Hat tip to Rob Gorrie for flagging this via LinkedIn …
Here’s an interesting take by Samsung on flagship store design – a new one that doesn’t actually sell stock any product.
Called Samsung 837, the store opens today at 837 Washington Street in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District.
Reports Fast Company:
Instead of endless product shelves, the space, which is named for its address, 837, features a three-story digital screen composed of 96 of Samsung’s 55-inch visual displays; a 90-seat theater; a portable demo kitchen; an art gallery; a multimedia studio; and a café.
In it, Samsung will host events like film screenings, book launches, DJ sets, and, already on the schedule, an Oscars viewing party for Galaxy owners. “We didn’t want it to be a store,” (Manager Zach) Overton says. “We didn’t want it to be about pushing products in people’s faces.” Instead, he calls the building an “immersive cultural center.”
Visitors WILL be able to guy stuff, but that will all be handled digitally.