Tesla teams with Nordstrom for unconventional shopping experience

Tesla Model X

U.S. automaker Tesla is innovating the traditional dealership format through a retail placement at a Nordstrom store in Los Angeles.

The first of its kind Tesla Gallery at Nordstrom The Grove will showcase the brand’s Model X SUV in a 400-square-meter boutique within the store’s menswear department. With its debut timed for Father’s Day weekend, the space is designed as a venue for low-pressure exploration of Telsa rather than a direct point-of-sale.

Clothing and cars
Tesla’s gallery, opening Saturday, June 18, is based on the brand’s existing showroom design, reinterpreted to fit a smaller square footage. Consumers can interact with displays or build their ideal Model X by combining trim and interior options in a Tesla Design Studio.

If a consumers wishes to have a closer look at the electric vehicle, they can go on a demonstration drive with a Tesla employee.

Rendering of Tesla’s Nordstrom gallery

Tesla’s business model revolves around selling directly to consumers, rather than retailing its cars through third-party dealerships. Its efforts to open direct-operated dealerships in certain states, including North Carolina and Texas, have been curtailed, as state lawmakers refused to grant exceptions to existing laws.

Going around the legislation, Tesla opened a number of non-commercial galleries, where it can show off its vehicles directly to consumers, requiring interested parties to go online to complete their purchase. One of these galleries opened at Westfield’s Garden State Plaza in Paramus, NJ in 2014.

Mall placement has proven attractive for automakers, as they seek to leverage foot traffic to their advantage.

German automaker Mercedes-Benz introduced its range to the public through a pop-up shop at Manchester’s into Trafford Centre.

Officially opened the weekend of Sept. 11, 2015 the temporary installation featured some of the automaker’s most popular models, letting shoppers see and experience the vehicles in-person. Bringing its cars to a space where consumers can stumble upon them may have helped to widen Mercedes’ consumer base (see story).

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