I do tend to agree there.  High street locations are for impulse buyers in general. A high value Bang & Olufsen purchase is rarely an impulse purchase on a Saturday afternoon shopping with the wife and kids.  It does help brand awareness of course, but that's the job that B&O should be looking after - as well as the franchise owner in a local sense of course.

Personally, a Bang & Olufsen purchase was an 'event' for me - as was even browsing, and in a stange way it made it even more special if i had to make an effort to get there.  The cherry on top was an unhurried sales demo thanks to the lack of morons walking in off the high street to gasp at the prices, tell how his Sony was five times better and an eighth of the price and generally waste the salesmans time.

Sorry to mention the name on the forum, but when i chose the location for LifeStyle AV i purposefully went for a premises out of town. Not only was the rent over 60% less than a town centre location, the rates were cheaper and i know that every customer i see is a serious one.  If someone visits my shop, i am delighted to give them all the time they need as they are serious enough about the brand to come and find me, even if they don't buy anything.

In boom times, it's great to have flagship stores in premium locations - but when it's time to batten down the hatches, overheads are everything.. 

Lee 

definitely a quick way to be a millionaire but you must be a billionaire to start with😎

good luck

I would say possibly...

"Buy in gloom sell in boom" . If you have the finance and can weather the storm you may have a good negotiation point for a start. This may lower your initial commitment, terms, whatever.

...It is really is tough to see where B&O are headed or where they will be placed in a few years. Then if B&O are focusing on rationalisation they may not even want new dealers...

Good luck, beoaus.

Sounds like a great idea.  However, perhaps waiting a few months may be prudent, it would be of great interest to know what the new CEO's plans are for the company.  

In the future, I am looking to be 'silent' partner in B&O store here in the US.  Michigan lost its only B&O store.  The market here could support a store.    

 Key is going to be the buying experience, which I think is something too many store forget.  

Good luck and keep us posted,

Dario 

I think timing this is tough. I mean you have many month lead time before you open up. I personally would wait though, to see what moves they make with product releases.

Based on what I read here, they might get back on track. If we do get a new multi HDMI chassis for BV7 32 and a BV 8 40 and BC6  I would think that means they got the message.

Question is, how far are they with that. Current product range is in my opinion difficult to sell. And I am not talking about specs of the screen, I am not overly impressed with the minor improvement concept that the industry is driving. But some things just need to be there, read HDMI connections.

 For Music systems I think they are cool, if they bring BS5 and it does bring the sparkle back into the eyes of the customer - great. If then they would bring that remote concept for the kitchen that we saw here, that should help as well.

So in a nutshell, I would look for the product introductions and updates in the years end report that comes out in August. Economy can swing either way between starting the process and opening the shop door for he first time, so I wouldn't worry much about that.

Over the pond and up north, the B&O store here in Toronto is on the prime high end shopping area (Gucci, Cartier, LV, Hermes, etc.). They are apparently quite busy and supported by a strong client base. Parking is not so convenient, but you can always double park briefly for loading.

I guess if you have deep pockets to grow and gather a loyal client base, then it could be a good time to get in. As an observation, most people who can truly afford luxury items are typically recession friendly. If they want one, they just buy one, regardless of world economics.

Not to beat a dead horse, product knowledge is key. Also, you have to consider technical support, install, and repairs.

Exciting times! Good luck!
 

I think its a bad idea.  When you're talking about business, you can't let your passion for the brand be your driving force.  If it were a 'widget' brand, rather than B&O, and you saw that this widget company was in the same current state and financial situation as B&O, would you be as eager to open your widget store?

Austin 

One of the prime causes of failure of new venture start ups is inadequate working capital.

So,three basic questions.

Do you have enough start up capital,and an adequate contingency fund?

Could you comfortably weather the failure of the venture?

Have you identified the size of your target demographic in the proposed area of business?