Roland wants to show you its ASX technology as it delivers a new retail store experience that it calls “the future of shopping”

Roland Store
(Image credit: Roland)

If you thought the days of bricks and mortar music shops were numbered, Roland is encouraging you to think again as it unveils its new ‘Roland Store’ experience. Rolling out at selected retailers in the US and around the world, this promises to “combine technology and music for the future of shopping”.

The beating heart of the Roland Store is the company’s new Audience Specific Experience (ASX) technology. This controls the lighting, video and audio of the space and can be customised at the touch of a button to suit the taste of individual customers.

Each of the Roland ‘store-in-stores’ also has full-time Roland experts, hands-on demos, and access to the full catalogue of Roland and BOSS products.

“The growth of convenient online shopping has put pressure on physical retailers to offer more than just product stock,” says Gordon Raison, Roland’s chief sales and marketing officer.

“Customers are increasingly looking to a shopping trip to provide excitement, discovery, learning as well as acquiring products. As a company renowned for innovation and developing the technologies of tomorrow in the music world, it seemed fitting that we should develop the retail experience of the future, as well.”

You’ll currently find Roland Stores in multiple cities in the United States, Glasgow, Montreal, Beijing, Sydney, and São Paulo. There are plans to open more in the future.

Roland Store

(Image credit: Roland)
Ben Rogerson

I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it. 

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