Sony Quietly Opening Retail Stores 382
as400tek writes "According to CNN, Sony
Electronics Inc. has been opening stores in selected cities all over the
US. Denver and Las Vegas are the next two location, or location numbers 11 &
12. Should the Apple retail model
be applied to Sony, and if so why didn't it work for Gateway?
Should Dell be next to enter you local shopping mall? Should large retailers like Best Buy and others be afraid of this model? Does this mean better service
for Sony's already nice line up of electronics?"
Sony could do well (Score:5, Interesting)
If they're anything like Canadian "Sony Store"s (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:If they're anything like Canadian "Sony Store"s (Score:3, Interesting)
s/Canadian/UK/
Re:If they're anything like Canadian "Sony Store"s (Score:3, Interesting)
Where do you live? I used to frequent the Sony Store at the Scarborough Town Centre (Toronto), and not only were there prices competitive with places like Future Shop, but they also had Viao laptops, Clies, and a selection of computer parts (CD/DVD drives, Viao acccessories, etc.).
Yaz.
Re:If they're anything like Canadian "Sony Store"s (Score:3, Interesting)
actually, considering their approach to their consumer AV hardware, this is probably the safest approach to take.
also, tried getting support on your Vaio recently?
sony look nice, but unlike apple *absolutely suck ass* wh
Re:If they're anything like Canadian "Sony Store"s (Score:3, Interesting)
Or about half a million places in Markham :).
You'll get no argument from me -- I was thinking more along the lines of their consumer electronics when I mentioned prices. When I bought my Wega and a DVD player several years ago, The Sony Stores prices were the same as virtually everywhere else (for Sony gear).
The one
Re:If they're anything like Canadian "Sony Store"s (Score:5, Interesting)
Until Sony closed it, I used to go to the one in Chicago once a month so I'll address these points one at a time:
1. Their prices were the same as those on Sony's website. Things could be found cheaper from other resellers. Note that the sales tax is 10% on Michigan Avenue, so that might make it more expensive than most places.
2. They carried the full Sony line including computers (even Aibos). They sold accessories for the products, but it didn't appear that they had every part - for example, I doubt I could have purchased a replacement power supply for my Vaio.
3. I think you are right about the staff, although I never expect the staff at a retail outlet to know much. They aren't getting paid enough to be domain experts.
I don't think Sony expects people to go to these stores to ask questions about the products. I think Sony has the stores so people can see the products that they have been reading about up close and decide if it is for them.
Re:If they're anything like Canadian "Sony Store"s (Score:3, Funny)
Yeah but now... "You have huge American penis. You buy."
Re:If they're anything like Canadian "Sony Store"s (Score:3, Interesting)
The consumer electronics companies are going to be hard pressed to deal the 'vintage is better' mentality should it ever hit them. This is where people actually pay a premium for older used electronic goods and buy the newest, latest, and greatest only as second choice if something new is not available.
This seems absurd because it has never happened in consumer electronics before. But if the big com
They are trying for new markets (Score:2)
Sony is moving into ritzy shopping malls based on a widely held belief that conventional electronics stores do a lousy job with women
This sounds risky to me, but that is probably an under served market, and sexy Sony products probably have the best chance of success. They must try to not alienate men though. For
Old News (Score:3, Insightful)
They've had these stores for years, I first walked into on in Chicago back about 1992 and looked at most of what they had, because I was looking for a model of portable stereo onl
Re:Sony could do well (Score:2)
They even had a section devoted to kids, with banner advertising above the kidified products proclaiming: "My First Sony."
I didn't realize that there weren't Sony stores in the US until seeing this article...
They do do well. (Score:2)
Most likely their going to expand these stores, sell new equipment in them, and see what happens.
Re:Sony could do well (Score:3, Informative)
Dell's already in the malls (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Dell's already in the malls (Score:4, Insightful)
The brick-and-mortar chain stores have to be losing money because of people doing this. I'm sure they will try to close that loophole somehow - maybe private branding, or membership-based stores.
As it becomes harder for the internet shopper to see products in person before ordering, the manufacturers will have to step in more and more, by opening their own retail outlets. Even if those retail outlets don't make a sale directly, the manufacturer still wins as long as you buy their product.
I predict it will turn into manufacturer-supported expo "stores". The primary purpose being that you can come and check out the product, with no pressure to buy, or maybe even no option to buy. Somehow, the cost structure has to get re-aligned so that the manufacturer foots the bill for demo-ing the products in person.
Re:Dell's already in the malls (Score:2)
Didn't Gateway try this? They had stores where you could check out an computer, and order it, but couldn't walk away with it same-day. I seem to recall they had a bit of difficulty making this business model work. This was before they entered the electronics retail market in general, and were still computer-only
Re:Dell's already in the malls (Score:3, Informative)
I just wanted a simple special that was advertised on the front page. I thought, ok... Dell store... they probably have this.
I was a bit disappointed that it was only a kiosk store. Great if you don't have a computer, but ultimately useless for anyone who knows what they are doing.
Re:Dell's already in the malls (Score:5, Insightful)
Problem is, Fry's is being scewed. I go to Fry's to see the product in person. Fry's has to pay for that store to exist, to have the products on hand, to have enough staff to answer my questions, etc.
But since I don't buy it from Fry's, they lose all of that pre-sale investment. The online store gets all of that pre-sales investment for free.
Re:Dell's already in the malls (Score:5, Funny)
Actually, with Fry's, the customer pays for that. In spades.
Have you ever asked a Fry's employee for help?
I wouldn't worry too much about Fry's (Score:5, Interesting)
I am sure you have seen those advertisements that Fry's puts into your local paper.
Guess who pays for them. (Hint it is not Fry's Electronics, it is the manufacturers that were advertised within the first third of the page.)
In the San Jose and the SoCal area there is at least an 8-page Fry's Electronics "news section" once a week.
--
For the products you see "featured" on the endcaps or other high visibility areas, the manufacturers pay "rent" to Fry's for this "premium real estate" to the tune of US$5K/week/store (this was 1993!)
I have seen some vendors end up PAYING for the privelege of being porked by Fry's at the end of the promotion because the product did not sell on its own merits despite this preferred placement. (The "rent" completely engulfed the $sales expected by this promotion. The Fry's brothers learned this trick from their parent's grocery business.)
--
Also, Fry's is notorious milking their net terms with their suppliers and due to their size can "choose another vendor" if current supplier does not cater to their whims.
--
Their xxx days "same as cash" sales/financing is done by the manufacturer; Fry's gets this as "money in the bank" from the manufacturer when the merchandise leaves the store. On some products the vendor does not get paid until the item is sold.
Pff. Use Fry's to your advantage (Score:3, Informative)
1. Wait for the Friday Fry's ad.
2. If there's something that looks good, first check techbargains.com and pricegrabber.com for comparable items or better prices.
3. If I need to take a look at it, then regardless of price, I'll go to Fry's and take a look.
4. If Fry's is better, I'll stand in
Re:Dell's already in the malls (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Dell's already in the malls (Score:3, Insightful)
But this is a dog-eat-dog world. Why should I buy it for anything but the lowest price? If it's a mom-and-pop store, I may think twice - but the cashier at Best Buy or Fry's doesn't care one bit. There is no point in showing that cashier or mega-corp any form of respect. They would screw you over just as quick if they thought they could get away with it.
canada (Score:5, Informative)
Re:canada (Score:4, Informative)
I wonder why Sony waited until now to open stores in the US...
Re:canada (Score:3, Informative)
Which enables us to answer the question of if it will improve service.
Of course it won't, Sony have a policy of `once we have your money we don't care anymore'. They wouldn't even tell me who their local service agent for my area was.
Actually, I'll have to contradict myself. I finally found their service agent by talking informally to a man in the Sony shop. So, to the extent a shop allows you to deal with real people rather than corporate phone-droids, it may improve servi
Re:canada (Score:2)
I actually interviewed for the Sony Stores' IT group in Edmonton back in the '80s.
In any case, I second the 'not big news' for Canadians. I didn't think twice about seeing a Sony Store in San Fran.
Re:canada (Score:5, Informative)
You beat me to the punch. Sony stores are in at least one major mall in most sizeable Canadian cities. Halifax has at least two, and Ottawa has two that I can think of possibly more.
I had always assumed that Sony was doing that all over the place.
Go figure.
Re:canada (Score:5, Informative)
...and Toronto has as many stores as the entire US when you factor in the two new stores this article mentions:
Ontario has, according to Sony Canada's website, 29 Sony Stores in total.
And /. is getting excited because Sony is expanding in the US from 10 to 12 stores??? ;).
(Admittedly, I'll be excited when Canada has one Apple Store).
Yaz.
Re:canada (Score:2)
Re:canada (Score:2)
Re:canada (Score:2)
Mind you, I like to go window shopping there to see what Sony is trotting out, and then go somewhere else to actually buy.
Re:canada (Score:2)
Yes, and:
"should Dell be next to enter you local shopping mall?"
There is already Dell Stores in Canada too. There is a least one in Montreal.
Metreon (Score:5, Informative)
Oh, and no customers.
Re:Metreon (Score:2)
It's amazing how it contrasts with the Playstation store next door to it which actually does a pretty good job.
Re:Metreon (Score:2)
Stanford Shopping Center Sony Store (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Stanford Shopping Center Sony Store (Score:2)
Re:Metreon (Score:5, Informative)
The same applies to the Sony Gallery in Chicago on the Magnificent Mile... horrible store.
First, you have to pass through one of the more foreboding entryways, and pass by the pissed off looking security guard staring you down like you're about to take everything in the store. Once past that, you're hit by the horrible lighting and the bad architecture, having to walk up two flights of stairs to get to the second level... to find about 3 products up there, including their high end plasma.
Product selection throughout the whole store is abysmal... high end stuff at 3x what you can buy it for at ANY electronics store, and some of the worst of the personal electronics line. All of it looks broken or not correctly set up. The store help is less than helpful... they're all off in a corner acting like the Gap Girls on SNL.
Walk down the street to the Apple Store and see what a REAL manufacturer retail outlet should look and act like.
What's the big deal? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:What's the big deal? (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, but don't forget the US is the center of the Universe...it's not actually news until it happens here
Sad, but true.
Re:What's the big deal? (Score:2)
Slashdot ahead of the curve, as always.
In the UK (Score:5, Informative)
In Australia & Japan too (Score:3)
Dell has been doing this for a while. (Score:2)
The Sony Store...in Canada (Score:5, Informative)
They're all fairly small stores, the "no sports on TV" rule applies, the prices are competitive with the big boxes -- and often better once you count the gift cards they usually give you with any reasonably-sized purchase.
old news (Score:2, Informative)
Gateway made huge mistakes (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Gateway made huge mistakes (Score:2)
The only reason I think this _might_ work for Sony is that they have actually become a bit of a luxury brand; I mean, they sure as hell
Re:Gateway made huge mistakes (Score:3, Interesting)
There was another company whose name escapes me now, because it's long dead...they had a prosperous direct-order business and then kill
Re:Gateway made huge mistakes (Score:3, Interesting)
Too Expensive (Score:5, Interesting)
I can get Sony stuff cheaper at the discount stores.
Re:Too Expensive (Score:2)
This is deliberate. Remember, most of their sales are going to be through third parties. If they undercut their resellers, they may lose the reseller. Think of the store as offering you a chance to demo their products while hanging out at the mall. They will sell you the product if you really want it, but they are just as happy to have you buy it elsewhere.
I don't get this. (Score:2)
Gateway Did not Follow Apple's Model (Score:2, Interesting)
Also the gateway stores sucked major ass.
Apple stores are awesome.
I'm sure Sony's stores will be pretty good considering they're the only PC maker that can compete with Apple in terms of style.
Re:Gateway Did not Follow Apple's Model (Score:2)
Sony gear looks sexy (Score:4, Insightful)
70" 1080p to be sold only in SONY stores (Score:3, Informative)
It looks like sony will initially only sell their new 70" 1080p rear projection tv through their qualia (sony's high brand division) stores.
epic
sony did it before Apple (Score:2)
It didn't work for Gateway... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:It didn't work for Gateway... (Score:2)
I visited a Gateway store a couple of times, and it's always been "push-push-push" hard sell. Very unpleasant experience. Better than the CompUSA "no sell" experie
Re:It didn't work for Gateway... (Score:2)
Very true (Score:2)
But when I go into stores now, Sony products uniformly fail to impress me. I don't like thier video products, the audio products seem nothing special. Sony is kind of a company coasting on rep.
The only Sony product I still rather like is the PS2. They seem to be pretty smart at the games division and make sensible choices. The consumer electronics wing is having major issues.
A company I do admire
Sony Needs to Emulate the "Apple Experience" (Score:5, Insightful)
We also have a major Sony presence here The Metreon [metreon.com] and its own Sony Styles [metreon.com] store (although as a poster above points out [slashdot.org], it's not exactly perfect). and I think Sony will do it a lot more like Apple based on what I have seen (high end fixtures and architecture, high-drama).
This is a smart move for a brand like Sony--they need to recapture the caché they once had more of.
It's a different market (Score:5, Insightful)
But some people actively seek out sony products (i cant imagine why, but my brother has spent THOUSANDS on them, and lots more replacing them when they break). The same is true of apple. They are as close to "designer" brands as we have in electronics.
People do buy luxury watches, clothes, food items in store when they could get them cheaper online - it's more about the experience than the price.
I've seen them for over a decade now.. (Score:3, Interesting)
They read over the sign, "The Sony Store", they are very swanky and very expensive. Usually in malls, but my home-town did have a stand-alone one about 5-10 years ago (I belive it closed eventually).
Things are usually priced above MSRP in them for some reason, perhaps to appease retailers who carry Sony products.
I think 2 malls have Sony sotres where I live. I've been in them, but never purchased anything at either as it's just so much cheaper to go somewhere else (I also don't like salesmen in suits with slicked hair trying to fast-talk me when I'm Sunday shopping - get enough of that during the work week thankyouverymuch).
This site [www.sony.ca] says they have 70 stores in Canada.
Breakout potential? (Score:5, Informative)
There is not much difference in the presentation at the store vs. a nice consumer electronics shop and I don't feel like I am having a unique "Sony" experience by being in the Sony store because the products are not being presented in a new way.
While apple has a real motivation to open these botuiques (informed sales people and proper product presentation) I dont really see the long term breakout potential for Sony. They already have the benefit of ubiquity.
Having said that, its a great store to kill time in while your wife is shopping!
already there... (Score:2, Interesting)
Dell Computer doesn't depend only upon its telephone and on-line sales: they have 81 kiosks within the hallways of shopping centers in 11 states. They're now running a billboard promotion with the tag line, "We're In The Mall."
Re:already there... (Score:2)
All Thumbs (Score:3, Interesting)
been there done that (Score:5, Insightful)
Since they only sell the one brand, there aren't a lot of new products to draw people in. Plus it's retail prices for everything so you'd never buy there, just look and go home and order online.
Comparing it to apple stores...
* apple has a genius bar staffed with people who can often fix your problem right there. sony had some sales vultures trying to sell me a plasma.
* apple has 3rd party software available for purchase
* apple stores (some of them) have a closeout/discount bin for cheapskate shoppers to check out
* apple's products are just better designed than sony
* everything in the store is compatible with everything else
* grassy knowl and start button on every monitor makes the sony store look a lot like best buy or compusa
Re:been there done that (Score:2)
It's not about store profit (Score:4, Insightful)
It's about market presence and Sony ego. They no longer dominate by superior engineering so they will try to dominate by glitter and youth/yuppie appeal.
At least that's this old geek's opinion. And I've been watching Sony for 30 years.
Not much news elsewhere in the world. (Score:2)
The Sony Store, in Canada (Score:2)
The stores are modest size, not too overwhelming like large big box stores in large urban areas, well dressed sales staff (I think a tie is required for male staff), and not as crowded bot
To intice gullible buyers! (Score:2)
Personally, I have a like/hate relationship with Frys. I hate going in there, but I drive past one of their stores every day, and they are likely to have what I want. However, I find that buying OEM packaged products at a local store cheaper and a more pleasant experien
It's the product, stupid (Score:2)
it would have to... (Score:2)
CB)*($##
It's a service issue. (Score:2)
I bought a 32 inch Sony Trinitron XBR^2 set a few years back, their top quality product, made in Japan with Sony's highest labor costs (they were shifting production to Mexico and across Asia), that set was widely considered the best TV ever made, and I expected it to last until HDTV became affordable (which should be a few years yet). But the power supply blew, a
There's been one in Chicago for years (Score:2, Informative)
I used to go there in HS to gaze on all the pretty electronics that I could not afford. It was really more of a showcase than anything else. I don't think I once saw anyone buy anything there.
Sony Style (Score:2)
Had one, it folded (Score:2)
Australia has Sony Central stores (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.sonycentral.com.au/ [sonycentral.com.au]
Comment removed (Score:3, Insightful)
Sony Sucks (Score:3, Informative)
And I don't mean this to be a troll. Their computers suck, their web site is atrocious, they're absurdly overpriced, and they seem to coast by on their brand alone.
Every time I sit down to repair a VAIO it's a harrowing experience-- you have to have their specific installation CD's to really make it go anywhere near smoothly. While a normal XP installation will technically work, getting it correct is nigh on impossible. They do weird things like partition the hard drives into multiple, inexplicable partitions.
Then there's the website. It's awful. It's impossible to find the support section. The Knowledge Base is more like a Lack of Knowledge Base. The driver download process is cumbersome and it has a propensity for repeatedly kicking you into the Sony Online Store.
Then there's their hideous propensity to stick to random, proprietary "standards" of their own creation. They stick useless things (like the ThumbWheelXPPro2000) on every single device. They've been pushing Memory Stick for years and haven't really gotten anywhere with it. This is to say nothing of their insistence on using ATRAC as their audio format on all of their digital audio players (which they apparently have finally rescinded), or their stupid MiniDiscs, which somehow still survive in spite of their relative uselessness when compared to other solutions on the market.
They do have nice industrial design-- sometimes-- and a remarkable capability for shrinking things. But by and large their products are proprietary and waaaaaay overpriced, a combination that damns them in my book.
Afraid? (Score:3, Insightful)
Simple answer: No.
The major disadvantage of any "Sony" or "Panasonic" or "Tommy Hilfiger" branded store is that you're limited to just that store's brands. That automatically cuts down a lot on selection, and frankly, I could care less about shopping at a store that carried only Brand Z. Now, with Apple, it doesn't matter, because Apple lives in this isolated (shiny, glossy) Ivory (G5) Tower where by design, everything is Apple! Connect your Apple iPod to your iMac and listen to iTunes while chatting on iChat with your iSight etc. etc. etc. etc. This doesn't work as well for Sony and much less for brands that are not brands at all (frankly, I'm surprised Gateway is still even in business).
These brand stores have been around for a long time, just not for PCs. If anything, they work as sort of a Branding Litmus test. Note here: we're not talking about the brand, or the product, or the features, or the service, but The Brand(TM) in the classic business sense, that is, what does "Ford" or "Nike" or "Post Cereal" mean to somebody. If your Brand(TM) is exciting, then those stores will help bolster it, especially if your store is put in high profile, mass-market (but gaudily touristy) locales. Think of all the stores in Times Square. Suddenly, Toys 'R' Us, Sanrio, Cold Stone, etc. are all a bit more high-profile because now Grandma goes back to Scotts Bluff, Nebraska and tells the grandkids of this place she had ice cream in New York City and wow! was it neat etc. etc. And the truth is, many of these stores willingly refuse to profit on these locations, or, knowing that profitability is not likely, charge a huge amount on their goods to at least cut down on losses. So now the Hitachi store in New York City lost $150,000 last year but, hey, that's not bad considering it's a store IN NEW YORK CITY! and that's pretty exciting. Apple is doing something very similar. It started out in major markets, then hit secondary well-off markets (ritzy suburbs in Baltimore, Jersey, etc.). Now they're making their way into the local mall. Fashionable Brands like Sony, Apple, Alienware, Bose, Svarowski, etc. can do well in these. (Note, apparently in my example fashionable means "Overpriced"). Unfashionable brands like Gateway, Aiwa, Timex may not do as well.
So, no, I would not worry if I was Best Buy. If anything, Best Buy will now be helped by Sony stores, as people go into the Sony store, see the MSRP $4999 Wega XBR HDVDDHDHD-SACD Orgasmaplasmatron, are astounded, then are even more astounded when they see it at Best Buy for $3449 (plus you get a Day After Tomorrow DVD) and finally decide to go with Sony over JVC in their $400 TV purchase just because Sony opened up a store between The Gap and Starbucks at the mall.
Interesting (Score:3, Insightful)
They may well not, of course, but I like Sony, so I'm rooting for them to do it
Not only in the US, also in Europe and the UK ... (Score:3, Informative)
Got em in Canada (Score:3, Interesting)
The one thing that sucks just like every other store, is that the clerks tend to not know what they're doing. You'd think in a Sony store the guy would know everything about Sony's products but really he's no better than the kid working at BestBuy for 7.50/hr. Last time I went there, the guy couldn't tell me the difference between the 100$ cd player and the 500$ cd player. Sorry fella, but I want to know about read errors, skew/jitter, seek time, digital outputs.. I mean the guy does nothing else all day might as well learn about the stuff he sells. But it's no worse than what you'll see in any megastore or even radio shack.
Re:Why Gateway failed (Score:3, Insightful)
Sony may work because they sell lots of stuff that is cheap enough to inspire impulsive purchases. You go in, look at the neat gadgets, and the next thing you know, you whip out your credit card, and buy a $250 mp3 player.
A PC store is just not going to have the volume of sales in a mall setting to support it.
Re:Why Gateway failed (Score:2, Interesting)
But yet Apple stores seem to be doing fine...
Re:Why Gateway failed (Score:2)
Re:Why Gateway failed (Score:2)
Apple does well, and Sony probably will, because they have more to sell besides just computers. Not only that, but they're known for more than just computers.
Re:Why Gateway failed (Score:2)
Neither Sony nor Gateway need to get sales *in* the store to support them. If people visit the store impulsively while in the mall, become convinced that the product is worthwhile, and go home to buy online (or to another store to buy), that's almost as good from Sony's perspective. They manufacture the full line of products, so they make money off anything in the store even if you buy it from a third party. The s
Gateway Had No Brand (Score:5, Insightful)
When you buy a computer from the Apple Store, you do not buy a commodity item; you buy an "Apple." You get the style, the culture, the product line--iPod, iMac, iBook, PowerBook, Power Mac. Apple is somebody who sells a lifestyle, and that's what justifies an "Apple Store."
Alan
Re:How exactly... (Score:2)
Re:Sony == overpriced shit (Score:2)
Re:Nice Line.., excluding portable audio (Score:3, Interesting)
At Circuit City, BestBuy, CompUSA, RadioShack, Computer STOP, Fred Meyer, Allstar Auto, and a smog check station near where I live where I had to get my car tested before getting it registered in CA.
In general, I've stopped going to stores for info. I have gotten to the point where I've researched what I want to buy to the extent that I know exactly what I'm looking for and I just need to find the best price to get it. On top of that, when a sales rep comes over and makes a comment like, "SuSe d
Re:Nice Line.., excluding portable audio (Score:3, Informative)