Nice to read some good suggestions...

Perhaps all they have to do is be more honest, and promote sales, as opposed to sucking every last cent they can...

Great, they have a few new products, but B&O doesnt really have to create a new phone (BCom5)?! Or arguably new sub woofer even... If they created more 'promotions' or other ways to encourage people to buy their products then they could sell more and get people excited again... 

Plus I'm not sure that I'd like B&O to be sold with other brands too... because its going to be packed, loud and people are going to look at us like we're all snobby etc etc...

Just imagine how many people will be telling us on our way in and out: "Hey, don't buy B&O, they are expensive etc etc, go for the ABC model XYZ with triple super woofer XXL"... etc etc...

Now, as the shops are, they are chilled out, you get offered coffee and chocolates, surrounded by like-minded addicts and have something common...

It took me over 3 months to decide which speakers to go for! BL3+BL2, BL9 or BL5!!!! And every contribution from members on this forum and in the shops helped!

timhanna wrote:

Plus I'm not sure that I'd like B&O to be sold with other brands too... because its going to be packed, loud and people are going to look at us like we're all snobby etc etc...

Just imagine how many people will be telling us on our way in and out: "Hey, don't buy B&O, they are expensive etc etc, go for the ABC model XYZ with triple super woofer XXL"... etc etc...

Now, as the shops are, they are chilled out, you get offered coffee and chocolates, surrounded by like-minded addicts and have something common...

It took me over 3 months to decide which speakers to go for! BL3+BL2, BL9 or BL5!!!! And every contribution from members on this forum and in the shops helped!

Sal wrote:

Simon mentioned the B&O Dealer network. I am curious how much money B&O could save if they closed their bespoke dealer networks, and began again to be sold at hi-end electronic retailers, yes that would mean trusting B&O to individuals who also peddle other brands, trusting installation to those individuals as well, etc. But isn't that the price to pay for survival? I am sure the cost of maintaining establishments (and employees) across the world is cost prohibitive with overhead only going up. Besides, every medium sized city has a hi-end AV store. They may not exhude as much panache as a B&O boutique, but that's where the customers are. Save that money, bring all manufacturing back in house, stabilize pricing, and create the allure of B&O next to other hi-end brands. Unless B&O is afraid of being compared to the likes of McIntosh, Classe, or the uber-ugly Chord, I think this maybe the perfect solution for survival.

Therre are some moves toward this with the A8's and the Lab 4s being available via the Apple Store, but the higher-end products will probably still need their own dealer network.

If B&O could produce a high-end iPod dock and integrated speaker to rival the Zeppelin to sell for maybe £500-700, a Lab4 replacement with a Mac-centric design  for the same amount and some high-quality portable on-ear  Headphones for £250-£300 all made in China to exacting quality standards an incorporating real design flair  they could be big sellers in their own right and interest people in the higher-end products and if the quality was good enough it need not undermine the brands reputation.

Simon

Good points throughout there Sal... B&O definitely have to wake up a bit... customer service is very patchy... 

Is it still the case that B&O are still in the red?

Store-wise I'd like to see a return to B&O having discrete sections in the A/V departments of quality department stores here in the UK. I remember years ago there being a lovely section in the House of Fraser in Meadowhall, and this was my first introduction to the brand well before I bought anything. I seem to remember fiddling with the sliding doors on a Beocenter 9500 or 9300 and not being treated like a blagger student or thief!

Try doing the same in some of the local dealerships nowadays. Part of the problem is that there's no passing trade. I bet that Meadowhall concession made decent money in its day.

Galeries Lafayette (Paris' equivalent of Harrods) had a B&O section, next to Sony etc etc... they closed down ("moved") to an existing store on the Champs-Élysées...

I've been in the Galeries Lafayette before and have a vaugue memory of this, but it was about twelve-ish years ago...

Anyway, bought a nice Lacoste woolly hat from there that day - that I do remember!