Samsung poised to challenge Apple at retail in US with first full-scale stores

Looking to push beyond its modest retail efforts so far, Apple rival Samsung is planning to open three full-scale U.S. stores on Feb. 20, the same day it announces the Galaxy S10 and its first foldable phone.

The initial locations include The Americana at Brand in Los Angeles, Roosevelt Field on Long Island in Garden City (N.Y.), and The Galleria in Houston. Visitors will be able to try and buy products ranging from phones to VR glasses and TVs, and — much like Apple stores — get in-person customer support, with walk-in repairs available for mobile devices.

Samsung's U.S. retail footprint has so far consisted mostly of pop-up stores and dedicated spaces in chains like Best Buy. An exception is Samsung 837, based in New York City's Meatpacking District, but that space is foremost a showcase for the Korean company's technologies.

Apple has long touted its retail stores as one of its key advantages, since people can try products in advance and have a place to turn if they need help with setup or troubleshooting. It remains to be seen if Samsung will be able to cultivate an equal or superior level of support, or if enough people will choose to shop at outlets instead of online or at the many third-party vendors that carry Samsung gear.

Samsung has tried this approach in the UK. The effort failed due to low traffic, and was shuttered very quickly after opening.

The company's Feb. 20 "Unpacked" event is expected to be its biggest in some time. On top of the Galaxy S10 and a still-shrouded foldable phone, it should also unveil a new Galaxy Watch, more fitness trackers, and wireless Galaxy Buds.

The offensive comes at the same time as Apple is coping with declining iPhone sales, driven mostly by tough competition in China from local smartphone makers.

39 Comments

Soli 9981 comments · 9 Years

About 5 years ago

This should work. They have enough products and enough US buyers to make this work, but they better consider their support center properly or this could all fail miserably. Apple's Genius Bar grew naturally as their sales rose dramatically and less technical-oriented people started buying their devices in droves—Samsung will be jumping in feet first with a lot of customers and a lot of sloppy design.

lkrupp 10521 comments · 19 Years

They will not be quite as successful as the Microsoft stores are today. That is to say this move is for appearances only in an attempt to present themselves as a luxury brand when they are no such thing. Typically Apple looks at what others are doing and then improves on it and makes it uniquely Apple. Samsung just copies Apple and then proceeds to screw it up.

genovelle 1481 comments · 16 Years

Soli said:

This should work. They have enough products and enough US buyers to make this work, but they better consider their support center properly or this could all fail miserably. Apple's Genius Bar grew naturally as their sales rose dramatically and less technical-oriented people started buying their devices in droves—Samsung will be jumping in feet first with a lot of customers and a lot of sloppy design.

I guess time will tell. Microsoft has lots of customers too. They have tried this before and it hasn’t worked out.

spice-boy 1450 comments · 8 Years

Ssmsung makes very good tvs, appliances and more importantly phones which rival the iPhone. Consumers are fickle and the once fetish like product iPhone is just another mobile phone option although very expensive one at that. Think about with the release of every iPhone a Samsung is used at the best comparison by tech critics. I am not ready to switch to Samsung I just believe a younger generation does not necessarily feel they owe anything to Apple or it's products.

genovelle said:

Soli said:

This should work. They have enough products and enough US buyers to make this work, but they better consider their support center properly or this could all fail miserably. Apple's Genius Bar grew naturally as their sales rose dramatically and less technical-oriented people started buying their devices in droves—Samsung will be jumping in feet first with a lot of customers and a lot of sloppy design.

I guess time will tell. Microsoft has lots of customers too. They have tried this before and it hasn’t worked out.

MS doesn’t have a lot of HW, and when they started copyijg Apple’s stores they had even less. They stocked their store with PCs from other vendors and I assume they still do because their Surface offerings aren’t going to cut it.