Not many people knew about this, but apparently HTC has started opening retail locations in some countries, in order to provide a better brand experience around their whole range of phones. Their store expansion first started in Russia and Czech Republic. The store openings were just 2 weeks apart, so we can probably expect more soon.
The HTC stores resemble Apple in its minimalist design but they have their own HTC personalized style, so it’s unlikely the customers would confuse the 2 if they open some stores in USA, as well.
But why has HTC started to open these retail stores now? The biggest reason is definitely because of their huge success with the Android series of phones, and they must be expecting the Android demand to grow even further. As Android grows, they want to make sure they are growing on all fronts with it, as well. People can come and play with Android phones before they buy them, and HTC can answer whatever question its customers have.
Here are a couple more pictures of the stores:
[Via Phandroid]