Nokia is reducing its retail presence in the U.S. The Finnish phone maker announced Thursday the closing of its two flagship stores. The company said the decision to close the stores in Chicago and New York was based on advertising success as U.S. consumer awareness has grown substantially since the stores opened three years ago.
Nokia opened four stores — in Sao Paolo, Brazil; Chicago; New York; and London — for brand awareness and as part of its retail strategy. The flagship stores were a way to educate individuals seeking information on a Nokia phone. Nokia hoped consumers testing the devices in the stores would go home and order them from online carriers and other retail outlets.
Nokia closed its first store — on London’s Regent Street — last week and said it’s looking for another retail location for its Sao Paolo store.
In the U.S. and Canada, more than 90 percent of phone purchases are made through wireless carriers, according to Nokia. The remaining 10 percent are purchased through retailers such as Amazon.com and Best Buy.
“As we continue to expand our services and solutions offerings across these various channels, we have decided to close the N.Y. and Chicago stores to allow more concentration on our other channels,” Nokia said in an official blog post on Thursday.
Others, however, see it as a sign of the times.
“At a time when every penny spent needs to be evaluated, this sounds like a reasonable decision to make,” said Carolina Milanesi, a Gartner analyst. “This kind of real estate is expensive and Nokia set up these stores more as an advertising exercise than to drive sales.”
“I think closing them down and using the money to invest in R&D or marketing is a sensible thing to do,” she added.
Some observers say Nokia closed its…