Vodafone opens high end store at Harrods

Vodafone is opening a store in Harrods to showcase its top-of-the-range
products.

The store, Vodafone’s 348th in the UK, will stock a full range of
handsets and accessories but it is thought the emphasis will be on
premium products.

It opens …

Vodafone is opening a store in Harrods to showcase its top-of-the-range products.

The store, Vodafone’s 348th in the UK, will stock a full range of handsets and accessories but it is thought the emphasis will be on premium products.

It opens today (Wednesday) and is located in the sound and vision department on the third floor of the Knightsbridge store.

Vodafone UK’s head of retail Tom Devine says: “Brompton Road has always been a specific target location for Vodafone in order to be accessible to Knightsbridge shoppers.”

All the major operators have been increasing their high street presence this year. Hutchison Whampoa-owned 3 is opening 120 high street stores across the UK before Christmas. The new units will include 73 Link stores, which 3 bought from O2. O2 bought 293 Link stores from DSG International in June.

In October, Vodafone said it would no longer use Carphone Warehouse stores to sell its contract phones after signing an exclusive deal with Phones4U (MW October 19).

The mobile giant is in the process of revamping almost a third of its stores to make them less intimidating (MW June 8).

As part of an initiative to give the stores a more local feel, Vodafone is rebranding 100 to include the name of their town. Vodafone Cheltenham was the first store to be rebranded in the summer.

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