Global audio equipment maker Bose Corporation based in Massachusetts will shut down 119 of its retail stores worldwide -- including all of its stores in the United States and Europe -- over the next few months in a dramatic shift to online sales.
The company refused to disclose how many of its 10,500 employees will lose their jobs, but analysts concur the job losses will number into the thousands. It was only in 1993 that the first Bose retail store opened in Kittery, Maine.
Bose employees in the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, and Australia will lose their jobs starting this year. The company, however, will keep open another 130 stores in India, Southeast Asia, South Korea, China, and the United Arab Emirates. Many of these stores are slated for closure later on.
A statement from Bose said the retail store closures and the employee firings are the result of the "dramatic shift to online shopping in specific markets." Bose claims it will offer employees to be let go outplacement assistance and severance.
When its first stores opened in the early 1990s, Bose in-store staff provided personal and private demonstrations for its Wave music systems and Lifestyle home theater systems. But with the advent of smartphones and the changes they imposed on the audio industry, Bose's focus turned to mobile, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi solutions.
The company said its current inventory of noise-cancelling headphones; wireless sport earbuds, portable speakers, and smart speakers are increasingly purchased online through Bose.com.
"Originally, our retail stores gave people a way to experience, test, and talk to us about multi-component, CD and DVD-based home entertainment systems," said Colette Burke, Bose vice president of Global Sales.
Burke said it was a radical idea at the time but Bose focused on what its customers needed, and where they needed it. She pointed out Bose is doing the same thing now. It's still difficult, because the store closure decision impacts some of the company's store teams.
She noted these teams take care of every person that walks through Bose's doors, "whether that's helping with a problem, giving expert advice, or just letting someone take a break and listen to great music. Over the years, they've set the standard for customer service. And everyone at Bose is grateful."
The majority owner of Bose Corporation is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which receives cash dividends through the non-voting shares donated by founder, Amar Bose, in 2011.
