Traditionally, Virgin Mobile has only made its cellular devices available online or in big-box retailers such as Best Buy and RadioShack. That all changes today as Virgin launches its first brick and mortar store in the Lincoln Park neighborhood in Chicago. The stores will give customers a sense of what they can do with their phones as opposed to simply being a storefront, the company’s head of brand marketing Ron Faris told the New York Times.
Of course, the new store features rock and roll decor you’d expect from a Richard Branson-owned company, and the company hopes the decor will create a unique experience for customers. The location has been set up like a casual rock-and-roll lounge, and customers will be encouraged to sit back and put their feet up while testing devices or attending any of the company-hosted workshops on mobile topics. The company also wants to warm to the development community, and plans to hold hack-a-thons for Chicago-area developers later this year.
In addition to the Lincoln Park location, Virgin plans to open up an additional 14 stores in the Windy City by the end of the month including mall kiosks, with plans for as many as 25 stores by year’s end. If their experiment in the Windy City proves successful, we may see Virgin Mobile stores launching nationwide in coming years. Do you see Virgin Mobile’s bricks and mortar strategy taking off, or does it fly in the face of a culture rapidly moving towards online sales?
[via Engadget, The NYT Bits Blog]