Nokia has announced that its 'pioneering' UK Flagship
Store on London's Regent Street will open its doors to the public on
8th February 2008. Also mentioned is that another flagship store will open at Heathrow airport in March 2008. The full press release follows...
Read on in the full article.
I visited the Chicago, IL USA store twice. Most all the phones were outdated. It appeared that none of the current Nokia models were available (The comments were maybe in 3 months, maybe 6 months, only in Europe). The sales staffs were not at all knowledgeable as to function or features.
The two times I visited there was at least eight staff and 1 or 2 customers...
The wonder what Nokia's Stores sales per square foot is compared with an Apple Store?
I wish my experience had been different with Nokia. Just dismal…
I purchased my two N95s from the Chicago Nokia Flagship, as well as some accessories. The staff are reasonably knowledgeable about the products on the showroom floor. I was a "newbie" when I bought the N95-1, and by the time I got my N95-3, knew a lot more about S60. The N95-1 salesman could explain the key features.
Something to keep in mind is that, here in the US, most people don't know they can buy a phone directly from the manufacturer or a retail store. I'm sure the store is a money loser, but it's goal is to educate customers about Nokia's existence and satisfy demand among Nokia enthusiasts for high-end phones like the N95 and N82. My guess is that the store in London will be more like an Apple store (with "geniuses," etc.).
Right now, they do have the N95-2, N95-3, N82, E90, and E51, along with a bunch of feature phones. Too bad they don't sell the 6120C, and too bad they don't have more stores or do any real advertising around here. That said, it isn't fair to compare the Nokia store with the Apple store. They have different purposes. Also, at least Nokia has stores. That's more than Sony Ericsson, Motorola, LG, and Samsung can say about their US presence.
Just popped in to the Regent St store - lots of phones to try out and handle. I surprisingly wasn't tempted by the E90 (too large/clunky), E61i (prefer my E61) or N82 (felt cheap) but the E51 was very nice...
I also visited this afternoon, and found it very pleasant.
Once we were in the store my friend was excited to see her new S40 phone was on display. We had been in Chinatown for Chinese New Year for most of the afternoon and she chose this moment to ask how to do text messaging on her phone so I directed her to a staff member for advice, whilst I wandered off down the shop to played with the N81 & N82. 😊
Pretty good experience, as you would expect with Apple's store sited across the road. The only minor problem is that you can't actually see the Nokia sign from the pavement outside the shop - you have to be in the road or across the other side to see the sign.
I was wondering if anyone knows if any stores in Chicago's Chinatown sell any Nokia E90 phones or Nokia N95
this is a horrible shop... People working inside are rude, don't know more than you about the products, they do not care, they love swinging keys and ID chains with chewing gum in the mouth. Nobody approaches you, everyone is best at avoiding questions and customers.
I went in to ask a simple question, and I was told to go to Carphone Warehouse altough my enquiry was totally Nokia E51 related.
I suggest Nokia close this shop and save money.. It is not only waste of money (the rent, rates, staff, NIC...) but it is also bad publicity for the brand...
Of course if any one cares ....