The answer is a brand new Samsung Sydney store that will sell goods direct to consumers despite being metres away from a JB Hi Fi and Telstra store. The store, which is set to open today, has a big window front onto George Street, is right next door to a flagship Myer store and has been modelled to give consumers the latest lowdown on Samsung portable devices spanning smartphones, tablets and notebooks. Samsung’s Experience Store, one of its first worldwide, is smaller than the three-storey Apple emporium, and lacks the resident concierges and bookable support “geniuses” – not to mention the glass stairway – that have distinguished Apple stores worldwide. But it has a similar clean white look, with “move in and try it” benches crammed with Galaxy tablets and smartphones, including the intriguing Note, with a 5.3-inch screen and stylus, falling somewhere between a smartphone and tablet.
The store, in an area under the major Sydney Myer retail hacienda previously occupied by the FCUK apparel outlet opens for biz at 8am today, helping (along with the Apple glass shack) to establish a new style of smart, one-brand retailing. Customers will be able to purchase Galaxy smartphones, laptops and tablets, as well as the Note, and a new S-stylus version of the Galaxy 10.2-in. Tab – to the surprise of some the stylus, commonly used for scribbled notes and artwork is proving a huge hit with the Australian market according to marketing director Arno Lenior.
Samsung’s telecoms VP Tyler McGee – before hacking into a giant metre high Zumbo-style cake in the shape of a Galaxy S III smartphone – told the media the store was well named, and would allow Australian customers to explore and experience what Samsung gadgets could do, especially when working together The Aussie journos all left happily clutching a media pack that included a nicely chilled bottle of Moet Impérial. Chucbae, as they say in Seoul. |
