Opening during Shanghai’s Dragon Boat Festival and its busiest shopping season, the third Brookstone China store in the trading area of Xujiahui drew queues, with first-week sales exceeding expectations.
Acquired by Chinese billionaire and Sanpower Group chairman Yuan Yafei, the US brand is known for its novelty products.
As the first Brookstone flagship store in Shanghai, the new outlet introduces a virtual reality shopping experience. It offers two storeys of interactive product demonstration zones. These include a virtual “bed on a wall”, against which customers can wrap themselves in Nap blankets and take selfies. There is also the Sand Bar with kinetic play sand that “sticks to itself, but not to you”.

There are displays of Cat Ear headphones, a giant Aero wine aerator in a wall, a studio of Big Blue Audio wireless speakers, and a spa’s worth of body massagers and massage chairs.

“The Brookstone China store experience is all about hands-on discovery,” says CEO Tom Via. “Displays are bold, inviting and highly interactive. Customers are encouraged to pick up and try everything in the store. It’s much more fun and exciting than a traditional retail environment.”
Brookstone is known for its “easy surprises”, items that are simple in design yet useful.
“The vision is simple,” says Brookstone China chairman Xin Kexia, “to create products that solve real-life problems and are easy to use, then sell them in an immersive environment that is entertaining and delightful.”

This approach of shopping as entertainment aligns with the Sanpower Group’s overall retail strategy, which also includes House of Fraser department stores and Hamleys toy stores.
Founded in 1965, Brookstone is a US-based product developer and retailer of wellness, entertainment, and travel products. It has more than 200 retail outlets at malls and airports throughout the US.
Sanpower Group Company is a private conglomerate involved in the technology and modern service industries. It is building up an industrial ecosystem across the finance, health and commerce sectors, and has a 90,000-strong global workforce.