The new Tesla Motors store sits between Nordstrom's and the Apple store in the Park Meadows mall. Tesla who produces electric vehicles, will be opening their second mall-type store this Saturday. The first store opened in San Jose, California in mid-April. Since being opened, the first shopping center venture has drawn over 40,000 people through it.
Tesla Motors in California produces a battery electric vehicle(BEV) called the Tesla Roadster and is the first highway-capable all-electric serial production vehicle available in the U.S. The Roadster is the first production automobile to use lithium-ion battery cells and the first production BEV (all-electric) to travel more than 200 miles on a single charge. Since 2008 Tesla has sold 1,650 Roadsters in 30 countries through March 2011.
Tesla opened a store here in Boulder in 2009 because of its environmentally conscious residents, but decided to close the Pearl Street location in favor of having more foot traffic at the Park Meadows location. George Blankenship, Tesla's worldwide vice president of sales, used to work for Apple and completely revamped the companies retail strategy. Now he is doing the same thing for Tesla Motors.
The innovative strategy will feature interactive monitors for shoppers to learn about the battery powered cars in a unique environment. “The idea is to entice them to come in, inform them and then engage them,” said Blankenship. Apple struggled to get their brand out there in the crowded world of computers and when they put them in malls, people bought them. Blankenship hopes the same marketing will work for Tesla.
The new store here in Denver gives buyers a fun experience where they get to interact by designing their very own car in the design studio. They get to choose the color, trim, tires, and interior features and options. Once the selections are made, the car is then displayed on the store's large infotainment system and the buyer gets to see what the car looks like on the road during the day, at night, and from different angles.
The two-seat Tesla Roadster has a price tag of $109,000 and Tesla intends to to sell the current model until early 2012 when its supply of Lotus Elise gliders is expected to run out. The carmaker is manufacturing a new five-seat Model S Sedan that should get 300 miles to a charge with a base price of $50,000. The new sedan is expected to be available for purchase sometime next year. A new Tesla service department is set to open this month in Glendale.
This could actually make shopping for a new car fun, instead of like getting a tooth pulled at the car dealer.
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