It seems fitting that luxury audio firm Bang & Olufsen should open a shrine to sound and design in San Francisco, a city known as a hub for the psychedelic rock movement of the ’60s.
On Thursday, the company will open the doors to its largest store ever at 146 Geary Street, adjacent to Union Square. The flagship location’s neighbors include upscale fashion and retail names like Moncler, Neiman Marcus and Chanel.
Spanning 5,100 square feet over two floors, key features of the store include a customization lab, where guests can transform headphones and speakers into personalized keepsakes with precision laser-engraved monograms and/or messages. A sculptural staircase showcases original art by British artist James Goldcrown and leads up to a tiled coffee bar where clients can explore the firm’s new Atelier bespoke customization program. Like its other flagships, the San Francisco location doubles as a design resource for homeowners, architects, and interior designers, supported by integrated smart-home automation. The space is also complete with a VIP listening room to test out new technology.
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The Union Square ribbon-cutting will be followed by the opening of two more California stores, in West Hollywood and a Palo Alto store in the Stanford Shopping Center, both slated to open in 2026.
“Union Square is a vibrant part of San Francisco’s commercial and cultural history and we’re proud to be a part of the district’s revitalization,” the firm’s West Coast market director Jean Maraine-Jin said, underscoring the “importance of physical retail experiences and the human connection they foster.”
Bang & Olufsen was founded in the town of Struer, Denmark, 100 years ago. From the Beolit 39 radio invented in 1939 to the Beolab 90 launched in 2015, the company has focused on creating pieces meant to be passed on from generation to generation.
Under the leadership of chief executive officer Kristian Teär, Bang & Olufsen has sharpened its focus on conveying its prominence in the pages of Danish and global design, through completing storytelling, design events and innovative, high-end concepts like Atelier.
Unveiled this year, Atelier allows customers to begin crafting their ideas online, choose from over 500,000 possible combinations of fabric, wood and aluminium finishes and finalize details in-store. It also offers bespoke services, Teär explained in an interview with WWD in June.
“It’s now a core part of the strategy and when we look at also the target audiences that we have, everybody wants to express themselves in a different way. You don’t want to necessarily have what everybody else has anymore,” he said of the Atelier.
