The Nokia Concept Store

It's not often that I get to keep track of new trends when it comes to mobile industry retail, so it was with some curiosity that I heard about the Nokia Concept Store in Moscow.

It's the first of its kind in Europe (and despite the little I know of the other Nokia-owned stores around the world, it's likely to be the first of its kind anywhere), and it was unveiled today.

I think this is an interesting trend. A few years back you went to a nondescript shop to buy your phone, and that was that. Maybe the shop was operator-branded, but the most you'd see from the manufacturer's brand would be some posters and the phone packaging, and that was that.

But now the shopping experience is swinging back to the manufacturer, and though there have always been manufacturer-branded shops, this trend towards large, friendly spaces where you can actually interact with the products is a big step forward.

I wonder when we'll get one of these. With Nokia's market presence (and in a perfect world), it ought to be only a matter of time...