Samsung

Samsung to join the retail club by opening stores in North America

posted by Charlene S.

Apr 05, 2012, 11:35 AM

Samsung to join the retail club by opening stores in North America

Apple and Sony have been in the retail store game for a few years now. Recently, Microsoft has started to join the party, and now rumor has it, Samsung is planning on joining in on the action.

Samsung recently opened a store within a store at a Phones 4U location in London and now a variety of sources are reporting that the electronics giant is looking toward Canada to launch a host of retail store in order to create a more direct relationship with its consumers. While the exact locations have not been determined yet, the first stand-alone store is planned to launch later this year.

James Politeski, President of Samsung Electronics Canada, said, "We want [consumers] to see everything that Samsung can bring to them ... we want to give consumers the opportunity to experience the brand and the products in a way that they've never seen before, that really takes that experience up."

The expansion of retail stores in Canada is particularly interesting because Samsung has had a presence in the states since 2004 in the form of the “Samsung Experience.” The store, which was located in the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle in New York City, was closed on December 31, 2011.

If Samsung has a successful retail launch in Canada, it will be interesting to see if it choses to re-enter the US retail market in a stand-alone store format.

source: Canada

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11 Comments

9. cellphonator

Posts: 298; Member since: Oct 29, 2011

Good decision Sammy, I would love to buy the international versions if the store I buy from supports eventual technical problems. I'm about to buy a full retail price phone, but I can only go thru carrier branded one, too much money involved to buy on the internet.

posted on Apr 05, 2012, 8:29 PM 1

8. mercorp

Posts: 1045; Member since: Jan 28, 2012

make it international,please!

posted on Apr 05, 2012, 6:52 PM 1

5. taco50

Posts: 5506; Member since: Oct 08, 2009

Samsung copying Apple again. I bet the store looks just like an Apple store.

posted on Apr 05, 2012, 6:17 PM 0

7. remixfa

Posts: 14605; Member since: Dec 19, 2008

your right. apple invented direct retail stores.... ooh wait...

posted on Apr 05, 2012, 6:20 PM 5

4. JeffdaBeat unregistered

This is what I've been wanting for a while now. Some clear separation between carriers and manufacturers. If you want a phone, go to the Sony Style Store, Apple Store, or Samsung Store. Get the device and take to an AT&T Store. Sign up for service and leave. If AT&T wants to put their carrier crap on there (AT&T Navigator or whatever) then they can put it into the App Store (no more blotware). If you have a problem with your phone that isn't service related, go back to the Sony Style Store, Apple Store, or Samsung Store. If those companies are worth anything, they will have some in-store solution on fixing it. Samsung could also open it up to other things like TVs and all the other stuff they make. Fingers crossed more manufacturers do this...

posted on Apr 05, 2012, 5:37 PM 1

6. remixfa

Gawd I hope they sell pentaband unlocked devices there with the promise of direct manufacturer updates with no carrier BS or lock downs. I'd pay retail for that.

posted on Apr 05, 2012, 6:19 PM 2

11. W.P._Android_in_that_Order

Posts: 208; Member since: Feb 15, 2012

Heck yeah. World phones with no bloatware would be amazing, ones that have all of the radios to work on any carrier.

posted on Apr 06, 2012, 6:54 PM 0

3. bolaG

Posts: 468; Member since: Aug 15, 2011

They really should do it. Having a store that shows the seamless integration of their laptops, tablets. smartphones, blu-rays, and smartTVs would be a huge boost for their image and their products capabilities.

posted on Apr 05, 2012, 3:31 PM 1

2. PAPINYC

Posts: 2315; Member since: Jul 30, 2011

I hope we get a store here in NYC, I would gladly take a pay cut (but, only if I got like a 30%-40% discount on everything and had access to international versions of mobile devices).