Bose Shutting Down ALL Retails Stores in the USA!

[gene]

This is no April Fool's Day joke. Bose just announced they are shutting down all retail stores in the USA, Europe, Japan and Australia by the end of 2020 which equates to about 1/2 their stores globally due to "dramatic increase in online purchases". Is Bose losing money in the retail market and looking for a way to maximize profit margins by lowering overhead costs? Where will you get your Bose fix when perusing the local Mall after 2020?

Read: Bose to Close ALL Retail Stores in North America and more...

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Guess I’ll have to stop by your place Gene!!! Lmao...

 

[Pogre]

This could be a case of the Internet killing something. Word is out on Bose now. More and more people are realizing they're overpriced plastic junk.

 

[Swerd]

Give it 10 years or so…
Bose will become highly valued vintage audio gear .

 

[ATLAudio]

What will I do at the Outlet Mall now? lol

I’m a big fan of their headphones, but I can just get my demo at Best Buy, if I’m curious.

My Bose take

The reason I think we hate Bose isn't so much because of quality it’s because the lay user thinks they are the best cutting edge in audio reproduction when in fact they aren’t even close, and we get tired of hearing that. So derision sets in...

When I hear Bose (HT set ups) I’m reminded that it doesn’t sound bad, but not great either. It seems that with their bouncy speaker “technology” the seat to seat variation makes it sound equally OK everywhere. This is also the case for music presentation. I think that this is a big winner with the general population (not regulars on this forum) whom really desire musical ambiance while they are reading a magazine, flipping through a tablet, or entertaining guests. They also don’t want big speakers, and receivers.

Bose checks a lot of boxes for the general population that we might not care about, but they also fail to check boxes we do care about. Paradoxically, neither we nor the general population are wrong.

So, anyways, I got off the Bose hatewagon a while back once this all set in.

 

[panteragstk]

What will I do at the Outlet Mall now? lol

I’m a big fan of their headphones, but I can just get my demo at Best Buy, if I’m curious.

My Bose take

The reason I think we hate Bose isn't so much because of quality it’s because the lay user thinks they are the best cutting edge in audio reproduction when in fact they aren’t even close, and we get tired of hearing that. So derision sets in...

When I hear Bose (HT set ups) I’m reminded that it doesn’t sound bad, but not great either. It seems that with their bouncy speaker “technology” the seat to seat variation makes it sound equally OK everywhere. This is also the case for music presentation. I think that this is a big winner with the general population (not regulars on this forum) whom really desire musical ambiance while they are reading a magazine, flipping through a tablet, or entertaining guests. They also don’t want big speakers, and receivers.

Bose checks a lot of boxes for the general population that we might not care about, but they also fail to check boxes we do care about. Paradoxically, neither we nor the general population are wrong.

So, anyways, I got off the Bose hatewagon a while back once this all set in.

Pretty much. Bose is an excellent marketing company. People hear something enough, they start to believe it. Especially when it's a tiny 5 cube speaker demo in a 10 sq ft space. People say "wow, it sounds so good". What wouldn't in such a tiny demo space?

 

[BMXTRIX]

From what I have heard, Bose stores have seen a significant down-tick in sales volume while they have seen an up-tick in online sales and sales at other retail stores such as Target and Best Buy.

If I was able to make more money by milking customers and NOT having to maintain a chain of costly retail stores, I would shut them down as well.

 

[utopianemo]

To answer your question, yes. Amazon is taking over the world.

 

[2channel lover]

What will I do at the Outlet Mall now? lol

I’m a big fan of their headphones, but I can just get my demo at Best Buy, if I’m curious.

My Bose take

The reason I think we hate Bose isn't so much because of quality it’s because the lay user thinks they are the best cutting edge in audio reproduction when in fact they aren’t even close, and we get tired of hearing that. So derision sets in...

When I hear Bose (HT set ups) I’m reminded that it doesn’t sound bad, but not great either. It seems that with their bouncy speaker “technology” the seat to seat variation makes it sound equally OK everywhere. This is also the case for music presentation. I think that this is a big winner with the general population (not regulars on this forum) whom really desire musical ambiance while they are reading a magazine, flipping through a tablet, or entertaining guests. They also don’t want big speakers, and receivers.

Bose checks a lot of boxes for the general population that we might not care about, but they also fail to check boxes we do care about. Paradoxically, neither we nor the general population are wrong.

So, anyways, I got off the Bose hatewagon a while back once this all set in.

Yep.

Bose realized that the overwhelming majority of the public are not audiophiles and will never be, so they thrived on lifestyle. My brother in law has a $800k home...really nice, and his family room has the Bose cubes 5.1 system. It's not something that draws a lot of attention (i.e. wife friendly), it can get fairly loud and that works for him as it would for many others.

The retail part of it I thought was relegated to outlet malls etc....I've never been in a non-outlet mall retail Bose store. Maybe they are/were in those high end malls that I never go in...

 

[snakeeyes]

Alexa is taking over the world. Skynet

 

[j_garcia]

 

[Sleqzypig]

Well I did get in to audio with Bose speakers. (I know better now lol). Bose is pretty much exiting the hi fi market anyway as they are focusing on crappy bluetooth single speaker things over priced headphones you can talk to and soundbars. They can sell that crap on Amazon and the people buying these things wont need to test these things out anyway because that customer base doesn't give a dam about audio anyway.

 

[Sleqzypig]

This could be a case of the Internet killing something. Word is out on Bose now. More and more people are realizing they're overpriced plastic junk.

The internet is killing their loudspeaker sales but most of their customer base is out buying over priced bluetooth speakers anyway on amazon. They do not need to run brick and mortar stores to sell those things to mass idiots out there.

 

[lovinthehd]

Never saw one anyways. They do retail thru others still or as the stores expanded did they change that?

 

[Sleqzypig]

What will I do at the Outlet Mall now? lol

I’m a big fan of their headphones, but I can just get my demo at Best Buy, if I’m curious.

My Bose take

The reason I think we hate Bose isn't so much because of quality it’s because the lay user thinks they are the best cutting edge in audio reproduction when in fact they aren’t even close, and we get tired of hearing that. So derision sets in...

When I hear Bose (HT set ups) I’m reminded that it doesn’t sound bad, but not great either. It seems that with their bouncy speaker “technology” the seat to seat variation makes it sound equally OK everywhere. This is also the case for music presentation. I think that this is a big winner with the general population (not regulars on this forum) whom really desire musical ambiance while they are reading a magazine, flipping through a tablet, or entertaining guests. They also don’t want big speakers, and receivers.

Bose checks a lot of boxes for the general population that we might not care about, but they also fail to check boxes we do care about. Paradoxically, neither we nor the general population are wrong.

So, anyways, I got off the Bose hatewagon a while back once this all set in.

I still think the wave radio is a dam good table top radio. That said it's not worth what they charge for it. Same goes for their headphones.

 

[ATLAudio]

I still think the wave radio is a dam good table top radio. That said it's not worth what they charge for it. Same goes for their headphones.

I had a Bose 3-2-1, loved it for college apt life, wish I still had it. I got it scratch and dent at a Sears.
Their headphones are priced right tho...

 

[j_garcia]

The internet is killing their loudspeaker sales but most of their customer base is out buying over priced bluetooth speakers anyway on amazon. They do not need to run brick and mortar stores to sell those things to mass idiots out there.

Their comment was that even their OWN sales have moved from store to online more. The other part being, it costs more to operate a physical B&M store than a warehouse and shipping business.

 

[Alex2507]

There's a Bose store that I've visited a few times at an outlet mall nearby. I've brought my own music in there to audition the 901s. Maybe the stores are hurting their business model by facilitating such listening tests.

 

[2channel lover]

I still think the wave radio is a dam good table top radio. That said it's not worth what they charge for it. Same goes for their headphones.

Bose makes good products, as you said, just not good hifi products...I still have a wave radio, my wife has a pair of headphones.

Basically seem to be retreating from the upper end of the market and focusing on their core product lines....no need to have the expense of a retail store to do that these days.

 

[davidscott]

I still think the wave radio is a dam good table top radio. That said it's not worth what they charge for it. Same goes for their headphones.

Agreed. My buddy bought a wave radio for his wife a few years ago. Decent sound but in no way room filling like a true stereo does and also a bit overpriced.