BOOTS Hearingcare is getting set to open its first-ever West Midlands World of Hearing store for Dudley at Merry Hill shopping centre.
The store, which will open on Monday June 17, will boast a high-tech immersion room and self-screening centre, designed to revolutionise the way people think about hearing care.
Customers will be able to test out a range of hearing aids for themselves in a variety of settings – hearing what it would sound like if they were in a busy restaurant or at a concert to give an idea of what it would be like to wear a hearing aid.
Boots Hearingcare bosses say the idea of the store is to break down old-fashioned stigmas around the use of hearing aids and demonstrate first-hand how transformational life can be when people can reconnect with sounds they love.
Echo Lu, managing director of Boots Hearingcare, said: "We are delighted to be opening the first World of Hearing store in the West Midlands, providing customers with an immersive state-of-the-art environment to solve their hearing problems.
“On average, it takes 10 years for someone to address they have a hearing problem. We hope this new innovative format can help remove the stigma associated with hearing loss and encourage more people to act on their hearing loss and to experience the joy of better hearing and better quality of life, with the latest technology and great customer care from Boots.”
Approximately 11 million people in the UK live with untreated hearing loss, which is the UK’s second most common disability.
According to research carried out by Boots Hearingcare, almost a fifth of people (19 per cent) admitted they may have hearing loss but don’t wear a hearing aid.
The main excuse given for not being able to hear is noisy environments (53 per cent) followed by people mumbling (47 per cent).
More than a quarter (27 per cent) of people surveyed said they have noticed loved ones becoming more isolated because of their hearing loss.
People conceal their hearing loss by having the TV louder (47 per cent), lip reading (37 per cent) and by becoming less talkative (35 per cent).
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