Took a stroll up to Yonge and Bloor today to check out the grand opening of a new retail location they opened, which also served as the official launch of the new community concept model they are using in their stores. The Eaton Centre store had already been updated to this model as well, but this was my first experience in it.

A caveat before we move on to the details, I am a stickler for customer experience. With that said, it looks like they have done something right with the new concept. All the display hardware is real hardware, meaning for example that when someone wants to see how awkward they look talking on a Samsung Galaxy Note, they can really use the device and try it out, rather than a non-working floor model.

There were some other fine touches that really worked as well. Toy bins so if you are dealing with a representative for an extended period of time your kids are not dying of boredom, a wall calendar showing off upcoming events to do with device tutorials and community events, and a large table to allow staff to discuss and train in the actual store so customers are not waiting for service.

To be honest, I do everything from order hardware, to bill payments, to plan changes online. That said, if you are a Rogers customer and do go into locations, look forward to your store being changed to this concept. You may find that your premium service provider is actually trying to give you a premium customer experience.

Discuss in our Rogers Communications forum.