentä prosenttia suomalainen!
I bought my first B&O piece - a Beogram RX2 - in about 1990 in a place called HiFi Buys in Ann Arbor, Michigan. HiFi Buys had five or so stores spread around Michigan, and you could get B&O throughout Michigan. A few years later, you couldn't get B&O in Michigan except at a single B&O shop in the northwest suburbs of Detroit (if I recall correctly). I never did go to that store, nor have I ever, to this day, set foot in a B&O shop. They don't sell anything I'm interested in. And I have how many B&O pieces? At least 20.
I guess I just don't understand who their target customer currently is; I know it's not me.
MartinW:I think the point has been a little bit lost in translation here
Fair is fair. There certainly are some great ones out there!
My closest (and of record) store is ~4 hours away.
An email, a call and BAM! I have a package expected between 9:00 and 12:00 tomorrow!
Rich: I bought my first B&O piece - a Beogram RX2 - in about 1990 in a place called HiFi Buys in Ann Arbor, Michigan. HiFi Buys had five or so stores spread around Michigan, and you could get B&O throughout Michigan. A few years later, you couldn't get B&O in Michigan except at a single B&O shop in the northwest suburbs of Detroit (if I recall correctly). I never did go to that store, nor have I ever, to this day, set foot in a B&O shop. They don't sell anything I'm interested in. And I have how many B&O pieces? At least 20. I guess I just don't understand who their target customer currently is; I know it's not me.
I wonder if that shop is still there?? (Detroit)
ɓʋɾɑɳɫɘɮ: MartinW:I think the point has been a little bit lost in translation here Fair is fair. There certainly are some great ones out there! My closest (and of record) store is ~4 hours away. An email, a call and BAM! I have a package expected between 9:00 and 12:00 tomorrow!
I would love to see some BAM! over here.... I think the last BAM!, was WHAM! And that's a long time ago....
Oh wait, this isn't the WED©.
According to the B&O website, there are no stores in Michigan.
Dom
2x BeoSystem 3, BeoSystem 5000, BeoSystem 6500, 2x BeoMaster 7000, 2 pair of BeoLab Penta mk2, AV 7000, Beolab 4000, BeoSound 4000, Playmaker, BeoLab 2500, S-45, S-45.2, RL-140, CX-50, C-75, 3x CX-100, 3x MCL2 link rooms, 3x Beolab 2000, M3, P2, Earset, A8 earphones, A3, 2x 4001 relay, H3, H3 ANC, H6, 2014 Audi S5 with B&O sound, and ambio
B&O are adapting to the current financial regime, but we must not forget that the increased sales for B&O Play and the Automotive group are very good news - especially in times like these.
Regarding the dealers: B&O DK have a pretty good overview of their dealer network, and simple things like their dealer visits and sales figures give them a pretty good idea of who is performing and living up to their standars and who's not.
Roger
My local dealer is superb , can't fault them at all ( Knightsbridge ) . I certainly wouldn't buy bno on line , certainly not at these prices.
StUrrock:Is this the beginning of the end of the B&O franchise model as we know it?
No (or at least that is not the intention). As explained in the interim financial report, they are closing "low-performing" B1 shops in mature market areas that remain well served anyway, and concentrate more effort to the developing areas.
--mika
Is it about 600 stores, so they're left with 500. Not "thousands of stores"...
My local store Peter Tyson is a shop within a shop and is fantastic,very relaxed and they cant do enough for you,saying that I have been going with my parents since a child.The way it is designed,it actually makes the b&o equipment look a bargain,as you are first met with £40k linn speakers across from lab5s then meridian systems,then you look at b7o and it looks well priced compared with the other systems.
Saying that a lot of their custom comes from the lake district were there are many millionaires.
butch1: My local store Peter Tyson is a shop within a shop and is fantastic,very relaxed and they cant do enough for you,saying that I have been going with my parents since a child.The way it is designed,it actually makes the b&o equipment look a bargain,as you are first met with £40k linn speakers across from lab5s then meridian systems,then you look at b7o and it looks well priced compared with the other systems. Saying that a lot of their custom comes from the lake district were there are many millionaires.
In terms of helpfulness and service I would find it very difficult to fault B&O in Castle Street Liverpool.
A certain B&O store 2 hours drive away where I had an unspeakable eBay experience ( see eBay forum) does not have the right attitude when it comes to customer service.
I really hope B&O headquarters take the time to review all their stores fully before making any closure decisions. Some are probably best left untouched, and some could do well by converting to the Peter Tyson approach.
new source say over 200 shops to close
MartinW:According to the half year results, 637 B1 stores plus 222 shop in shops, so currently 859 - admittedly less than thousands - i stand corrected! But my point still stands :)
Yes, that was my point, it's even worse than what you said! 125 out of 859 is a lot! And I think this is the first "wave".
Shut 'em down!
Let the customers sort 'em out!
All praise Tue ... or Wed!