Slashdot Mirror
Sony Quietly Opening Retail Stores
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?"
Their online stores have done very while. I am surprised that people shop online and pay retail prices when I am used to shopping online in order to get a discount. They have great brand recognition and people, by and large, believe Sony to be a high quality electronics provider. I think they have a good shot at being successful.
http://www.busyweather.com/
I can't wait to buy a sony TV direct!
I live in Texas, most of the malls in my area (DFW) have Dell Kiosk things in them that are actually quite nice where you can demo several products and make orders if you decide to purchase.
I've been to a Sony Store in the neighbouring city (~100,000). Is this really new for Sony?
in canada, sony has had stores for long time. there is one here in vancouver in a mall in the suburbs, not news (at least not to us).
Marge, get me your address book, 4 beers, and my conversation hat.
Oh, and no customers.
Clothing brands have own-label stores in outlet malls. There's been at least one Sony shop in Dublin, Ireland for probably about five years. This doesn't seem like news to me.
I think it'll work if these shops are for marketing purposes, ie showcasing the latest bestest gadgets.
However if Sony tries to compete with their retailers, it's just shooting itself on its foot.
The ideal way is to demo gadgets, and sell them at the RRP, and other retails always have a slightly lower-than-RRP price (so there's no direct competition) and other finances.
Rock that crushes, Paper & Scissors that don't matter.
We have Sony Centres. As the name implies, they only stock Sony products. As far as I'm aware they are franchises and not directly operated by Sony. However, whenever a particular Sony line is in short supply, the Sony Centres never seem to suffer.
I've got a fever and the only prescription is more COBOL.
Dell already has mini-stores (the one in the little islands) in many of the malls around the US.
We've had The Sony Store in Canada for more than a decade. In my town, there are at least three, with two of them on the same street.
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.
www.kitchengeek.com -- Nosh for
Up here in canada (a really small city named nanaimo, for the stalkers), there's been a Sony store for years. it's crappy/overpriced, so I'd never shop there, but it seems to be doing all right.
Gateway didn't succeed because you went to their store to configure and order a machine. You then waited several weeks or longer for it to arrive. When they had these in my area they did zilch. People could go to any number of stores and walk out with a computer and when people are ready to buy, most didn't want to drive to a store just to place an order. I think that towards the end they started keeping a few preconfigured machines in stock but not many. They also had an awful compensation plan for their sales people.
http://www.busyweather.com/
The times I've been inside a Sony store, it seems like everything is priced at retail.
I can get Sony stuff cheaper at the discount stores.
We've had "Sony House" stores for at least 8 years around here.
IIRC the Apple stores came out after Gateway's.
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.
He who knows not and knows he knows not is a wise man. He who knows not and knows not he knows not is a fool.
And that's a large part of it's "buy me" factor. Walking into a Sony store is much more draw dropping than your standard consumer electronics store and that experience probably leads to real money for them.
Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=07 08190e5433b4685281bee4883de114&postid=4460781&high light=qualia#post4460781
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
"Im drowning here, and you're describing the water!"
Never agian, Sony, never again
I live in Fort Worth, TX and there has been some construction on a Sony store here.. looks like its gonna be a neat place when its built..
anyway, I took a quick snap with my digicam as I drove by, it looks rather unique..
Sony has had a store on Michigan Ave. in Chicago for over 10 years now. This is not new for them.
Canada and the UK has had Sony stores for a long time.
Oh, wait, this is news because it happens in the US and the world ends at the US border.
The rest of us in the world does not exist anyway.
Plus, who shops at the mall with $1500, ready to buy a computer?
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.
And it won't work for Sony. Both companies compete in the super-commoditized consumer electronics market. Neither of them have any real competitive advantage, other than Sony's fading brand name. Apple never tried to be the lowest cost provider; they have products that competitors either don't have or are not the same. The store model works for Apple because they compete on their own merits and people will go out of their way to buy Apple products. Granted, they are more expensive and often very proprietary, but they have a significant fan base. Sony and Gateway do not and will not have this advantage, therefore the only thing they will have to compete on will be features and price, just like every other electronics company. They will have a hard time keeping up with the massive flood of cheap consumer goods sold at Best Buy that are brought in by the boatload from Thailand and they will suffer miserably.
If anyone has a chance it is Sony, they are by far the biggest and best electronics manufacturer and carry a whole crapload of things. Every other company mentioned is far to specialized to survive as a real storefront.
There's a little Dell kiosk/cart thing in my mall.
You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
It didn't work for Gateway because Gateway was more like a "CompUSA" (a store I loathe) and Apple is more like a high-end boutique. I realize that both models have their place and can be effective, but Gateway's essentially selling commodity goods while Apple sells a whole "lifestyle." Visiting an Apple store is an experience in itself and has drawing power. Nike stores are similar in this way (at least the major one here in San Francisco).
We also have a major Sony presence here The Metreon and its own Sony Styles store (although as a poster above points out, 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.
"...all the labours of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness..." yada yada
They will do much better to follow the Apple Store model than the path of the Gateway (Country Moooo!) Store.
do you quietly open up a retail store?
Onlooker: Is this going to be a Sony store? (points to Sony sign)
Sony rep: No. It's a footlocker.
Onlooker: oh...Not a Sony store?
Sony rep. NO. It's a footlocker. Now move on... And remember to buy Sony!
No, Vern. They just let him in.
Nobody buys a gateway because they really want a gateway.
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.
We've had "Sony Stores" for years and years around my parts (Alberta & Saskatchewan).
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 says they have 70 stores in Canada.
..mork
I have visited the store a few times in the South Coast Plaza(CA.). In my opinion these stores really lack the "added value" that a branded Sony store should give. The Sony products, while very cool, don't lend themselves to the integration and "wow factor" that you get being in an Apple store and seeing cool features implemented. Also, the staff there is your basic run of the mill Circut City type employee (not particularly energized or informed).
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!
Who is General Failure, and why is he reading my hard disk?
Dell is already in the shopping malls. From ifoAppleStore:
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."
Jeremy Logan's Website.
Gateway's products were all commodities w/Gateway badges on them. Why would anyone buy regular PC hardware from a specialty store?
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
Having been to more than one Sony Style store I can say I'm pretty disappointed with them. Sony wants to have their own stores where it's wall to wall Sony products but doesn't want to make the stores somewhere you want to go to. There's very little difference between a Sony Style store and a Best Buy whereas there is a world of difference between an Apple section of a CompUSA and an Apple Store. If Sony could make some stores a little more enticing, similar to the Sony section of the Metreon, I think their stores would be far more attractive.
I'm a loner Dottie, a Rebel.
In Australia we have had these stores for a long time.
I have stopped going to these stores now as they always sell at the recommend retail price and will not budge. I assume this is so they dont undercut their resellers. I go to a big store like Myer or a bulk retailer like JB hi-fi and I can usually get at least %10 off the price.
I dont know how Sony Stores expect to compete in this model unless they play the price game. Unfortantly this is typical of Sony's attitude.
my 2.2 inc GST
They'll be the most expensive place to buy Sony products, only carry home electronics (no computers or parts), and be staffed by people who know all the buzzwords but have little idea what they mean.
There's one at South Coast Plaza (costa mesa, CA) and it's kind of cool to wander around and see all the gadgets. Once.
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
Should large retailers like Best Buy and others be afraid of this model?
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.
"Eve of Destruction", it's not just for old hippies anymore...
This is a fairly common thing in India and I guess in lots of other Asian countries as well. Atleast in India, there isn't any difference between Sony World prices and other retail store prices for Sony products. So I am not sure how this will affect the retail stores here in US. In India, the store name is Sony World
This is serious... business case stuff! Bricks and Mortar .vs. Recording Contracts. Sony will have to prove that it represents artists best interest not to iTunes their music to Apple Computer, Apple Stores, Apple iTMS and the iTunes platform way of doing retail. It's getting real interesting. Sony is platform agnostic. Apple is proprietary. Its back to the Future - MS.vs.Apple all over again. This one will surely end up before the black robes. -r
We have had a Sony Store in the GTA for years... y'all are just slow [grin] When you get your butt into one, don't expect better prices.
There's been a Sony store in my local town for years, it seems to do ok, sony sell premium equipment at premium markups, so they don't need a vast number of sales and it's only a small outlet so probably not to costly to run either.
Here in Japan, Sony is so much more than just electronics...
We have had Sony sponsored entertainment centers for quite some time (think arcade/amusement park for adults and teens) as well several really nice cinema complexes (Mediage). Over the past 2 years, Sony has been expanding their stores from only outside the theaters into the local shopping-mall equivalents (the train stations). The stores always have a lot of gawkers but I cannot comment on the revenue stream.
Yes, the prices are expensive, but where else can you get a frog cookie jar that spits it tongue at you and makes a noise upon opening?
Or how about the (as far as I know) the entire line of Hanibow (sp?) gummy snacks in Japan?
Well, as mostly a novelty store here and NOT an electronics store, it provides a nice place to kill time and maybe pick up some extra Vanilla Cherry Coke...
Apologies to all for the anonymous!
"Sony's already nice line up of electronics?"
I'm taking in account that you are excluding their portable audio products such as the HI-MD's. I won't start a whole thing on Atrac3 so I think I'l stop this here.
As for the stores, we've had Sony Stores (La Maison Sony here in Montreal) since years and the good thing I find about it is the fast service when you need it and they send anything that needs reperation in Toronto the next business day.
I will however mention something that might make you shrug. Not because it's the "Sony Store" that the employees know about their products.
When the HI-MD's first made their appearance in the internet, I decided to go to a sony store to get more possible information and I assumed they'd know a thing or two. Surprisingly, the employee goes "Yes, the HI-MD's will play mp3's although the format to use is atrac3plus because blablabla". Not only would Sony never make a product remotely similar to that (so much pride in atrac) but what he did was totally wrong. He didn't know about portable media of Sony exclusively using atrac3 so he decided to make shit up.
Anybody else got similar stories with liars?
I have been to several Sony Stores in Canada, recently Halifax and Belleville. I think of them as boutique style, not directly competing so much with big box shops like FutureShop (Canadian consin of US BestBuy), but also with the audiophile stores that have been traditional a good place to get advice worth listening to.
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 both in terms of the display cases and the sales floor.
So in other words a more enjoyable "sales experience" although not always the deepest discounts for the cash strapped NoLogo geek.
I live in St. John's Newfounland... the island that's the most easternmost part of North America. We're canadian, modern (no, we don't live in igloos), but having said that, we're a pretty isolated city of 200 000 people, in a remote province of only half a million, so we don't have a hell of a lot of stores here.
/. is hopeless for news.
We only got Old Navy like, last month... and an EB 2 years ago (now we have 3!).
We have had however, a Sony Store (called "The Sony Store") for as long as I can remember. Which means it's been there for like, 10, maybe 20 years.
Truly, why would anyone go into a store where only one manufacturer's stuff is stocked, unless you have already decided to buy one of that manufacturer's products? Even then, as pointed out, it's likely to be the most expensive place to buy.
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 experience, because I don't have anyone asking me to show them a receipt as I exit Frys (not that I stop -- I just breeze past the desk and the suckers that have stopped there).
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
The Gateway stores failed where Apple stores succeed because, well, the Gateway stores sold Gateways instead of Apples.
it would have to improve service over megas like Best Buy, in turn one would hope that this would spur megas like BB to offer better service (and not just stick you with the, "What you need is the extended warrentee!).
CB)*($##
free ipod and free gmail!
There's a new one in the Stanford Shopping Mall in Palo Alto, which is a VAST difference from the Metreon store. It feels like it has a lot more focus with respect to the various product lines. When you walk in from the mall side, the left wall goes from portable audio to laptops to playstation. The center kiosks deal with camcorders and media and computer accessories, and the right side has desktops and entrances to two side rooms for home audio/video equipement, which feature major products, but not every single thing they sell, so it's easier to compare different models. The Metreon store sucks because they try to put every television into a simulated living room environment, which takes up a lot of space and makes it really hard for comparison.
I picked up a pair of V6 headphones (Thank you Sony for bringing them back!) there and everyone was nice and knowledgeable. According to one employee they've been open for about three months.
It's still Sony MSRP pricing which blows, but it's a much better store "style" (no pun intended) for showing off their products, in my opinion.
In Escondido,Ca there is a Dell Kiosk in the mall by my house. Its quite large and I believe its in front of a Macys. They about 10 units on display with 3-4 Blue polo wearing reps. Has anybody seen anything like this in their area?
Plus, who shops at the mall with $1500, ready to buy a computer?
But yet Apple stores seem to be doing fine...
Why don't you try this Google Groups search and see how one of Sony's most popular products is fatally flawed - and how Sony refuses to even recognize the problem.
OH NOES!!! IT APPEARS YUO DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO PAY FOR DIS HERE PIZZA! WAHT EVER ARE YOU GOING TO DO!?!?
What!?
;)
I couldn't hear you! Did you say Sony is quitely opening up stores!?
OH! OK!
Has anyone here been to a Sony Store before? I, unfortunately have had the displeasure of travelling to the black pit of despair. Let me paint the picture.
Imagine walking into a store where all the employees are standing around, playing with their PDA's, or with the PS2 display. You walk in and no one notices, or cares. The employees keep doing what they are doing and you browse for a half hour. In that time no one asks if you need assistance. You look at their digital camera display, wondering which camera would be best for you. There's no way to tell because their all under glass, so getting a feel for them is out.
After 45 minutes of browsing without any assistance, you've decided which camera to buy, but no one wants to help you take the product home (i.e., take your money and give you the camera.) You stand at the counter, watching the employees chat about and do nothing. No one comes to take your money so you leave and buy the camera at Best Buy.
Think this is an exageration? Think again. This has happened to me. I've tried to buy T.V.s, cameras, a PS2, and a PDA. I've had this experience in 3 different Sony Stores. I seriously doubt Best Buy has anything to worry about.
-- juggling flaming chainsaws --
Could this be a way for Sony (who is one of the major RIAA labels) to get their DRM'ed music, digital players, and formats into wide public use and acceptence?
Think about it.. if Sony can legitimize this and make it even semi-successful, you could see some type of collobaration or licensing from Sony to get other labels on board (at least standards wise) and DRM becomes much more common than it is now.
I stopped into a Sony Style store in LA by happenstance yesterday... and was thoroughly unimpressed.
A glossy store showcasing the wonders of proprietary format gear (ATRAC3 capable cd players, MD players, MemoryStick cameras), staffed by people who didn't know the slightest thing about the technology, all on top of inflated prices (no bargains there!)...
The concept has some potential, but the execution needs a good deal of work, at least in that location.
(though the massive WEGAs were pretty)
WAKE UP
I'm pleased to hear you say this. It's stupid people like you, who pay a premium for a name, who allow the generic products to be cheaper for me.
I am not sure where you live, but we have Dell kiosks in our mall where you can test drive and order Dell computers. Sony has had "factory outlet" stores for years. I bought my first mini-disc player at one almost 10 years ago. They carry both factory refurbished and new items- everything from car audio to big screen TV's. Why would Sony be making a big deal about opening dtores now when they have had them for some time?
Repant. Thy end is sheer.
They put Apple stores in malls?
Not within about 1 million population of me there isn't one in a mall.
If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
Sony also sells PCs. People carry credit cards and checkbooks. I do not think you are paying attention to reality.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Apple's got these "Genius Bars" (stupid name, imho) that are staffed with former phone support people that in my experience know what the hell they're talking about. Bring in your broken stuff (hardware or software) and they do the hands-on thing to it -- diagnose it and prescribe an action if you're out of warranty, arrange for warranty service if you're in it.
I've never been in a Gateway store - the one near here looked really tacky - but wasn't it just a storefront without any stock? Man, you can't even drive a computer home from their "store"? What are the odds of getting any technical help?
You'll likely get the BestBuy rejects to staff these Sony stores, people I wouldn't trust a VAIO to in a zillion years.
Apple stores are the future in technology retail, touchy-feely before you buy and real people to talk to when you need help.
Just my personal experience talkin', is all.
I have a 5-disc Sony CD player going on fifteen years now, and had a Sony receiver for many years as well.
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 is Samsung, Ithink they have good potential.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I'd have to change my underwear every 10 minutes.
The Property of One's : "The Oneitude is directly proportional to the Colditude of the one." - S.B.
It means that when you by that piece of sexy-looking Sony gear only to find that it spontaneously stops working six months later, now there is a place to take it back to. It may not be under warranty and they may not fix it for you, but at least you can take it up to the counter and say, "Here's this piece of crap CD player back. I know you won't fix it, but at least I don't have to look at it anymore!"
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 example
"It's a cardinal rule -- don't show sports," Syracuse said. Even during the Olympics, televisions were tuned to the Discovery Channel and clips from Sony Corp. movies.
Open Source Sushi
Try Durham, NC at the Streets of Southpoint.
I remember (haven't been there in a long time) Lancaster, PA having a Sony outlet store. When I went I was to young to buy anything but I remember it having more older equipment and not the newer stuff. This sounds like they are going at it like Apple does.
Of course if they have the sales people that think you don't know anything it will piss me off like the Apple store does. I don't need people saying stuff like "You can view your digital pictures on these Macs" as if I have no idea.
I hope one of these come toward MD so I can check it out and see!
Someday you will drive your Sony to the sony to pick up some more Sony5 &lastnode_id=26775
http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=76754
There's no shame in being a pariah. -Marge Simpson
I'm just saying most people shopping at the mall are not there to buy a big purchase like a computer.
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.
Sony service can be horrible if you're not in a big city. I just had a big runaround myself. It could hardly get worse, I'm sure Sony had to act.
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 simple repair, I thought.
My local dealer went out of business, so I called the largest nearby dealer, Ultimate Electronics. First they told me there was a 5 week lead time on repairs. Then they told me they so behind in repairs, they would only service their own customers, I didn't buy from them, so they wouldn't fix my set. I never heard of any major electronics manufacturer that would permit their servicing dealers to refuse customers because they didn't buy it there. Finally they called me back out of the blue, and said that my set could not be serviced because it was so old. Yeah right, it was only about 7 years old, should have years of life left, hell, I'm using a Sony monitor right now and it's at least 12 years old, in perfect shape. That's why I buy Sony at premium prices, I have NEVER had a Sony product die on me, or even need repairs. But now my perfect repair record was broken.
THIS sort of pathetic customer service from major vendors is what drove Apple to go into the market themselves. If your vendors aren't servicing your customers, they're alienating your customers, and will switch brands at the first opportunity. Customer service isn't that profitable in the short run, but it builds long term customer relationships.
I called around, and I found an old TV guy who does component repairs, and is Sony authorized. He told me the big chain store's authorized Sony repairmen had recently quit, they had no repairmen at ALL, they only do warranty swaps. no wonder they lied to me. The TV guy repaired my set for about $125, a total bargain, he said the set should last many more years, it was in perfect shape now. It only took about 5 days, of which 3 was spent waiting for parts to arrive. What a deal.
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.
welcome our new corporate overlords.
Now you can drive your Sony to the Sony to get more Sony for your Sony!
Sony's service is the worst in the industry. They have nowhere to go but up.
Try doing an RMA or ordering parts from them sometime. They are abyssmal in after sale service.
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 only available in Europe and Japan (which internet dealers are only too happy to sell you, where once you were pretty denied, thanks to their bizarre marketing.) I don't know how much they sold, as they were usually a bit above what you'd pay at discount stores, but were placed in the fashionable downtown areas.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
"Does this mean better service for Sony's already nice line up of electronics?"
If they pay their salepeople decently and train them well.
Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
Sony has had a couple retail stores in New Zealand for more than a year now; http://www.sonystyle.co.nz/
consumers are quietly ignoring the opening of Sony's new stores...
Not any more. It closed down like 3 months ago. It was a flagship store...but it never did have new games for PS2. Go figure.
Sony makes crap. Most CDs I copy in my marantz burner as copies for my vehicle CD player won't work half the time. Same for ones I make in my computer. The Marantz and Imac play any CDs fine, but the Sony car cd player blows.
O~ Him that studies revenge keeps his own wounds green. -- Francis Bacon
We had one in Minnetonka, MN, and it folded several years ago. Who wants to pay list price?
Washington Square mall in PDX area has an Apple store, also...
"A PC store is just not going to have the volume of sales in a mall setting to support it."
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 stores are marketing expenses.
Gateway had several problems that Sony won't:
1. They only manufactured computers, which aren't generally high margin (unlike the high end electronics available from Sony). Anything high margin was something they bought from someone else (i.e. Sony makes the manufacturer and retail margins on a plasma TV; Gateway only makes retail markup and only if you buy from them; Sony makes the manufacturer's margin even if you buy from Circuit City or Sears).
2. Their original model was custom built for a reasonable price. You don't need to go to a store to get something custom built. They couldn't feed that itch for someone who was ready to buy right now. That person would buy an HP (or similar brand) from a retailer (Circuit City, Office Max, Wal-Mart, etc.) instead.
Computer stores do not have a good model for brick and mortar sales. It's a nice adjunct to TV and stereo sales (or a basis for selling services), but not a good solo model. Computers are better sold over the internet or in department stores, where their low margins are more acceptable. Local computer stores will tend to make their money from service rather than consumer sales.
You merkins must be behind. We've had Sony retail stores in Canada since at least 1988.
Australia has had Sony Central store for quite a while now.
http://www.sonycentral.com.au/
And probably the rest of the world. Only the US thinks this is new, sorry.
Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
ummm let's see --- gateway sold crap -- I think that about covers why they failed. Long long ago their machines were pretty good. But in the mid to late 90's the quality just went down. Granted a lot of hardware vendors had trouble during that time -- the industry didn't have a clear direction so there were lots of false starts for goofy hardware ideas with driver support that was flaky at best. So you either had to go the Dell route, get really big and make a real effort at HW support or the E-machines direction and sell junk cheap. Gateway did neither.
At a Gateway store, you couldn't just buy a machine and take it home. Add to that, the fact that they just overbuilt like hell, and it's not too hard to see that they were doomed to failure.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
We have a Sony store in a factory outlet mall, and it's been there for over five years now. Granted its not dealing with new merchendise, and usually sells refubrished equipment, but it's one of the busiest stores in the outlet complex. In fact, it's where I bought my TV from and I got a heck of a deal on it. Saved $200 on it.
Most likely their going to expand these stores, sell new equipment in them, and see what happens.
In Soviet Russia, Trojan exploits YOU!
This is news? There have been Sony-exclusive retail stores in Guadalajara, Mexico for years. One of them went bankrupt and was replaced by a laundry wash about 2 or 3 years ago, about 5 blocks from my house.
It's possible all manufacturers will sell directly to consumers one day. I hope it happens gradually, because a lot of suddenly unemployed people in the middle and end of the supply chain would make for a huge economic disruption.
I for one welcome our new retail overlords!
I'm rather surprised that you Yanks don't have more Sony Stores. We've had one in the crappy small northern Ontario city for years now.
You want to know who isn't running Firefox 2.x? They spell it "definately" and "rediculous".
I recently noticed the new Sony store at The Galleria in Houston, TX. It differs much from the old Gateway stores. Not only do they have thier PC's and Laptops, but a good range of TV's, tuners, dvd players, and let us not forget PS2's and games. Much more fully featured than Gateway. I personally hate the Dell Kiosks. They are no better than the cell phone vendor kiosks where they assault you when you walk by to purchase thier product. I friggen' hate that.
"Hey, do you have a cell phone/computer/printer? You do? Are you happy with it? You are? You should buy stuff from me? Please, I'm new and we get paid on commission and blah blah blah"
Does as400tek work for Sony?
I won't be redundant to add that Sony already has stores in Montreal, Canada (which are very sucesful...who wouldn't want FireWire cable for 60$?), but that during the last 6 months, we've also have Dell stores in malls, selling computers and huge LCD screens for outrageous prices.
None of the retailers seem worried, everyone is doing business and life goes on...
Best regards,
Alex Ionescu
President, http://www.relsoft.net/
Kernel Developer, http://www.reactos.com/
The mini-Apple store is basically most stuff in a full-size Apple store condensed into one aisle.
There is another mini-Apple store that opened in Oakridge Mall in San Jose, which looked like it would be larger, but I haven't seen it since it opened.
It didn't work for Gateway because their stores looked pedestrian and sold pedestrian hardware.
Have you been in an Apple store and seen the glitz? The prime locations? The incredible I.D. on their hardware?
Dell is in our local Beaverton, OR mall (Washington square) and have merely a "kiosk cart" thingy out in the middle of the mall's open space. Their hardware is, well, Dell HW. It's OK, but the I.D. is no where near Apple's.
Apple nearby, however, has a full retail space in a prime location. It is a beautiful store, with lots of space, and lots of pretty hardware.
That's why it works for Apple.
Of course, Sony has beautiful HW as well. If they stick it into a beautiful space perhaps the model will work for them.
https://genius.apple.com/customer/index.apl?check= true
OWNED!
(Note.. link may not be funny after tonight.. time expiration.)
Sorry, I know it's wrong but I laugh anyhow.
Lighten up :-)
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
Apple Store: Brightly lit, well laid out, lots of computers with unique designs, laptops, etc. on display, you could walk out with one, lots of software, knowlegable sales people.
Gateway Store: Not brightly lit with an unfinished ceiling, giving it the look of a warehouse store; butt ugly desktops, nondescript laptops, couldn't walk out with one, no software, sales people from the 80s computer stores (you know the ones, you have to beg them to help you).
Bringing this back to Sony, they're the only large Windows PC manufacturer whose industrial designs rival Apple's, IMO. Put them in upscale malls and give the shopper a good experience, and they'll do well...
There was a sony store in saint john, new brunswick, canada that was open for years and within the past two years it quietly shut down
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.
You must have been there some time ago. Sony closed the store on Chicago's Michigan Avenue this year.
Of course, it should be remembered that Sony sells far more than just computers. Digital audio players, stereo equipment, video recorders, digital cameras, televisions - more than just the obvious desktop, laptop and Aibo triumverate we're all familiar with.
In my own Sony Style Store experience (I live in Boston, home to a Sony Store), and I can say that their high-tech botique style is very appealing. The stores are great - I personally find them more appealing to the Apple Stores, which, although they offer a similar degree of tempting products, aren't as stimulating of a shopping/browsing experience.
===== Warble://VX
"Should the Apple retail model be applied to Sony, and if so why didn't it work for Gateway?
Um, why should they bother with Apple's model when they not only have had their own stores locally (japan) and abroad, but have had their own functioning, successful retail model for quite some time now?
As for Gateway, their products weren't nitche enough. Apple survives on niche, whereas the x86 market is much faster and more cut throat. Nifty stores only count for so much when your local internet supplier can chop the kneecaps out from the better know brands and customers are only as loyal as their price. Apple users? Well, they don't really have a choice in the matter, do they? It's not a flame, just fact. Sony, on the otherhand has established itself as a mega leader in consumer electronics, which gives them considerable leeway in how they conduct themselves in the market place.
Apples, oranges and pears in every instance.
You need a FREE iPod Nano
and i cant say ive ever been there!
:( but the (good) resellers work well on the same principle
i just assume everything they sell will be at full+ price and overly hyped
at least the apple store model works because *noone else* can sell their products cheaper anyway, so you know you wont get ripped off
granted, there arent any apple stores here
I think LG electronics should go back to calling themselves "Lucky Goldstar" And open up some LG stores here in the center of the univer... er, I mean USA. And no, not to be flamish here, I truly want there to be lots of Engrish about the place. I truly love that stuff. Lets one in the US know that perhaps there is another part of the world out there which does well with/without us and who could give a rats ass about the cheeseburger. Well, that and I think those new LG LCDs are too pimp to grace the shelves of Bestbuy and it could generally put a bug up Sony's ass...
Ummm, me? I've bought systems and displays right from the Apple store in the mall. Seeing the traffic in there, it seems like I'm not alone.
Have you been in one around Christmas time? They get slammed.
Chris -- http://www.bitter.net/
Apple has a cult following.. and it is percieved as trendy, exotic, and creative. Even non-Apple fans would take advantage of a store to see what all the fuss is about.
Gateway?? What's that? Isn't that the generic PC that you get from mail order?
Differentiation... Apple has it, Gateway doesn't. Simple as that.
Sony? Well, Radio Shack seems to do well.. I'd rather go to the Sony store (Sony sounds like higher quality to me). I guess it depends on how they position themselves.
I believe there will never be a large Dell chain of stores, although they do have the small kiosks. Mr. Dell realized how internet/phone sales are the "smarter" way to sell. What they are doing now is why they are one of the top PC producers in the world, why would they want to do something similar to Gateway? Gateway was just the Guinea Pig... that failed.
anybody else here in Canada notice that "The Sony Store" is easily the most expensive place to buy their products? I don't even bother stepping foot in one.
Meh.
I don't like them because they only contain one brand. I like to look and compair. With a name brand store it doesn't work because its all sony stuff.
There is an outlet mall close to where I live. An oddly enough they have a sony outlet. Not much good stuff there though.
Gateway, on the other hand, had no such advantages.
No. Dell makes money through scale of economies and efficiency of operations. They make low profit margins on high volumes of products.
Retail stores are one of the least efficient operations, and don't do well with products with low profit margins, unless volume can somehow compensate. But computer stores generally have the problem with slow inventory turnover, due to the >$1000 average price barrier.
There are several other reasons why Dell shouldn't enter this market. Dell offers very dynamic pricing on its website - today, it might offer 15% off its Inspiron notebooks, and tomorrow that pricing might disappear. It much more difficult to attract customers to a store with seemingly random pricing.
Also, Dell is heavily into the market of selling peripherals. In fact, customize a computer on Dell's website, and you'll see the option to buy a printer before you see the option to configure the computer's memory.
Not at all. Best Buy competes through the resale of a wide variety of goods at competitive prices. Sony and Apple compete through the sale of a small variety of products at high prices.
Sony used to make good products. Then they bought into the movie and record business, and the focus shifted from quality to marketing. The whole company became infected with the idea that people will buy anything if you spend enough on advertising.
Every Sony product that I own from before 1990 still works. Every Sony product I've purchased since then has died. I'm not completely stupid, I can learn, and I've learned not to buy Sony.
It's probably still a bad idea - I think Sony would be better off spending the money on regaining their reputation as producing high-quality merchandise instead.
Apple's salespeople are not paid comission rates. They are paid hourly. This provides every customer with the experience of a happy, but not vicious, buying/browsing experience.
They purposefully don't pressure customers due to the fact that they know that most people (especially switchers) want to gather information for themselves most of the time. If customers have questions, Apple's employees are more than happy to accomodate them so long as they aren't prodding for information on future products or services. Even if we knew we couldn't tell you without probably loosing our jobs.
That said... Sony will crash and burn. Great style.. sometimes... just not as attractive and awe-inspiring as Apple's stores are.
I got nothin'.
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.
Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.
or so says a local appliance dealer who advertises as a manufacturer's showroom and claims to show all the models available of a maker's class of products instead of 2 or 3...
Maybe Sony wants to get past retailers who only show a few items and are constantly wanting "better" pricing...
I have worked at Fry's (They deal dirtier than Wal*Mart to their suppliers, employees, and customers.)
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.
The Roman Rule: The one who says it cannot be done shall not interrupt the one who is doing it.
They overcharge for a lot of stuff, most noticeably ps2 games. You see 2 year old games there retailing for $70. They also provide no retailer warranty.
Sony have an advantage over Apple in that they can sell you a complete set of electronics (mumble digital lifestyle mumble buzzwordnonsense) that's all styled and behaves consistently. I've also noticed that Sony TV/VCR/DVD machines transparently integrate quite well already; As they and the other asian manufacturers put smart networking in these things Sony ought to be doing some pretty special things in these stores in years to come. ;)
They may well not, of course, but I like Sony, so I'm rooting for them to do it
Chris "Ng" Jones
cmsj@tenshu.net
www.tenshu.net
Well, IMHO, there's practically nobody in the electronics or computer retail sector doing well with salespeople paid based on commission.
... who really takes them seriously as a store you can get good advice at? Their staff tends to be teenagers who needed a first job, or people in management who couldn't be "management material" anywhere else besides fast-food, and they just stick around for the "title".
Radio Shack may be one of the last holdouts still getting away with it, but let's face it
Best Buy used to do commissioned sales, and they dropped that in a hurry. CompUSA keeps flirting with the concept, but it always seems to go over like a lead balloon so they retreat again. One store near me started some policy where sales staff received bonuses if they were the ones who helped you pick out whatever item(s) you took up to the checkout lanes. It was ludicrous... People in red shirts all fighting to put some little identifying colored sticker on your box, so they could claim it as "their sale". After a couple months, I saw it pretty much die down. Probably too many customers complained, or just retaliated by refusing to let anyone mark their purchases for credit!
Here's a list of all the sony stores in the USA. Note that some of them haven't opened yet.
Sony and Apple are nothing like Gateway and Dell.
Sony and Apple are companies that sell products that include elegance and Quality.
Gateway thought people would be willing to buy computers in a barnyard, and Dell seems to think that because they started in a dorm room, that people would be willing to put up with stores that look like a Dorm room.
Here in Austin, Dell shut its Outlet store becuse people didn't want to buy computers in a flea market atmosphere.
Until companies understand that people will pay a premium for a product because of better design and quality, they can open all the stores that they want and they will ultimately fail. This is the 10th anniversary of the Dell.com website, and in the Austin paper it pointed out that Dell has an amazing amount of business through that website. Those are their customers, people who already know what they want or people that think that computers are a bit like cars, and since it has 4 tires, they really don't care about quality.
Gateway was just never going to be able to market the barnyard atmosphere anywhere but the midwest. I can see a Manhattanite using OSX, and with a Sony wall of components, but just can't see them waiting for the cow to arrive.
Here are some (large) pictures from Austria's first "Sony Center" in Innsbruck.
"I love my job, but I hate talking to people like you" (Freddie Mercury)
When we run out of things to do at the mall, someone always suggests, "Let's go to the Sony Store". In Canada, the Sony Store is where you go if you want to check out the latest crappy laptops, look at digital cameras that are too expensive to buy and ooh-aah at flat-screens & stereo systems. Usually, if one of us sees a pair of headphones want to pick up, we walk out of the store and agree, "Let's check the Best Buy or Futureshop flyers."
We've had Sony Stores in Canada for a long time. I remember purchasing my first good discman there over 7 years ago as a teenager. They tend to be pricier than Walmart/FutureShop/BestBuy because Sony charges the strict MSRP so as to not compete with their web store. They also sell extended warranties but I have had a very good experience with them. They farm out the repair jobs to a local shop but they don't give you a hard time at all.
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.
-Billco, Fnarg.com
On second thought it wouldn't be too bad to be able to browse all O'Reilly books, real paper version, at 5:18 a.m...
--
Internet search via ordinary SMS? Yes, try Nuggets , our SMS search with natural language technology. It answers your questions automatically, across the UK.
Please. Fry's is pulling in crazy dough. I don't think they're at all screwed by any manufacturer if their parking lot is full nearly EVERY DAMN NIGHT (yeah, that's sad that I can verify that. ;P ). Here's what I do:
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 line like another geek sheep and get it. If not, just go home and get it online (works well if the rebate is a national one, not one that's just at Fry's).
P.S. one tip for all of you buying stuff from fry's; MAKE SURE YOU BUY SOMETHING THAT DOESNT EVEN REMOTELY LOOK RETURNED. Obviously look for the return tags (look on all sides of the box, as I found one time when it was on the bottom of the box of a bulky box), but I stay away from boxed items that they even have a little more scratches on them. If any seal looks played with, don't get it. You don't want to play the return game with Fry's if at all possible.
0- Eamonman Proud member of DNRC
Who care ? No, really, who really worries about this ? You'll certainly get better deals in other non-official stores anyway.
We have had one here in Portland for a number of years. Its called Sony Only. Dont know if it is a Sony company store or what, but if it has been in the same place as long as I have lived here (9 years), and it doesnt look like it will be closing anytime soon.
About a year ago, Sony closed their Sony store south of denver, which sold refurbished and new products, and the prices weren't too expensive for the refurbished stuff. The mall where they are putting the new Sony Store in in Denver also has an Apple Store.
The trouble is that, while Sony's products are [nearly] as flashy as Apple's, they are still PCs and don't have the uniqueness of 'alternative quality' that Apple has, its still a homely windoze PC. In terms of consumer electronics, the Sony stuff still doesn't really have the pizazz quality Apple does, Apple products are both unique and flashy at the same time so they pretty much would beat Sony into the ground in "direct retailing". People want things easily and roughly categorized, it gives a certain "order of chaos" (the derivitive of alternative appeal it would seem), ordinary windoze PC and bland-although-mabye-flashy consumer electronics in one pile, Apple's artsy-techie sculpted-and-tantalizly-expensive-and-fresh-you-ca n't-really-afford products in the next. What they should have is an everything alternative OS (and consumer compatibles) store, where you could try out different OSes and direction on compatible s for that OS, that would have alternative appeal even with ordinary hardware, for geeks at least. Apple stores would still carry techie/kiddy/artsy appeal, but the "Alternative PC Store" would still get pretty get some good sales. You could even possibly meld the two together, an Alternative Apple Store, mabye piloted by Terrasoft (the company that proprietates YellowDog Linux and peddles linux pre-installed Apple and IBM POWER machines, plus some other PPC machines), that would even mabye attract the techies/kiddies/artsies gradient to linux enabled PCs, if the demo displays is flashy enough, mabye a flashy well themed GNOME2/Metacity desktop would do it... Anyway, just food for thought :)
Nos una. Nos unique. Nos victum.
Why compare Sony stores with Apple and Dell? Sony is a conumer electronics firm with a small sideline in computers. The shops (which seem to have existed more or less everywhere except the US for years) are primarilly places to sell Expensive TVs and music gear to normal people, not Vaios to nerds.
_O_
.|< The named which can be named is not the true named
Theres been a Sony retail store in Wellington, NZ for quite a while now, I didn't think it was such a new thing. I guess they like testing out their ideas in smaller markets first?
I used to work for a place called Peats that owned 85% of the Sony Centres in Ireland about 8/9 of then. They were shit, and shit to work for......
Didn't they buy the Future Shop chain a year or two ago? I wish they would drop the commissions. It's particularly bad around Christmas when you can't find anyone to answer a simple question, but as soon as you pick up an item over $100 you're surrounded by people who want to pre-enter your sale at a kiosk. I usually walk straight over to the cash lineup, and more than once I've had salespeople hassle me all the way to the register because they think I'm going to reward their ignorance by leaving the line so they can claim a commission.
Anyway, this isn't really the same thing as normal retail. For a multi-billion dollar Goliath like Sony, this is advertising.
If you attach a cash register to a promotional stunt, then it becomes a piece of advertising which pays for itself. A store front in a mall gets plenty of walk-by 'viewers' who have disposable income, your product is front and center, and best of all, you don't have to give away a cut of your product revenue to some third party retail outfit. It's a win win win situation.
So why don't more manufacturers didn't take advantage of this incredibly obvious model?
Because they're scared of having their products boycotted by their normal retail base and being driven out of business before they can squeel, "Greed Killed the Rat".
I guess Sony wants more pie. I hope they fall flat on their faces while taking a bold step for Corporate-Kind. I wonder how long it'll be until one of these companies starts buying all the other retail outfits in the malls and then putting on a show of 'competition' when really it's just a bunch of price fixing and design manipulation to make sure every demograph is bled equally while buying shoddy merchandise?
Heck, in the clothing biz, it's already happened.
-FL
is that when you go to an Apple Store, you don't want to compare it to other brands. There are no other brands you want; that's why you're in an Apple Store. That may be why Gateway failed; people wouldn't go to buy a Gateway, they went to buy a "PC", then probably found something similar cheaper elsewhere.
Now, before someone thinks this is off-topic, the relevant point is this: which of these categories does Sony fall into? Does Sony have brand loyalty as strong as Apple? Or will people walk in, look around, and leave to compare both them and other brands? Other posters have mentioned that the Sony store charges the full MSRP. Here's hoping brand loyalty is strong enough; otherwise, the stores will fail.
Personally, I used to think Sony was the king of electronics. This was primarily because my stepfather thought highly of the Sony TV. (To be fair, it was a good TV.) But now I have a Pioneer surround system, and I've seen other manufacturer's offerings. If and when I go to the store for my next TV, I'm going to want to be looking at more than just Sonys.
Small stores selling the full range of their products, with the emphasis of sound systems and TVs (although probably because these are the largest boxes so the items I've noticed). My nearest town of 30,000 has two - one in the main shopping area and another in a small affluent suberb with a single row of shops.
Just another specialized retailer aimed somewhat upmarket.
My wife uses a computer. It's a tool to her, not a hobby, and not a toy. She's used Windows. She's used GNU/Linux. That's not what she wants. Wife: "I want a computer that you just plug it in and it works." Me: "Sweetie, you want it; you got it!" So, we go to the apple store. Oooohhh....Shiny...I want that one. Hmmm...streetprices...deja...Mac Geek at work... Crap. I guess the price is the price. Might as well buy it from Apple for full price.
Unless Sony rigidly controls the prices of their products (like Apple, Bose, etc.), the brick and mortar Sony store will not be a profit center. A B&M Sony store would be a GREAT marketing tool--whether it's worth the cost is up to the bean counters to determine. You could handle the products and ask questions without having to deal with Beast Buy et. al.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, it doesn't go away." - Philip K. Dick
Who gives a fucking flying fuck?
----
I work in that industry.. this just tells me that the diminishing sony work will most likely be NO work in the time to come. I work on their products, and they have already started telling customers to ship defective products to mexico... (a.k.a laredo, tx) so, I have to really think even harder what im going to do in the years to come. sony will most likely compete with us, too (they do now) but, they will compete on our level, and force us out of buisness.
Just been into a Sony store in the UK and it was the biggest load of over priced mediocre equiptment I have ever seen. Why do Sony think they can sell mid range products for top range prices - marketing I support - more fool the consumer.
----
Unless you buy overseas that is...
From the article: "Since opening its first store last year, Sony has quietly opened stores in seven other cities. The Japanese giant will open its 11th and 12th U.S. stores this month, in Denver and Las Vegas, and expects to have about 30 Sony Style stores in the United States by April 2006."
I bought my Vaio at the Sony store on Michigan Ave in Chicago almost 4 years ago. I think that store has since closed, but this is definitely not Sony's first foray into retail stores.
And was going to correct it myself until I realised that a mix of jaw dropping and drawer dropping (ie getting ready to "take it" on price) was probably entirely appropriate for Sony.
Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park
Sony is opening stores that will eliminate the middleman while still charging full retail price (so as not to piss off the same middlepersons it seeks to eliminate. What's the point? Does anybody remember IBM Product Centers?
I personally don't go into many technology stores that only display a single company's products. One of the most important abilities when shopping is being able to compare different companies against each other to see which products are better. You don't get any of those comparisions if it's only products from a single company. I think the Apple model works because the stores are overly flashy (draws in new customers) and because apple uses gimics to keep people in the store, like training sessions or "fun stuff for the kids". The other reason is because mac users typically can't FIND mac stuff in other stores, so the ability to go to an apple store and get your "mac fix" is a worthwhile option to have. The point is, usually I'm LOOKING to go into an apple store because I need to buy something from apple. Other companies have their product in other stores, so there is little need to go to a company-specific store. I also think that most other companies don't have the brand interest that apple has. People will go into apple stores just because they are facinated with apple product. I don't think there are really that many hardcore Dell users, for example, that would be looking to go into a Dell store to see all that great new Dell product. With a single-company store, it's all about the interest people have in that one particular company. With most PC companies, consumers are just interested in whatever they can get that's cheapest. There isn't that kind of brand-loyalty that Apple has created for themselves. Apple is just better at creating product that facinates you and making you want to come in and see what's in the store. Could it work for Dell? Maybe, if Dell's interested in promoting their brand. But I don't think it would be anywhere as near successful as what apple has done.
- I bought a 5-disc CD changer, which at the time, was the top-of-the-line model below their "ES" line. Within 1 year, it started making a humming noise (mechanical - not through the speakers), which during the day I can ignore by turning up the music, but sucks to hear at night when I listen to the music at low volume.
- My brother bought a DVD player that does not play CD-Rs like it is supposed to. Tried many different brands of media, burners and methods of burning. Nada.
- My friend bought an in-dash CD player that didn't work out-of-the-box. Only the tuner worked.
- I bought a PS2 for $300 when they first came out. Between 3-4 months later, it started scratching my games to the point where they would no longer work. I checked around on the net and many people experienced this same problem. The warranty was only 90 days, so I had to Photoshop my receipt to get it fixed for free. I get it back about 8 weeks later, and the same problem happens right away. I get it fixed again, then about 6 months later the controller port malfunctions so that if I use the feedback (vibration), it hits the start button every time it sends the virbate command to the controller (and it's not the controller that's malfunctioning). I gave up and don't even use it anymore.
- My friend's PS2 also malfunctioned and would freeze up during movies.
Now I'm sure that some of their products must work, but to see 5 purchases in the last 5 years and ALL of them not work correctly is a little too much for me. I'll certainly never buy any of their shit again. And I remember buying Sony products in the 80's that lasted for 10+ years. What happened to their quality-control?People who say "money does not buy happiness" are just people without money trying to make themselves feel better.
Back in the early '90's there was a store in Houston that exclusively sold Sony products. That store was wonderful because you could get two things there you couldn't get anywhere else in town: rare Sony products and just about ANY accessory for any product Sony made. They helped you get Sony products fixed, they ordered anything you would want, and everyone that worked there was passionate about their product line. It was like going to a high end camera shop where there really weren't any "salesmen", just enthusiasts. I've been in the Sony store in Houston's Galleria shopping mall. Really, I wasn't that impressed. I really don't like stores like this. I can live without the "Bose Store" or the "Apple Store" as well.
The thing is that Sony is no longer a premium brand. Their computers aren't the best, their TV's aren't the best, and their Hi-Fi equipment is total crap. For equivalent prices you can get a Yamaha receiver for Hi-Fi, a Samsung DLP television that looks better, and an IBM or Apple notebook. Sony just doesn't have the appeal it had when they used to make those great machined aluminum DiscMan CD players of the '90s.
I could go on, but Sony just doesn't do it for me anymore. The only Sony products that could really save their ass in the eyes of enthusiats are their camcorders and video game consoles. Those are the only two pieces of Sony equipment I use anymore. When I was younger, I would buy just about anything that said Sony, because I knew it was the best when it came to high tech gadgets. That is no longer a certainty. Sony has blown it. They are the "Jack of all trades, master of none."
Matt
Canada has had Sony Stores for many years, usually located in Malls. The sales staff are always well-dressed (shirt and tie mandatory, jacket optional), generally well-informed (with exceptions as always), and generally helpful. The prices are all MSRP of course, but at the Sony Store, every price is negotiable. They work on commission, and that can sometimes work to your advantage, as long as you can hold your own against them. I managed to purchase my latest receiver there for almost 25% off the list price! I have found that haggling at the Sony Store is generally easier and more successful than at other stores.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Give me Honda, Give me Sony
Real cheap, and so phony.
At one point Frys even sold "Japanese Market" Sony. (Look for the small cardboard boxes with intricate printing. Anything in big plastic packages is intended for retarded American shoplifters.)
Sony has had retail stores for many many years in Canada. The Sony Store ... real catchy name huh.
Their service is brutal. They don't know their products. I had one trying to sell me a very outdated LCD monitor for a very old inflated price, treating me like a fool.
They are no different than any other electronics store, just used car salesmen working indoors.
George Bush + Linux = "I will not let information get in the way of the fight against Windows"