Electronic Arts plans on operating a chain of retail stores dedicated to its EA Sports line of sports games, the company revealed, with the first shop already under construction.
Speaking to Forbes, EA Sports VP of brand marketing Chris Erb revealed that the shops will be "a place people will be able to interact and buy their favorite EA Sports games."
An artist's rendering (pictured) shows playable game demo kiosks and merchandise that includes EA Sports-branded squeeze bottles and football jerseys being available at the store, along with the games themselves.
The first shop is under construction now as the Charlotte/Douglas International Airport in North Carolina and is expected to open this fall. At least two additional locations may open in the next year, according to Erb.
The store follows the company's recent announcement of a dedicated digital delivery system called Origin.
Despite EA's increasing focus on digital, Erb said, "As pervasive as digital is, there’s still an offline component to acquiring new customers that remains important. Our approach is to be creative and innovative with whatever we’re doing offline, and ensure that it connects with our digital strategies."
These "stores" should extremely limited in number and be no bigger than a small Orange Julius. Otherwise this is doomed to fail. Sure I understand that EA will be collecting the receipts, but there is still overhead. I just don't think it is a great idea. That is unless EA gets heavily involved in the used game business at these locations. Ironic isn't it.
Actually I think selling in the airport is a really good idea. Draw people in with something to do in the 45 minutes between flights, and let them play just long enough to want to buy a copy to finish up at home.
Think of it as a creative way to spend some of your annual advertising budget.