First Sonos Retail Flagship Brings Music Home to New York City

NEW YORK, July 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Sonos^®, the leader in smart sound systems for the home, today announced its flagship retail store will open its doors to the public on Tuesday, July 19 at 101 Greene Street in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood. Through a personalized listening experience and superior service offerings, music fans will have the opportunity to explore and shop the entire family of Sonos wireless smart speakers and components to find the ultimate audio setup for their own homes.  

"The music experience in your home, and how it sounds, is just as important as the perfect chair or considered lighting," said Sonos VP, Global Brand, Dmitri Siegel. "The whole store experience is based on the idea of being in a really comfortable and inspiring environment, listening to music you love, but hearing it in a way you never have before."

Designing for Sound
Creating an equally inspiring sound and visual experience – while delivering a strong sense of home – was at the forefront of the store concept. Music producer, composer, and Sonos Sound Experience Leader Giles Martin and Sonos Audio Engineering Leader Dr. Hilmar Lehnert have collaborated closely with the design teams from day one to ensure every inch of the store delivers a superior listening experience.

The heart of the 4,200-square-foot retail store lies within seven, state-of-the-art Sonos Listening Rooms. "Each room has been acoustically designed to replicate a great home listening environment," said Giles Martin. "The intention is to allow the music to do the talking, making it easy for everyone to experience Sonos exactly as they would at home, even though they are in the retail environment."

• Each of the Listening Rooms was custom-built with four layers of acoustic sheet rock and a 2,000-lb, steel-framed glass door to ensure sounds are contained within each small space. Beveled glass and a parallel wall that alternates absorptive and reflective materials also work together to properly create the ultimate sound quality within each room.
• Throughout the main gallery of the store, contrasting textures and perforated walls optimize the acoustics and esthetically, emulate the Sonos product design language.
• Décor elements from hand woven rugs, full bookshelves, and custom furniture from Partners & Spade, the design partner for the Sonos store, also contribute to the sound experience.

Featured Store Artwork and Décor 
The Sonos store features original artwork and installations throughout the space that celebrate music culture and curation.

• A collection of rare cassette tapes owned by famed musician Thurston Moore, who was involved in the SoHo music scene, is displayed in the downstairs Listening Room.
• An extensive collection of New York music zines including out-of-print titles such as Arthur, New York Rocker, and East Village Eye from archivist Arthur Fournier hang prominently within the main space.
• The 17-by-24-foot "Wall of Sound" in the back of the store features a working art installation comprised of 297 Sonos speakers, serving as an an ode to speaker culture.
• The 8-by-10-foot hand-painted portrait of famed record producer and long-time Sonos advisor Rick Rubin hangs near the entrance and is a nod to the company's connections to New York City music. This store is just blocks from where Rubin produced seminal records by Run DMC and the Beastie Boys.

Inside the Sonos Listening Rooms
Six of the seven, house-shaped Sonos Listening Rooms form a row on the ground floor. Upon stepping inside, guests are welcomed with an immersive sonic greeting that introduces how the room works, followed by an invitation to take control and choose music from Spotify^®, Apple Music^®, TiDAL, and dozens more Sonos streaming partners.

Each of the 10-by-12-foot Listening Rooms offers three distinct scenarios to demonstrate what it's like to enjoy great sounding music in multiple rooms.

• The Kitchen features a single smart speaker like the top-selling SONOS PLAY:1^® ($199 USD) or the SONOS PLAY:3^® ($299 USD).
• The Study presents the wide, room-filling soundscape of a stereo pair, like two SONOS PLAY:5^® ($499 USD).
• The Living Room has a home theater setup with the option to listen to 3.0, 3.1, and 5.1 surround sound through the SONOS PLAYBAR^® ($699 USD), SONOS SUB™ ($699 USD), and two rear Sonos speakers.

The seventh Listening Room located on the lower level of the store offers a HiFi haven for audiophiles:

• A turntable and vinyl collection show how the SONOS CONNECT™ ($349 USD) and SONOS CONNECT:AMP™ ($499 USD) can easily integrate existing audio equipment into the Sonos system.
• A compare-and-contrast listening experience of PLAY:1, PLAY:3 and PLAY:5 speakers in isolation.

Every Listening Room also features a different visual esthetic to showcase how the minimalist appearance of Sonos products blends seamlessly with the interior of any home.

• Custom wallpaper designs adorn the interior walls of three of the Sonos Listening Rooms, including architectural renderings and sketches by London-based French illustrator Thibaud Herem; hand-painted classic patterns by New York-based decorative painter Mark Chamberlain; and a custom illustration of the Sonos store's home in SoHo by New York cartoonist Mark Stamaty.
• Guests can also hang out in mid-century modern inspired settings, relax to music in the Listening Room filled with warm violet ombré hues, or kick back downstairs and listen to vinyl in a vintage Herman Miller Eames lounge chair
• Stylish home furnishings and standout décor elements are also highlighted throughout the store, including everything from official artist biographies to small vintage sculptures.

The Sonos Service
For months, Sonos conducted a nationwide search of experienced music professionals who all share a passion for listening out loud. From lead singers of bands to professional sound engineers, the final lineup of the Sonos store staff will host guests during their time in the store to help deliver a seamless demonstration and purchasing experience.

The Sonos store will offer "Simple Set Up," a white-glove, in-home service that includes local delivery, set-up, and product introductions for in-store purchases local delivery and product introduction for all in-store purchases to make the transition to listening at home seamless. In addition to the Sonos store, Sonos products can also be purchased on Sonos.com and from major retail partners around the world.

Programming and Events
Music fans will be invited to come hang out for artist listening sessions, live broadcasts, and collaborations with New York-based creators. Opening week happenings:

• Tuesday, July 19: The store officially opens at 12 p.m., when special guests will join Sonos' Giles Martin to commemorate the first listens inside the Sonos Listening Rooms.
• Wednesday, July 20: Opening week happy hour from 5 – 7 p.m. hosted by local wine curators, brewers, and distillers.
• Thursday, July 21: Post-work bites from a neighborhood eatery from 5 – 7 p.m.
• Friday, July 22: Brooklyn eatery, Frankel's Delicatessen is coming by for a listening session and a tasting from 12 – 2 p.m.
• All weekend: In celebration of the store opening, Pitchfork Radio will host a live broadcast with various artists and special guests.

Located at 101 Greene Street (between Prince and Spring Streets), the Sonos store opens Tuesday, July 19. Weekday hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

For more information, visit Sonos.com/nyc.

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ABOUT SONOS
Founded in 2002, Sonos® creates the leading smart speaker system. Once a tech start-up populated with nerdy engineers and brilliant designers who love music, Sonos has grown into a global music brand dedicated to transforming the experience of listening out loud to music in the home. Its family of wireless smart speakers and home audio products make it easy for everyone to listen to the music they love in every room of their home. To hear their favorites, discover new music, and appreciate it all with the highest sound quality.

Sonos is doing it all over the world – in more than 60 countries, with dozens of streaming music providers, through thousands of retailers, and in millions of homes. With a constant investment in software and services, Sonos is improving the experience customers have with music in the home for years after they buy it. Sonos is changing the way people listen to music – one home at a time.

Sonos, Inc. is a privately held company, headquartered in Santa Barbara, California with additional offices in Boston and Seattle, as well as in the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany and China.

© 2004-2016 by Sonos Inc. All rights reserved. Sonos and all Sonos product names and slogans are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sonos, Inc.

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