Tesla courting the wealthy with high-end store

SAN JOSE, Calif. - When you're meeting friends for lunch or shopping for shoes, you can also stop by the new Tesla Motors store in San Jose to design your own $109,000 Roadster.

The store is the first of its kind for Tesla, featuring interactive displays designed to lure curious consumers in the door. It's also a prototype for the additional stores the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company plans to open as it prepares to launch the Model S sedan in 2012.

Tesla's Roadster - a 2-seat, high-end electric sports car - sits in the middle of the store. A large interactive monitor allows you to custom-build your own Roadster, from choosing the paint color to designing the leather interior, and then see your car "on the road" in various locations. Another features short videos of current Tesla owners talking about what it's like to be an owner. A third features three dimensional graphics that delve into Tesla's technology, from the power train to regenerative braking.

"We are revolutionizing the auto purchase and ownership experience," said George Blankenship, Tesla's vice president of worldwide sales and ownership experience. "At a typical car dealership, the goal of the dealer is to sell you a car that's on the lot. At Tesla, we're selling you a car that you design. The shift is people say: I want this car."

The company has 17 stores around the world, including New York, Paris and Tokyo.

The San Jose store, located in the high-end Santana Row shopping area, is sure to attract casual shoppers who wander in to sit in the Roadster or who want to learn more about electric vehicles and the Tesla brand.

Before joining Tesla, Blankenship worked for several years as the retailing czar at Apple. Apple's sleek, customer-focused retail stores have been wildly successful, and customers regularly line up around the block for the latest iPhone or iPad.

The vibe at the Tesla store is similar. Part art gallery, part auto showroom, customers are welcomed into a well-lit, airy showroom and treated like guests. There's free coffee and comfortable white leather chairs to sit in. It's kid-friendly: leather storage bins carry troves of mini Tesla Roadsters in the form of Hotwheels, as well as crayons, coloring books and children's books about electricity. Tesla wants parents to bring the whole family to the store, and stresses that kids are allowed - even encouraged - to climb behind the wheel of the car in the showroom.

"Every 6-year-old needs to be able to climb in the car," said Blankenship. "We want teenagers in the car."

There's an emphasis on social media: you can log in via Twitter to announce that "I'm at the Tesla Store Santana Row" or share the Roadster that you've designed on Facebook.

And there's all sorts of merchandise, from Tesla T-shirts and sweatshirts to golf balls. There are even "onesies" for babies: one says "It's electric, baby." (Cost: $22).

"It's meant to intrigue, inform and engage," said Blankenship. "If people are smiling when they walk out the door, we've met our goal."