Yes I noticed that too. This happened before in the Marlow store with a sign saying closed for refurbishment then after quite some time it reopened with no obvious difference.

Sometime it's cheaper to be closed...

I do know that the first time it closed was because the franchisee ceased trading.  B&O were keen to get another person in, so pushed for it to re-open.

I now suspect this may be the case again, but that's not fact - I don't know.  What I do know is that the owner of the Marlow franchise has a much stronger business outside of B&O, so he may have taken the decision to put his efforts (and money) into something more profitable - and who can blame him for doing that?

I think we'll be seeing this a lot more as we come into the new year...

Lee

9 LEE wrote:

I do know that the first time it closed was because the franchisee ceased trading.  B&O were keen to get another person in, so pushed for it to re-open.

I now suspect this may be the case again, but that's not fact - I don't know.  What I do know is that the owner of the Marlow franchise has a much stronger business outside of B&O, so he may have taken the decision to put his efforts (and money) into something more profitable - and who can blame him for doing that?

I think we'll be seeing this a lot more as we come into the new year...

Lee

 

Right on Lee. A lot of my friends who aren't business owners themselves, often say (when a business is going bad) Oh, but the guy is loaded, he won't care if this particular business is going badly.

Well, I usually ask them if they think he got "loaded" by running bad business, and no-one however much money you have enjoy loosing money. 

To my mind, it was in the 'boom times' when B&O seemed to disappear up their own posterior and think they were much bigger than they were and canned the multibrand idea that things were always doomed to fail when the good times ended..  You just can't beat parking a B&O television next to another brand to get the point across - or many other B&O products for that matter.

if Sony Centres are falling like ninepins, who stock products in everyone's price range - then what hope for Bang & Olufsen stores in provincial towns and cities?

Times may change, but people don't.  What do I mean by this?

well, when I was a kid in the early 80's, my local high-end electrical store had Toshiba, Sony and Panasonic as you walked in.  Off to the left, you had a lovely area full of Finlux (remember them?!) where you went if you could afford to spend a little more.. if you were 'on the up' and didn't want to buy what the masses did.

Then, once you'd made it, off to the far left was the Bang & Olufsen section.  Very special, full of products which made the others in the shop look frankly rubbish in comparison, and an area you went to when you'd really 'made it'.  I remember promising myself that one day, I would have Bang & Olufsen.

Now, as a 12 year old boy (in 1982), I knew nothing of technical specs.  I just knew it was special, and I wanted it. I studied it. I set myself the goal of owning it. Why? Because the competition was sat beside it, looking inferior.

Would I have walked into a dedicated B&O showroom?  No way.  It would have scared me. I wouldn't have belonged there and I'd never have discovered the brand as it would have been a fleeting glimpse through a window.  In the multibrand store I could see it close up - and that's what did it for me.  In fact, my everlasting memory is standing behind someone having a demo of some RL140's and a BeoCenter 9500 listening to Stevie Winwood's "Higher Love".

That was the moment I started saving my paper round money for a pair of Form 2's.   Well, I had to start somewhere!

Lee

9 LEE wrote:

Would I have walked into a dedicated B&O showroom?  No way.  It would have scared me. I wouldn't have belonged there and I'd never have discovered the brand as it would have been a fleeting glimpse through a window.

Brings back memories - I think I had the same sort of "stage fright" you had - I was happy in a multi-brand store for whatever reason - and I can remember where the B&O store was - and also a McIntosh store - but I don't recall being brave enough to walk into them (at the age of 16).

But I do remember the slide rule set and diamond speakers that my friend's dad had -- and lusting after them: same as you - "this is something I must have"

The Liverpool Sony Centre has closed and been replaced by a pink French bedroom furniture shop. This particular store was in a much better position for passing footfall than the Liverpool B&O store. Interestingly, it was in the building that was the first US overseas consulate after US independence. It's  bald eagle and Stars and Stripes coat of arms are currently in the museum conservation department for repairs.

Graham