Tweeter Unveils New Store Prototype
By Alan Wolf -- TWICE, 6/12/2008
Dedham, Mass. — Tweeter Opco formally unveiled its latest store iteration to the trade here yesterday.
The prototype is an existing 10,000-square-foot store, located near Tweeter’s Canton, Mass., headquarters, that was remodeled this spring with a series of self-guided interactive displays.
The demos, which are activated by pressing various “Try Me” buttons throughout the store, allow customers to compare and assess products, visualize custom installations and experience the benefits of whole-home
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 Tweeter CEO George Granoff |
The display concepts were developed and installed by Tweeter’s in-house engineering team, and were inspired in part by vendors’ trade-show exhibits.
“We needed to improve the way we demonstrate our skill sets and showcase unique merchandise,” president/CEO George Granoff told TWICE. “Some of the demos we saw at [International] CES were too technical for most retailers to implement, but I said to my engineers, ‘Why can’t we do that?’”
The company, which emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year with a new owner, investment group Schultze Asset Management, also needed a more cost-effective way to remodel its store base. Tweeter’s previous prototype, the vignette-themed Playground concept, continues to outperform older stores but proved too costly a model to scale system-wide. The company still operates five Playground showrooms.
Granoff said the Dedham remodel took 90 days to complete and will be evaluated for another three months on 20 different performance metrics to determine “what works best, what provides the most lift” and which elements will be rolled out to other locations.
Highlights include “The Video Challenge,” a concept borrowed from Pioneer in which customers can compare the color, contrast, resolution or response time of seven different flat-panel TVs simultaneously by pressing an array of “Try Me” buttons.
There’s also a Disney-like automated demonstration of whole-home controls featuring a kitchen/living room/bedroom vignette that is also activated by pressing a “Try Me” button.
Other elements were carried over from the Playground stores, including a front-projection home theater room with D-Box motion simulation seating.
Besides the new displays, Tweeter also “completely overhauled” the store’s sales and custom install operations and modified certain business processes, Granoff said. According to chief financial officer David Pearce, the automated displays will allow the store to shift the balance of sales and support personnel and manage more customers.
Vendors were enthusiastic about the new prototype, noting that it will help to further differentiate the A/V specialty chain from big-box competitors.
The concept store will make its official public debut this morning. Granoff will be on hand for the opening ceremonies, joined by sports commentator and former Red Sox infielder Lou Merloni, and Tweeter staff will provide guided tours and demonstrations. The store will also hold a drawing for Jimmy Buffet concert tickets and will offer customers 10 percent off all regularly priced merchandise through June 30 to celebrate the grand re-opening.
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First of all this "TRY ME" concept means that you do not need as many sales people.That was revealed before this store as part of the "compltete overhall" by cutting back on the sales staff by 20% through out the company.If they stick to their flawed direct marking instead of advertising to drive customers to the stores there will nobody in the stores to TRY ANYTHING!
Barrett Fanning - 2008-23-6 07:26:00 EDT -
granoff and his team are idiots. this company will not be in business in 90 days. get out. get out now.
Georgie Porgie - 2008-18-6 20:14:00 EDT -
Just looking at the pix, it looks great. Wonderful job. Now we all hope
that this enhanced in-store experience will mean more sales. But, as I
have learned from experience, customers presume expensive looking
stores have high prices. So if you''re goal is to outsell Bang & Olufsen
showrooms, you might succeed. But is this the right message to send
customers during these market conditions?
I hope Tweeter doesn''t give up looking for a way to get out of the
niche
and back into the mainstream. If there were only some way they could
package and sell their great personal service skills! In the meantime,
maybe they could crank up the wow factor another notch and charge
admission. After all, Disneyland does.
Meanwhile, the most exciting aspect is that Tweeter has started
working on ways to automate some sales messages. As a former floor
salesperson, I remember how often I was repeating myself to different
customers and thinking that my function could be automated. Taken
further, this concept might make the sales process efficient enough to
allow occasional aggressive pricing--something that might indeed
kick up sales.
Dennis Smith - 2008-14-6 22:23:00 EDT -
Can't wait to see what they've done (tempted to fly out just to see it) -
sure sounds like the kind of practical and productive display that will
indeed help differentiate the in-store experience for Tweeter
specifically and that specialty retailers of any stripe or size need to
being looking at.
I for one, hope it significantly helps Tweeter in turning it around, as
the industry (including suppliers, retailers and especially consumers of
CE products) need an alternative shopping option where they can see
new technologies and integrated implementations of what is possible
(tough to do between toys and housewares).
Rex Halverson - 2008-13-6 12:35:00 EDT -
Very classy, very focused, very well conceptualized - this is a retail store
experience unlike anything I've seen within the consumer electronics
industry. I dare you to walk in and out in five-minutes - there's so much
to experience, and the sales approach is a very nice balance between
guided tour and self-exploration.
Apple Computer would do well sending their retail development team in
for a walk-through.
John Bevier - 2008-13-6 09:27:00 EDT
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