MILAN — Born in Struer, Denmark, almost 100 years ago, Bang & Olufsen has Scandi design in its DNA. From the Beolit 39 radio invented in 1939 to its Beolab 5 envisioned by legendary designer David Lewis, the company has consistently focused on creating pieces meant to be passed on from generation to generation.

Under the leadership of chief executive officer Kristian Teär, Bang & Olufsen is focused 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 — a concept inspired by luxury icons like Rolls-Royce and Ferrari, Teär explained.

“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. If you look at high-net-worth individuals, you see that being executed very successfully by Rolls-Royce,” he told WWD in an interview.

A veteran of the tech industry, the Swedish executive joined Bang & Olufsen in 2019. Prior to that he was the Europe, Middle East and Africa vice president at Logitech; chief operating officer for BlackBerry and has held several management positions at Sony Ericsson.

The audio and video specialist’s strategy hinges on augmenting its personalization possibilities and design potential, and is reflected in its flagship “culture” stores. On Wednesday, Bang & Olufsen opened its fourth such high-impact store in Milan on Corso Matteotti in the Quadrilatero shopping district.

These special flagships are at the apex of its retail strategy and network of 364 points of sale. Culture flagships are situated in “Win Cities” like Seoul, London and Copenhagen, cultural capitals with a large population of high-net-worth individuals. Later this year, Bang & Olufsen will open an additional three flagships in California and one in Paris.

The new Milan store represents a strategic milestone and its intention to further penetrate both the global fashion and design communities. With its archival audio artistry gallery, a private room allowing clients to explore limited editions like the Ferrari Grigio Corsa Collection, and event space for music and cultural events, the Milan flagship sets the stage for the brand’s next chapter where sound and design are seamlessly integrated.

These hubs are also a way for the Danish firm to demonstrate its potential to the interior design community, fortify its local teams and establish one-on-one relationships with key players in design and affluent clients, Teär said, pointing to a geometric assembly of the Beosound shape tile speakers that can be arranged in a variety of ways and expanded to cover the whole wall. “This is like a piece of design,” he said, noting that one might not even understand it was speakers they were looking at. Pieces like these can also be tailored with a variety of colors and fabrics.

Collaborations with the fashion and automotive worlds have also helped the firm reach new heights. Since 2017, Bang & Olufsen has collaborated with Saint Laurent’s creative director Anthony Vaccarello, culminating in his spin on the iconic Beogram 4000c with the Saint Laurent Rive Droite Edition. “Turntables are back in,” Teär said. “These are also pieces of design in themselves.”

Last year, the firm expanded its collection with Ferrari-inspired speakers in the brand’s signature red. The collection includes three of Bang & Olufsen’s flagship, high-end products, each reimagined with Ferrari’s design language: the Beolab 50 speaker, the Beosound Theatre soundbar, and the Beovision Theatre TV.

Founded in 1925, Bang & Olufsen’s journey began in a farmhouse in Struer, where Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen developed the Eliminator — the first mass-produced radio that could be plugged into a wall socket, eliminating the need for batteries. Today, the company makes headphones, speakers, televisions, soundbars and other accessories.

Looking ahead, the “Win City” model is expected to drive sales further, as evidenced by the 36 percent sell-out growth posted in the third quarter of the ongoing fiscal year 2024/2025 versus 2023/2024. “We know that concept is working when we are doing the new store format, but also the marketing around it and the services around it and the partnerships around it. We are becoming even more culturally relevant,” he said. In its fiscal 2023/2024 earnings report, the firm said generated 2.59 billion Danish kroner or $400 million.

The company officially turns 100 years old on Nov. 17. A series of events will unfold around the world and in Struer, where it is still headquartered.