Bose shutting all of its North American, European, Japanese & Australian stores

Bose, mostly selling audio equipment, is closing down all its 119 retail stores worldwide across Australia, North America, Europe, and Japan over the next few months. The move comes after the brand observed that its other products are increasingly purchased online. As a result, hundreds of staffers of the company will be laid off.

However, Bose will remain open its 130 stores in Greater China and the United Arab Emirates as well as additional stores in India, Southeast Asia, and South Korea.

Colette Burke, Vice President of Global Sales, Bose, said, “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.”

The brand will be offering outplacement assistance and severance to affected staffers. It is keeping additional details, such as the number of employees affected, private.

The audio brand launched its first physical retail store in 1993. At present, Bose has locations in many shopping centres and the remaining malls scattered across the US. Its stores are utilized to showcase the brand’s line up, which has grown beyond Bose's signature noise-canceling headphones in recent years to include smart speakers and sunglasses that double up as earbuds.