Samsung's flagship London store is shuttered

Samsung has closed its flagship East London store. Thanks to the manufacturer's struggling smartphone sales, the retail Samsung Experience Store, which resided in the Westfield Stratford City shopping mall, has been shut down for good. Images of the store being closed, including a sign to that effect posted on the front door, were tweeted by bystanders on Tuesday.

In a statement, Samsung said that the remaining nine retail locations in the U.K. will remain open. The store that closed was Sammy's largest and most expensively decorated unit. As such, it was the first retail location to have the Samsung Galaxy S4, and later the Samsung Galaxy S5, in stock. The tech titan had opened the Samsung Experience Store to combat the Apple Store opened by its rival.

In January, Samsung announced that it would partner with Carphone Warehouse to build 60 retail stores in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, and the Netherlands. There is no word on whether the closing of its flagship store will change Samsung's earlier plans.


source: @najeebster, TheVerge via GigaOm