San Diego, CA—Sony started its retail expansion with three newly remodeled Sony Stores and several brand-new Sony Gallery locations. Following the reopening of the redesigned Sony Store in the Simon Mall Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, California, three concept stores located in Miami, San Diego and Orlando will reopen with the same modern and immersive shopping experience that defines Sony Stores. These remodels will bring the total of U.S. redesigned stores to eight.
The company’s retail expansion plans also include freestanding Sony Galleries, a curated assortment of Sony’s best products in a smaller store footprint. The first Sony Gallery opened at the Westfield UTC Mall in San Diego, California. Two more Sony Galleries will open in New Jersey and San Francisco in May, and additional locations are being planned in shopping centers across the country.
The Sony Gallery at UTC is the predecessor to another new Sony retail store concept that will open this fall—a boutique in size and style with Sony’s best TVs, cameras, computers and audio products and services on display.
“We’re creating a new way to shop for consumer electronics,” said Mike Fasulo, executive vice president, Sales Operations, Sony Electronics. “People expect the best from Sony, and we want to exceed their expectations by providing a personal, memorable shopping experience to all of our guests that keeps them and their families coming back again and again.”
The newly redesigned Sony stores feature wide-open storefronts that provide shoppers with unobstructed views into the retail space. The new design was developed with a focus on the guest experience, and it features a bright, flexible layout with interior walls that are moveable and changeable, allowing new color schemes to be reconfigured to highlight specific products, services or content. The stores offer consumers a way to experience all things Sony, from Sony music artists playing over the speakers to Sony Pictures movies playing on 4K televisions.
Sony Stores continue to offer “premium” services that provide guests with support for their Sony products—from installation to product personalization, including product setup assistance and training by Sony experts, activation of wireless services, and technical PC and IT support by certified technicians. In-home consultations, delivery, and TV and home audio/video installation by authorized technicians are also provided.
The three Sony Stores being remodeled will reopen with the new design over the course of the next few months, including: Aventura Mall in Aventura, Florida, April 23; Fashion Valley Mall in San Diego, California, May 18; and The Mall at Millenia in Orlando, Florida, in July 2013. sony.com
