No highs, no lows, no stores: It’s Bose!

Bose is shutting all of its stores in North America, Europe, Japan, and Australia, leaving 130 stores in Asia and UAE open for now. The Bose stores have long been one of the first places consumers learned about Bose’s good-but-not-great products and it looks like online sales and the slow-moving retail apocalypse is taking down another niche player.

Bose sent out a release regarding the closures and, since it is a private company, doesn’t have to offer many details regarding the number of jobs lost.

Given the dramatic shift to online shopping in specific markets, Bose plans to close its remaining 119 retail stores across North America, Europe, Japan and Australia over the next several months. In other parts of the world, Bose stores will remain open, including approximately 130 stores located in Greater China and the United Arab Emirates; and additional stores in India, Southeast Asia, and South Korea.?

?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, vice president of Global Sales, Bose Corporation. ?At the time, it was a radical idea, but we focused on what our customers needed, and where they needed it ? and we?re doing the same thing now. It?s still difficult, because the decision impacts some of our amazing store teams who make us proud every day. They take care of every person who walks through our 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.??

Bose will be offering outplacement assistance and severance to affected employees. Additional details, including the number of employees affected, will remain private.

Luckily, you can always just go to those weird airport stores or use the Best Buy vending machines for your Bose needs. That said, the sight of a Bose store in a bustling mall was somehow comforting.