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Google might finally sell Pixel devices at retail stores
Google has morphed into a serious hardware company. It's set to launch new Pixel 3 phones , Pixel Buds and a wearOS smartwatch, and currently sells lines of Daydream VR headsets, Pixelbooks, Home, Chromecast and Nest products. With all that, it's hard to believe Google has never had a retail store, but that might change soon. It's planning a two-level shop in a 14,000 square foot building at Fulton Market District, near its headquarters in Chicago, according to the Chicago Tribune.
SF officials want changes to proposed Apple flagship store design
In May 2013, TUAW reported that Apple has proposed moving its San Francisco store on the corner of Stockton and Ellis streets to the Union Square retail area; two blocks away. The proposed move is not without its problems. First, there's the fountain that Apple has proposed to move and second, the city is not thrilled with the new store's proposed design. Eric Slivka from MacRumors has posted a detailed account of some of the problems associated with Apple's proposed design of its new store. It seems the San Francisco Planning Department, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle [registration required], wants less glass facing Post Street and less metal facing Stockton. In addition, the city wants to keep the popular sculpture by artist Ruth Asawa that resides behind the store's proposed location. In reviewing the June 24th Preliminary Project Assessment [PDF], it seems that the store move will probably take longer than first thought to complete. It may be of no surprise to those of you who have experience in building and zoning requests, but as a neophyte in this arena, I found the number of required studies before the building can be approved a bit daunting. Among the required studies Apple must complete before the project can be approved are an Archeological Review, Historical Resource study, Air Quality, Greenhouse Gas Compliance Checklist, Transportation Impact, Compliance with Stormwater Management Ordinance, and Tree Disclosure Affidavit. I found the report rather interesting. The Preliminary Project Assessment sums up the issues on page 10 by noting that, "The challenge of this site is arriving at a design that must serve several objectives equally: first, it must respond to the desired identity of the heart of San Francisco as defined in the Downtown Plan and the Urban Design Element of the City's General Plan, and the KMMS Conservation District, while also answering to the desired identity of Apple Inc. In other words, it must be an integral part of San Francisco's historic Union Square district and Apple both at the same time." Related TUAW News May 15, 2013 - Apple to re-locate flagship store in San Francisco May 30, 2013 - Long-standing fountain snags Apple's San Francisco store plans
Virgin Mobile USA opening flagship Chicago store, selling 'culture' on top of phones
Virgin Mobile USA is adding actual bricks and mortar to its primary selling channels -- the internet and box stores -- but said that a new flagship Chicago store will not just be about the phones. The location has been set up like a casual, music-themed lounge, where customers can recline while testing devices and salespeople will run workshops on subjects like apps and how to install them. The Sprint-owned company will add 14 more locations in the city by summer's end and hopes to use the launch as an archetype for key stores in its other major market cities. The concept sounds a bit like a certain other starkly designed iChain -- but the rock 'n' roll decor is pure Branson.
BlackBerry flagship store coming to Dubai, hopes you'll buy
While RIM's current fortunes are making plenty of execs nervously tug at their ties, there's still plenty of people cheerfully tapping away on BlackBerry keyboards -- especially in the Middle East. It makes at least some sense, then, to launch a big ole' flagship shop in Dubai. Teaming up with local carrier Axiom Telecom, the handset manufacturer is in the final negotiation stages for a 1,500 square-foot store. According to RIM, it's the first of several planned for the region and should mean plenty of places to snap up one of those (reassuringly?) expensive BlackBerry Porsche models on your next overseas trip. Business class, of course.
HTC Titan aka Triumph to become China's first official Windows Phone
Look who just beat Nokia, ZTE and Lenovo to launching the first official Windows Phone in China? At the opening of HTC's first Chinese flagship store in Beijing yesterday (pictured after the break), Sina Tech's Zāng Zhì Yuān noticed that the company's already accepting pre-orders for the 4.7-inch Titan, which is priced at ¥4,399 or about $700 sans contract -- very much in the high-end of the market, surprisingly enough. In fact, we had already heard HTC's managers claiming to have the first Chinese Windows Phone at MWC last week, except they couldn't comment on the actual timing.Judging by the sign above, the only noticeable difference here -- depending on your Chinese literacy -- is that the phone's dubbed Triumph locally; but additionally, HTC informed us that its first Chinese Windows Phone will be powered by WP7.5 Tango, with its Facebook and Twitter integration replaced by the likes of Sina Weibo, Tencent Weixin and SkyDrive to play the local rules. If you'll recall, such localization is very much what Nokia's Stephen Elop had confirmed in our Engadget Show interview back in November. So, any bets on who's next in line to climb over the Great Wall?
Apple planning a big party to open 100th overseas store in Hong Kong
When Apple opens the new Hong Kong Apple Store in late September or early October, it will be cause for a huge celebration. The store will be the 100th overseas store for the highly profitable chain, and apparently Apple is planning to pull out all the stops for a flashy opening. M.I.C. Gadget is reporting that the huge, glass-encased flagship store in the IFC Mall is moving closer to completion every day, and had pictures (since removed) of Apple's marketing director for mainland China standing outside of the construction location with other employees. The site also reports that the opening will be a three-day-long party, fitting for the debut of the huge facility. The store was originally scheduled to open on September 24th, and as recently as the 3Q earnings call it was mentioned that the store would open during Apple's 2011 fourth quarter (ending September 30). However, construction delays have apparently pushed that date back into early October. We're hoping to get live reports from readers who are lucky enough to visit the IFC Mall Store during the opening, so stay tuned to TUAW for future news about the Hong Kong flagship store.
Nokia's New York flagship store closes today
Imagine our luck: we just happened to stroll into Nokia's New York flagship store today on 57th between 5th and Madison Avenue, only to discover that it was practically torn down and set to close permanently today, a move that Nokia announced late last year. A representative approached us as soon as we entered and said, "the only phones we have are from this point forward; there's nothing else in the store." Interestingly, a call over to Nokia's other North American flagship in Chicago confirmed that it isn't closing today and no date has been set (at least, not a date that anyone is talking about) -- so there's one more outpost in the States if you want to get your Nokia on one last time. Needless to say, the overwhelming majority of Americans won't be shedding any tears over the closure, but it's always disappointing to see a neat and beautifully-designed place to geek out go belly-up. And where are we going to play with an N8 before we buy now, anyway?
Nokia confirms New York and Chicago flagship stores are closing in early 2010
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."
Nokia shuttering London flagship store
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]
Nokia N86 8MP finally available stateside
It's still showing as a preorder on Nokia USA's own site, but Amazon and the brick-and-mortar flagship stores in Chicago and New York are finally stocking the N86 8MP -- a little bit of a stretch for the "coming weeks" claim made at the North American version's launch announcement back in July. The beefy dual slider features a 2.6-inch QVGA OLED display, US 3G up to 3.6Mbps on the downlink, and WiFi -- but clearly the big draw is its 8 megapixel cam with Carl Zeiss optics around back accompanied by a dual LED flash. We would've liked this last month, but the good news is that it's launching for less than the $558 originally mentioned: Amazon's got it written up at $469, while the flagship stores are apparently hawking 'em for $30 more. [Via The Nokia Blog]
Nokia N97 coming to the UK on June 19
We already know that Nokia is sending N97s far and wide this month, but now we have an exact date for its UK debut. Turns out that the company's Regent Street flagship store in London will get first dibs, hawking unlocked, unbranded N97s to all comers on June 18 for £499 (about $821) -- a princely sum that easily blows past the US MSRP of $699. Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile, and 3 all follow a week later on June 26, ensuring that the ultra-early adopters will be paying through the nose for a few days before the subsidized sets show up. What the 19th date means for availability in other countries is unclear, but as you can imagine, we'll be pounding on the doors of the US flagships until we get some answers.
Nokia 5800 XpressMusic with North American 3G coming to flagship stores soon, probably tomorrow
Circumstantial evidence continues to suggest that we're on track for a February release of Nokia's 5800 XpressMusic in New World flavor, featuring quadband EDGE plus hearty helpings of 850 and 1900MHz HSDPA -- and if you're close to the New York or Chicago flagship stores, that release might be right around the corner. The Nokia Blog cites a trusted source that we'll see both locations unleash the 5800 tomorrow afternoon for $399; we called the Chicago store and were told that it'd likely be released within a week, "but you might want to try back tomorrow." In other words, yeah, tomorrow's looking like a lock, unless something goes horribly wrong, the shipping truck flips somewhere along a deserted stretch of I-80, and hundreds of precious handhelds lie scattered across the asphalt.
Meizu opens flagship store in Shenzhen
If you're going to go to the trouble of procuring an M8 from Meizu, you may as well turn it into an authentic, memorable, world-class experience by making the pilgrimage to Shenzhen, China to pick it up in its hometown. Oh, but don't just pick it up from some random street vendor -- do it up right by swinging on over to Meizu's shiny new flagship store, where you'll be able to select your M8 (or at least see renders of the M8) in a comfortable, relaxed environment while rubbing shoulders with Meizu employees. The fresh digs just opened today, and pictures from the grand opening show an epic mass of humanity waiting for the doors to unlock -- a promising sign for Meizu, and an unfortunate sign that the enochlophobes among us probably ought to wait a few weeks to make the trek.[Via Meizu Me]
Nokia's Chicago flagship: exclusive walkthrough
Both Motorola and Nokia have tried hard to play down the idea of a heated rivalry, despite the fact that they've both opened their first US stores within a month of each other and in the same city. We all like the idea of phone manufacturers scrapping head-to-head on the mean streets of Chicago, but from Motorola's perspective, it's probably for the best that we not call it a rivalry after all -- Nokia's effort wallops Destination Q soundly in every category. We'd go so far as to say it rivals Chicago's impressive Apple Store just a couple blocks north for style, clean design, and clever use of technology. But judge for yourself, and take a the tour with us as we take a look around after the break.
