We're not sure exactly what this means for the rest of the world's nine Nokia flagship stores, but it's been announced that Nokia will be pulling out of its prominent
Regent Street location in London as it apparently prepares for a retail revamp going into early 2010. Weak foot traffic is cited as the main reason for the closure, and if Nokia can't generate sales in the heart of one of its strongholds -- Western Europe -- we can't imagine that this bodes well for the other flagships either, all of which were designed and built around a high-tech, pricey theme (the Regent Street store alone was rumored to run Nokia a cool £4 million, about $6.5 million, to open) that likely drags on the company's bottom line quarter after quarter. Then again, we'd assumed that these stores were built to foster mindshare, not necessarily to contribute euro day in and day out -- but this is probably why we're not executives at a major phone manufacturer. Other Nokia stores in the UK will remain open, but for Espoo, the days of the over-the-top retail marvel of design and architecture may be over.
[Image via
All About Symbian]
posted December 7th 2009 9:29PM
It's funny, I've been in the Apple store on regents street a good few times. Yet I don't remember even seeing this particular Nokia store.
@Joe OReilly
Been there, it's actually nestled away out of view, the inside barely resembles a normal average carphone warehouse, nothing fancy really. It's a shame.
@Almo
It is a real shame. We could easily slip into an Apple controlled mobile phone market and even as an iPhone user I think this would be an awful thing. We need more competition, which isn't going to come from Nokia.
@Joe OReilly
the reflection of the store shows the Apple store...so they're right across from each other, you didn't see it?
@Joe OReilly - I think you hit the nail on the head here: The store is too stealthy. It just doesn't look like anything special, to the point where it even looks a tad shady. I was standing outside of their Chicago store this summer waiting for a friend and didn't even bother to go into the store. That's saying something for an Engadget reader to not venture into a flagship store.
@Joe OReilly it is on the wrong side of the road. and it's a wide road so it makes a huge difference. but really what can you see in a nokia store you can't see anywhere else, not the most interesting shop around.
@Joe OReilly I've been there once when I was working in London and having troubles with my E71. First, the service was HORRIBLE - the people were not helpful at all and didn't seem to understand their products or customers. More embarrassingly, we couldn't test the problem because they didn't have functioning WiFi anywhere in the store, despite having 2 routers.
The store in Chicago is slightly better (also scheduled to be closed), with better customer service.
But you know what? Nokia has lost it's focus. They make AWESOME hardware, but the phone software (at least until the E71) was atrocious. And then they wanted me to sign up for a bunch of Ovi services. Hey, guess what Nokia? I don't need a new ovi email because I already have TOO MANY emails. And the services they offered were just horrible (by my American standards). Upgrading the firmware was worse and riskier than on my old WinMo phone. I just ended up giving the E71 away and getting an iPhone. And I am much happier for it.
So, goodbye London store. You lived in the shadow of Apple, your service was horrible and your products second rate. The world will not miss you.
Poor Nokia and their millions of dollars of investment going to other things. How will they ever cope...?
They just seem stagnate lately while releasing continuing lines of phones with minor variations from one another with minuscule updates to it's dated OS. Do something with Maemo or use android and for the love consolidate some of the lines of phones and focus on just a few. Ovi app store....boo hisssss!
Lately?
More like for the last 10 years
I doubt that all of them will have to go. Nokia Flagship in Hong Kong is always packed, and the N97 launch event was crazy. New York, on the other hand...
How many bloody $1,000 "phones" do you expect to sell in one location?
My, I do say!
oh well cheerio and all that then!
@(Unverified)
I'm pretty sure its somewhere arround 40% of the smartphone market.
Open one in Los Angeles for cripe's sake!
Gee, I wonder if the photographer intended to capture the reflection in the windows of the other, similar store that's built around a high-tech pricey theme (and which also happens to sell phones) that's right across the street?
@(Unverified) wasting Engadget's database space with an apathetic first post is a mortal sin around here, dude
@ matt1980
Thats OWNAGE RIGHT THERE!!
Apple overshadwing Nokla!
AHAHAH "i" love it!
Hey NOKIA the reason you losers are FAILing is staring you right in the face, just look at the reflection in the window!
Apple came and set up shop and ran u nubs out of town!
you can't sell shite! with Aople across the street! Apple sells everything and you want traffic in your store for cell phones you can buy in wal mart?
ou need to check yourself yo!
Lovely Tat you are selling toot!
Hello, kind sir, I can't seem to find the Aople store. If you could direct me, I can be on my way.
@NAME
You can buy an iphone in walmart, I don't think they had a N900 in the store last time I was there. You Fail.
It's sad the little people at the retail stores have to pay with their jobs for Nokia's inability to release competitive products over the past year or so. I am positive any of those retail workers could of designed a phone better than the N97. With that said, I'll die if they close the flagship in New York.
It is the only way I can play with their phones extensively before taking the plunge. I tested the E71 and loved it then bought it. I played with the N97 and hated it so I skipped it. I played with the N900 and loved it so I am buying it when it dips below $500.. If I pay a shitload of money for a phone online and then end up not liking it, I will be pretty pissed and hard pressed to pay extra shipping to return it. Will probably sell it to cut my losses but either way it will be fail by my part. Moral of the story is since carriers don't ever have a good Nokia selection I will have no way of knowing if I like a phone or not.
I think they should open more small nokia stores in the usa instead.
us americans aren't going to spend 500++ for a phone that can't perform as better as other fones we can get from verizon or att...
with that said, nothing beats a droid, iphone or palm pre that costs less then 200$..
so good riddance to nokia who can't drop thier prices or offer competing handsets for same costs at the competition.
@evicfinite You're insulting Americans by writing "us americans".
@evicfinite You do realise that Droids, iPhones and Palm phones are all cheap due to excessive subsidising right? You do pay a high price for the phone, but you pay for it through the high costs of your plan.
It is not Nokia whose price is high, it is the fact that networks aren't picking up Nokia's and subsidising them. You might pay $500 for a Nokia, but you're not locked into an expensive plan -- You own the phone completely.
@Muhammad Oli
Only problem is in America, you don't get much of a deal bring your own phone to the table...T Mobile has started doing that, which is great, but AT&T needs to start doing it too....another issue with Nokia's model from other nations is millions of cell phone users in the US don't use GSM providers...heck Verizon/Sprint out number AT&T/T Mobile in users
@Muhammad Oli
yea u own the phone completely, but when u go to get the plan it will still cost almost as much as the plans of the palm pre, droid or iphone,
so what would u rather have a subsidized fone for 1/4 the cost of a nokia with a plan already included, or a nokia phone costing 600 and then going to get a plan that costs just as much?
@evicfinite
If you actually do the math, you'll find that it's cheaper to buy an unlocked phone and buy a contract without a plan, just because the carriers do charge extra if you have a smartphone or that sort of thing.
At least that's what I found out when I was buying cell phones, but buying a subsidized phone with contract is good for the people who don't want to pay like $500 upfront or whatever the price may be.
@Muhammad Oli
Unlocked doesn't really matter here. The N900 will work at G3 speed on exactly *1* U.S. carrier. T-mobile. The smallest of the big 4 carriers by far. They have decent plans, but really, really lousy coverage. It's GSM, as is AT&T, but AT&T uses a different frequency, so crappy EDGE speeds are the best it will do on AT&T's network. The other two big carriers us CDMA instead of GSM tech, so mobile an unlocked phone buys you exactly jack squat here.
@evicfinite
After reading your posts, i'm not sure you are well enough educated on cell phones or cell phone plans to be commenting on this topic.
You don't really need a Nokia store in western Europe, every store sells Nokia. In the US the telco's only have budget Nokia's ( with lots of branding bloatware). We need more stores here!
@SymbianSimain Indeed don't follow the Apple retail store model, but a mix of Apple and the Dell or Microsoft experience models. They will sell you a phone, but their primary purpose is to boost retail sales by putting Nokia in high visibility locations to display their products.
I want that huge N97 sitting in the window there. I doubt it's functional, but it looks cool.
ive been there, it was a pretty cool store, but until Nokia gives up on Symbian and joins Android and Win-mo 6.5 they're screwed
The Nokia "flagship" store opened in NY on 57th street about 2 years ago - it is, without doubt the ugliest store in NY and it is unbelievable that NY city even allowed such an abomination to be approved. And you have to be here to understand just how much of a blight this is on a city which can arguably be said to have some of the most beautiful retail stores as well as some of the worst. At the end of the day, it just proves that throwing money at a solution is not the answer - there has to some empathy and understanding of what people want - Nokia doesn't have a clue. Sad really.
Not really in the best place, i go into that Apple store whenever im about and bored where as i only recently noticed the Nokia store, when in for a quick look expecting big things and its just like any other phone store so that's probably why its getting very little customers. Phone stores around here are generally empty thanks to the internet.
I live in western Europe and the other day I found a Nokia in my cereal. Nokia is everywhere, and you get a fat subsidy everywhere. A store like this is merely good for showing of their product, not to generate sales. Strange idea.
Arghhh I loved this store!
In all seriousness I have never seen it on Regent Street.
It was hardly a "flagship store" as most people would understand it. It was very small and grotty... Maybe 100 square meters max. You couldn't compare it to Apple's flagship store further down the road.
It's not part of the British phone buying mentality to get it from a manufacturer store. You buy the phone from the Network Operator's shop, of which there are two or three on every high street - or alternatively one of the multi-network resellers (Phones4u, Carphone Warehouse).
It's little surprise that this place didn't make money - it wouldn't occur to anyone to shop there. The Apple Store (opposite side of the road) is an entirely different proposition as it sells a wide range of hardware.
The whole idea of a Nokia store never made sense. Why buy a phone from there for £500 when you can get it for free on a contract a few stores down the road? And if you're clued up enough to want an unlocked phone then the Internet offers far better prices.
Nokia (and others) can't follow Apple's retail model because only Apple enforces price fixing on their third party vendors.
Almost nobody buys Nokia phones at Nokia stores anyway. Why would they if they can get the same phones at half price or less on contract?
good thing I grabbed my N900 before it shuts!
The got the brand new rubber boots from finland. Fast fail and it's tendency for them.
At what point did it become "cool" to stop using clear English in journalism?
Why not say, "Nokia to close London store"?
What does shuttering mean over and above shutting or closing? Why do we need the word "flagship" which adds virtually nothing as Nokia only really has one shop in the whole of London.
Sorry for the pedantry, but seriously guys, news needs to be clear and concise. There are no bonus points for being more verbose.
@(Unverified) What are you talking about? Journalism has always been about flowery language. That's what sells the newspapers and makes people click on news links: attention-grabbing headlines! We're not robots.
"Weak foot traffic" That can't be right. If you've been in London, you will know that Regent Street is very busy. It is after all between the famous Oxford Street and Piccadilly Circus.
There was also a Sony Ericsson shop in Regent Street a few years ago, but it didn't stay there too long...the rent must be sky high.
@Wesley
The foot traffic on Regent Street is very strong, but the foot traffic inside the Nokia store is weak. I suspect the Sony Ericsson shop also closed because the principle of phone manufacturer retail shops is flawed: British people want phone network shops or non-tied shops.
who tf writes these posts anyway...do u think a 40billion dollar company will back off from a retail store even though it holds 40 percent of the smart phone market....man..there is fking limit to your ignorance
I see the problem here. There's a picture of an N97 banner on the front of the store. The laggy CPU, low ram, and resistive screen is scaring all the people away LOL.
The n900 on the other hand, well...that's another story, but it seems Nokia aren't really pushing that handset _at_all_ to the masses...probably because they don't want to support it since they didn't put too much into it, and the maemo os isn't really quite "done" yet. It's medium rare atm.
That storefront looks shady as hell. Is that a pawn shop? Tourist gift shop? Radio Shack? Looks nothing like what a flagship store should look like. Shame.
I hate poorly designed storefronts.