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
Yes I noticed that too. This happened before in the Marlow store with a sign saying closed for refurbishment then after quite some time it reopened with no obvious difference.
If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments.
Sometime it's cheaper to be closed...
Too long to list....
I do know that the first time it closed was because the franchisee ceased trading. B&O were keen to get another person in, so pushed for it to re-open.
I now suspect this may be the case again, but that's not fact - I don't know. What I do know is that the owner of the Marlow franchise has a much stronger business outside of B&O, so he may have taken the decision to put his efforts (and money) into something more profitable - and who can blame him for doing that?
I think we'll be seeing this a lot more as we come into the new year...
Lee
9 LEE: I do know that the first time it closed was because the franchisee ceased trading. B&O were keen to get another person in, so pushed for it to re-open. I now suspect this may be the case again, but that's not fact - I don't know. What I do know is that the owner of the Marlow franchise has a much stronger business outside of B&O, so he may have taken the decision to put his efforts (and money) into something more profitable - and who can blame him for doing that? I think we'll be seeing this a lot more as we come into the new year... Lee
Right on Lee. A lot of my friends who aren't business owners themselves, often say (when a business is going bad) Oh, but the guy is loaded, he won't care if this particular business is going badly.
Well, I usually ask them if they think he got "loaded" by running bad business, and no-one however much money you have enjoy loosing money.
we tend to forget there is more to design than designing.
To my mind, it was in the 'boom times' when B&O seemed to disappear up their own posterior and think they were much bigger than they were and canned the multibrand idea that things were always doomed to fail when the good times ended.. You just can't beat parking a B&O television next to another brand to get the point across - or many other B&O products for that matter.
if Sony Centres are falling like ninepins, who stock products in everyone's price range - then what hope for Bang & Olufsen stores in provincial towns and cities?
Times may change, but people don't. What do I mean by this?
well, when I was a kid in the early 80's, my local high-end electrical store had Toshiba, Sony and Panasonic as you walked in. Off to the left, you had a lovely area full of Finlux (remember them?!) where you went if you could afford to spend a little more.. if you were 'on the up' and didn't want to buy what the masses did.
Then, once you'd made it, off to the far left was the Bang & Olufsen section. Very special, full of products which made the others in the shop look frankly rubbish in comparison, and an area you went to when you'd really 'made it'. I remember promising myself that one day, I would have Bang & Olufsen.
Now, as a 12 year old boy (in 1982), I knew nothing of technical specs. I just knew it was special, and I wanted it. I studied it. I set myself the goal of owning it. Why? Because the competition was sat beside it, looking inferior.
Would I have walked into a dedicated B&O showroom? No way. It would have scared me. I wouldn't have belonged there and I'd never have discovered the brand as it would have been a fleeting glimpse through a window. In the multibrand store I could see it close up - and that's what did it for me. In fact, my everlasting memory is standing behind someone having a demo of some RL140's and a BeoCenter 9500 listening to Stevie Winwood's "Higher Love".
That was the moment I started saving my paper round money for a pair of Form 2's. Well, I had to start somewhere!
9 LEE:Would I have walked into a dedicated B&O showroom? No way. It would have scared me. I wouldn't have belonged there and I'd never have discovered the brand as it would have been a fleeting glimpse through a window.
Brings back memories - I think I had the same sort of "stage fright" you had - I was happy in a multi-brand store for whatever reason - and I can remember where the B&O store was - and also a McIntosh store - but I don't recall being brave enough to walk into them (at the age of 16).
But I do remember the slide rule set and diamond speakers that my friend's dad had -- and lusting after them: same as you - "this is something I must have"
BeoNut since '75
The Liverpool Sony Centre has closed and been replaced by a pink French bedroom furniture shop. This particular store was in a much better position for passing footfall than the Liverpool B&O store. Interestingly, it was in the building that was the first US overseas consulate after US independence. It's bald eagle and Stars and Stripes coat of arms are currently in the museum conservation department for repairs.
Graham
Yes, spot on with this Lee.....
My own introduction to B & O came in about 1986/7, when i got friendly with a lad at school who happened to be son of the owner of a small chain of shops known as 'Wildbores - Sound and Vision'. At this point I had never even heard the name 'Bang & Olufsen'.
They stocked Panasonic, Sony, Phillips, maybe one or two others.........and, Bang & Olufsen!!!!
I was fascinated by this 'space-age' super stylish brand & headed straight for the 'B & O - By appointment to the Royal Danish Court' section everytime in both Wildbores' Oldham and Rochdale shops....usually picking up a free B & O product brochure to drool over at home later!
I decided right then (as a 13/14 year old) that i was gonna save up all my available money, birthdays & xmas money etc. After almost two years of saving I had amassed about £1,200, and the Beocentre 9000 & Redline 60.2's were almost within grasp.
Taking full advantage of my friendship with Mr Wildbore's son, I managed to secure a £250 discount from Mr. Wildbore & I had finally achieved my goal of purchasing the 9000 & 60.2's --- MAGICAL!!!!
The more recent business model of dedicated B&O franchise stores I believe puts the more general shopper off, and half the people out there have never even heard of Bang & Olufsen at all, so are therefore highly unlikely to even step into a slightly obscure shop with a 'strange sounding' name when looking to buy a new tv or music player. I totally agree that when you put a B & O product side by side another brand in a showroom, the difference is there for the general public to see why B&O prices are as high as they are...!
Regards,
Michael
But there are of course limited exceptions to the rule, the one in this country being ABT in the Chicago area. If you want to, say, A/B a B&O iPod dock up against a Bowers & Wilkins one, no problem. I wonder how the B&O sales are there vs. the stand-alone shops in the area.
Lee & Michael, your first "love" with B&O is exactly the same as mine. In a multi branded store, where "drooling" was allowed.
I would probably never have entered a B&O store... Why?
There wouldn't have been one in my home town of 15.000 inhabitants.
While I did visit Helsinki fairly often shopping with my parents, I doubt I would have ventured into a B&O store.
Another thing...
I was 10-11 yo when I fell in love with B&O, didn't get one until I was 15. I remember all my friends knowing what B&O was, and what it was known for -Being the best! Now we are back in 1995 or so.
Ask a 15 year old today to explain what Bang&Olufsen is, and he/she will most likely not know what you are talking about.
The "China Syndrome" is indeed an interesting one...
B&O overwhelmingly biggest market is Europe. What do they do? Concentrate and to some extent please the Chinese market to the fullest! I mean who in Europe would buy gold colored B&O?!
China may have 1,5 billion citizens, but it is till a very undeveloped and underpaid country (outside the metropoles)
Europe has over 700 million citizens... All highly developed. While it may only be half of Chinas, I don't think we can neglect the huge possibilities B&O can have in Europe, where it is a known brand.