Nokia is to shut the doors on its high-tech store in London’s Regent Street after failing to tempt consumers out of the bustling Apple store across the road with interactive translucent walls and a glitzy lounge area.
The contrasting fortunes of the rival stores reflects the current standing of the two parent companies in the consumer market. The closure of the flagship store is a symbolic defeat for Nokia which has lost ground on its Californian rival in the race to sell smart-phones in the UK as handsets such as N97 have failed to match the success of the iPhone.
Ben Wood, an analyst with CCS Insight, said: “There was no question that the store was trying to replicate what Apple had done and build up the brand rather than shift devices. The question in why that strategy has worked for one company and not for the other.”
Nokia, which is rumoured to have spent £4 million on the Regent Street store, will still maintain seven outlets in the UK, including one in Terminal 5, and hopes to reassign the 30 staff working in Regent Street. A spokeswoman confirmed that the store will be closed in the first quarter of 2010 as the company looks to revamp its retail network.
Poor footfall and anaemic sales at the store are cited as reasons to close the outlet which has been struggling for some time. Nokia closed the top floor of the 8,290 square foot outlet in June and was rumoured to be calling in the designers to revive its prospects.
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Mr Wood said that the store may have proved a little “extravagant” in terms of cost and that the company may be better served putting more energy into promoting its services strategy.
It is the second time that Nokia has surrendered its position in the rejuvenated Regent Street shopping district after closing a smaller store some years ago. It follows the recent closure of Sony Ericsson’s flagship store in Kensington High Street.
Nokia opened the store two years ago as part of a global retail offensive designed to showcase the Finnish company’s latest technology. Compared to Apple’s minimalist design, Nokia’s flashy store, with “Nokia blue” walls and silver birch motifs on the floors and ceilings, was designed to include huge interactive screens to show off technology. Also included was a stylish lounge, with marbled and polished stainless-steel fittings, to showcase Nokia’s Vertu range of luxury phones which retail at thousands of pounds.
Given the revival of the Regent Street shopping district it is expected that Crown Estates, the landlord, will have little trouble attracting a new tenant.