Nokia confirms New York and Chicago flagship stores are closing in early 2010
By Chris Ziegler 
posted December 9th 2009 4:56PM
posted December 9th 2009 4:56PM
No surprises here, but Nokia has confirmed a Nokia Experts report today that the company will be shutting down its North American flagship stores in New York and Chicago, leaning on big boxes and carriers to handle the in-store experiences going forward. Considering the fractional market presence Nokia has in the States compared to the UK -- where it's closing its Regent Street location -- the move comes as no shock, but it's still a shame to see these really attractive, high-tech hero locations close down. The way we saw it, these stores were never about sales; they were about exposing Nokia to the public and vice versa in a cool, hip environment, and regardless of how you feel about the company's handsets, they'd effectively accomplished that with the flagship strategy. Here's Nokia's official statement, which confirms our opinion but takes the questionable stance that the stores have outlived their function now that "consumer awareness in the US has grown substantially":"In North America, over 90 percent of consumer purchases are made through carriers - Nokia continues to support our relationship with carriers in this market, as well as the continued expansion of our retail partner network with the likes of Amazon and Best Buy (for example), in line with our strategy. As we continue to expand our services and solutions offerings across these various channels, we have decided to close the NY and Chicago stores to allow more concentration on our other channels.
The Flagship stores were originally conceived to inspire and educate consumers to the benefits of mobility through an innovative retail experience, and to broaden the appeal of the Nokia brand. Since opening the stores in NY and Chicago (2006), consumer awareness in the U.S. has grown substantially. Weighing those dynamics with Nokia's clear strategy in North America, and our well-established retail channel with third parties, we will close these two stores (New York and Chicago) in early 2010.
This decision was made to create clear alignment with our local market strategy and, in addition, as part of a global realignment of our retail strategy in overall."
@Vijay
Strangely, their own Nokiausa website often has lower prices than the brick and mortar stores. Weird way to promote your stores if you ask me, no wonder they're closing if even their own online prices are better. Did they honestly think people weren't going to check online first, in this day and age?
Still it's too bad, because I bought my 5800 from the Chicago store after testing out several phones first. And on that day, the store did honor the online prices because of some promotion.
nelson: ha ha!
This is really unfortunate. I go into the Chicago store every time I pass by and even bought my N95 in there. It really is the only place you can go to play with many of their devices first hand. I guess I'll have to start relying solely on reviews from now on.
Maybe they should have had stores in other cities; everybody does not live in NYC & Chicago, what about LA, DC, Philly, Dallas, Houston, Seattle, Atlanta
I can think of many places that atleast would draw people into the stores and the part of buying phones from carriers put also buy stores from electronic stores all they had to do is become a at&t, verizon, tmobile authorized resaler and sell the locked phones.
Nokia's customer service and replacement procedure sucks major. After a day or so with my N900 I noticed that I had a dead pixel on the screen. I have spent exactly four hours and thirteen minutes on the phone with Nokia (namely with their annoying hold music and automated statement that someone will be with me shortly). After finally being able to speak to a person about the replacement (I believe Nokia employs the entire country of Finland) I was informed that I need to send them the defective unit, and once they receive it it might take up to 30 days for them to send me a replacement. Well this is horse sh!t. I use my phone for work I explained and could not be without a phone, especially not for days/weeks/month. Their response was that I could return it for a refund; I explained that if I was going to be returning it for a refund that they must not care much about their customer base and that I would be inclined to look at other manufacturers who are willing to work with their customers. I was informed that I could do that, they made no attempt to keep a customer nor did they offer a solution that would work, I even offered to drive to New York to exchange in their store (apparently nokiausa.com purchases can only be returned direct to Nokia). This leaves me in a less than desirable place as I was prepared to purchase a second unit for my girlfriend, now I don't know if I should drop Nokia or just deal with the dead pixel...RAGE!
@ShotWithAnSLR - A good contrast to Apple's great integration with their brick and mortar stores. Their online support is happy to direct you to the stores for a quick repair/replacement. Apple WTF!
@ShotWithAnSLR
Thats many online stores, I have dealt with companies that you have to return stuff to the site even if they have a store a lot do that its normal.
the return thing and 30 days thats common to; any company that doesn't let you return it to a store does that. The only time that doesn't happen with phones is when you deal with the phone company and then it will take around a week.
@ShotWithAnSLR nokiausa says phones are returned within 7-10 days from the day they receive it. So next-day fedex it to Alabama (us repair site) for $10 and you should have it back in 8-11 days.
I would link the page but to get to where it tells you this you need your emei...which i have memorized...been having troubles w my n97
And like you i need my phone for work, which is why i am doubly looking forward to christmas bc i will have enough time off from work to send it in, so wait till christmas and send it in
Can't say we didn't see this coming
@Eli superflush
Impossible! An N97 is at least 10X, no 100X better than an iPhone. Yeah, a few nerds better wake up from that dream. And soon before their suspenders break and their pants fall down.
It is a shame that the flagships are closing. I've been to the Chicago one countless of times, even took my brother there to buy his 5800. I've had nothing but good experiences there. All of their employees seemed quite knowledgeable of the products, and even on the competition. I remember my first time there, one of the workers and I discussed all types of phones for about 45 minutes. I felt right at home.
I remember awhile back when I still used my N95-2 (using my N97 until my N900 arrives) my battery for some reason would not work. I went to the Nokia store, and one of the employees helped me out with my issue. He tried the battery in other phones, which worked, and then in mine which didn't. In the end he gave me a free replacement battery, which was awesome in my book. On the same visit there was a business man with an old Nokia, who had forgot his charger before his trip. An employee offered to charge his phone for a few hours, and anytime after while he was on his business trip. I don't know about you but that is awesome customer service. I know for sure I will miss the flagship store in Chicago.
send that junk back to Finland. Europeans, stop thinking that you are more advanced in wireless :P
@allong uhhh they are.
@allong Having been studying here in Finland for over a year now I can tell that they're quite ahead. Not sure about the rest of Europe.
Nokia needs to bring more of its phones sooner to North America. They need to heavily invest on this market because they can make a lot more money off of it. Shutting down their store isn't a bad strategy considering that it is true many do buy their phones directly from operators, and as long as the online store still exists, I don't see the need for a Nokia store if it's not getting much business to begin with.
Not surprised.
That's because nobody needs unlocked, unbranded, unmolested phones here. The reason 90% phones being purchased thru carriers is that those 90% of consumers are carrier slaves and have no idea that carrier is there to provide service, not to manufacture and sell the effin phone.
And it's not just Nokia, the story continues... with iphones. 3 years later, no one here in U.S. can purchase factory unlocked, contract-free and warrantied iphone diretcly form apple. Not for even $1000. That is stupid, ridiculous and laughable.
I hope this is more about Nokia's strategy and not about the U.S. economy.
A couple of days, i was to a Apple Store, while the ambiance was ok but is still a pointless experience:
a) few products (i can't find a matte screen)
b) lack of information, just a guy saying how good are the Apple products.
c) I spend my break time to go to the store.
So, MS idea to put a new Microsoft Store is a bit weird.
Um... the reason they are closing them is because they aren't making money. That's because it WAS about sales, no matter what you guys think or what they say.