LG Business Solutions' new showroom lets customers 'see, touch, feel and visualize'
First off, it's got robots.
The new LG Electronics Chicago Business Innovation Center Showroom in Lincolnshire offers the CLOi GuideBot that can provide information, advertising and security services.
On their way are the CLOi ServeBot and CLOi CarryBot, which do a yeoman's job in restaurants and workplaces.
"Certainly, when it comes to robots it's always intriguing. Robots are very cool - the ability for what they can do, how they listen and map a room, and they're self-aware," said Dave Bacher, head of marketing at LG Business Solutions' U.S. division in Lincolnshire.
Autonomous robots are only the tip of the iceberg at this new 5,500-square-foot "innovation playground" on the first floor of 2000 Millbrook Drive.
A multimillion-dollar investment that debuted Oct. 25 in a space twice the size of its former showroom, the Business Innovation Center displays the latest technologies suited to LG Business Solutions' customers in the hospitality, health care, educational, industrial and information technology fields.
The focus is serving a client base of Fortune 500 companies, but extends to small- and medium-sized businesses, Bacher said. About 60% to 70% of LG Business Solutions' business is in digital signage and about 30% to 40% in IT.
The BIC showroom was developed during a COVID-era examination of how to better engage customers with the ability to "see, touch, feel and visualize" its product lines, Bacher said.
It is not open to the public. Visitors must plan a tour with an LG sales representative and register with building security.
Customers who do may be amazed by the more than 100 LG products presented inside. Employees, too.
"It's hard for me not to plug in my Colorado Buffaloes and sneak in on a Saturday," Bacher said of watching football on a 136-inch Direct View LED screen.
Goodies include transparent OLED (organic light-emiting diode) displays, the scalable LG MAGNIT display that can wrap around poles, and the LG Create Board for corporations and schools, an 86-inch stretch monitor.
The BIC houses a large studio and several smaller rooms or "zones" targeted for different business environments. The Hospitality Zone includes products for hotels and restaurants including "smart" displays integrated with blinds, lights and voice-activated technologies.
The Gaming and Creative zones - the latter for video production and broadcasting - offer ultrawide monitors such as the 65-inch UltraFine OLED Pro, which has won several design awards.
A Medical Solutions Zone offers a variety of monitors and diagnostic devices and includes a darkroom that gives customers the chance to see how products perform in a medical environment.
The IT Zone has LG gram laptops, curved monitors up to 49 inches, business projectors, cloud computing solutions and other products.
"What's exciting is we're already to a point where almost every day we have different customers or partners or retailers in here," Bacher said.
Around 150 employees work at the Lincolnshire hub, which Bacher said plans to establish "LG University" to incorporate educational programming on product instruction for technicians and commercial integrators.
Opening the BIC to schools also may be explored.
"What I love about this Innovation Center is we have the innovation, we have the solutions, but we also have the expertise," Bacher said.