If you've been reading Robot Stock News, you know I've been harping for years on the need for iRobot to open some retail locations, most recently just a few weeks ago.
But as it turns out, iRobot already has a retail store open. According to iRobot's Hong Kong web site, the concept store was set to open in Hong Kong last month.
It features not just the lineup of Roombas and Scoobas but also a "museum" showing the history of the company. Smart! I hope the company talks about this when they announce 2nd Quarter results. This is EXACTLY the kind of store iRobot needs, where knowledgable employees can show off the robots working as advertised and get over the robot believability chasm for many consumers.
Here is the iRobot Hong Kong page with the photos as translated by Google (with hilarious results.)
(thx, Tom)
Tags: iRobot, Hong Kong
Saturday, July 12, 2008
iRobot Hong Kong opens first retail shop
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IRBT News
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1 comments:
Very interesting. I could see iRobot following the Apple Store approach.
I'd like to see iRobot take another page out of Apple's playbook and get other companies to jump on the bandwagon. They should get furniture companies to place tags on couches, chairs, beds, etc that say "Roomba Friendly".
I'd also be interested in them turning the Roomba into a multi-purpose device. The iPod, for example, isn't just an MP3 player anymore. First, the Roomba could have the ConnectR's features. Second, they should make it so other companies can profit off the Roomba (look at all the iPod-compatible stuff out there - when everything says "iPod" are you really going to buy a Zune?).
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