Bose has announced the closure of 119 retail stores with many located in Australia.
Worldwide the company, who is selling large volumes of their headphones on Amazon, often undercut prices at retail partners in Australia.
Over the next few months, Bose will be closing down 119 stores around the world as the audio company looks to sell more products online direct.
This is not the first time that Bose has radically changed their marketing tactics, with the company stripping Australian retailers of several popular Bose products that drove consumers to retail stores.
Bose then made the decision to move those same products to online retail channels.
Local management has not commented on the move with several major Bose partners telling ChannelNews that Bose has also cut margins on their products with retailers compared to other brands selling similar, and in some cases, superior products.
First opened in 1993, the first Bose US store was originally designed for ‘CD and DVD-based home entertainment systems’, according to Bose vice president of global sales Colette Burke said in a statement.
At the time Colette classified the move as a ‘radical idea’, with the global sales president applying the same description to the company’s eCommerce shift.
The Framingham, Massachusetts-based company will not reveal how employees are at risk but will be offering outplacement assistance and severance to those affected.
Closures will affect several stores down under including the Sydney Westfield Bose Store and the Bose Store Emporium in Melbourne.
130 stores located in Greater China and the United Arab Emirates, along with India, Southeast Asia, and South Korea will remain open.
David Richards contributed to this story.