Nokia will open a flagship store in Helsinki on Saturday after opening similar stores in Moscow, Chicago and Hong Kong since 2005.

The Nokia Flagship Store in Helsinki showcases a wide portfolio of Nokia products and services, including the exclusive Nokia Vertu phones available for the first time in Finland. At the store, consumers will be able to set up their new devices, review service provider options and test the range of mobile enhancements related to their new phone.

Distinctively crafted and enhanced by state-of-the-art multimedia displays, each Flagship Store offers a highly interactive and intuitive medium to feature the benefits of a wide range of Nokia products. Customers can also send text messages for display on Nokia Flagship Store locations around the world.

Additionally, Flagship Store team members are highly trained graduates of the Nokia Academy program. Providing customers with accurate and personalized guidance, they can answer topics ranging from choosing the perfect phone, to applying and maxmizing the functionality of the latest mobile devices. All questions relating to phone repair will also be part of the customer service, handled by a dedicated Nokia Care staff.

The Nokia Flagship Stores will form the top end of Nokia's newly revised retail strategy that includes retail and operator partners and their more than 300,000 retail outlets globally. All of these customer outlets will remain essential to Nokia's ongoing success and continue to be the main sales channels in the future.

Nokia plans to open 18 flagship stores in the world's biggest cities over the next few years. The next opening is scheduled for New York.