http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/ Engadget Comments for Sony opens idyllic new retail store in Nagoya, Japan http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/ Apple store. :P
]]>Mar 14th 2010 9:49AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/ over 200 stores?]]>Mar 14th 2010 10:05AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/Mar 14th 2010 10:08AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/Mar 14th 2010 10:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/Mar 14th 2010 10:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/
Because the Apple store was the only electronics I've seen that actually lets you use their devices without needing a store rep to come over and demo it to you, or you feeling like you weren't supposed to be using the one computer that hadn't gone back to the screen saver and locked the user out.

This may be different in other countries but there's barely anywhere I know of that has a similar ethos, and this is a big deal for customers.]]>Mar 14th 2010 10:28AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/Mar 14th 2010 10:56AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/
Maybe you don't have them in the States but in the UK we have had Sony Style stores since long before iPods pushed Apple back into all our High Streets.
They are overpriced but sell only Sony products in a relaxed high-end setting much like Apple and every other high-end retailer.]]>Mar 14th 2010 10:59AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/
I get it. You hate Apple's success.

...

Btw, MS still has a store?]]>Mar 14th 2010 11:08AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/
Dude Sonystyle stores are all over the US. In fact we have more Sonystyle stores than apple stores where I live.

But, while apple stores are packed with people, the Sonystyle stores used to be deserted. They seem to have improved their product layout recently and interest also seems to be increasing especially since thy feature their vaios and readers more.

Apple earns more per sq ft than Tiffany. Hence why others are trying to emulate their model. The only MSFT store I've seen looks almost identical to an Apple store. Except that the employees there were not well trained . In that sense Sony and MSFT are similar - poor in store help. Apple has outstanding in store help.

For those interested I live around a mile East off of Tysons Corner in the Washington DC area. Almost all premium brand retailers are represented within walking distance of my home and workplace.

Like most other things Apple's retail stores were game changing and benchmarks for the industry to emulate. ]]>Mar 14th 2010 11:26AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/
Well the only Sony stores I've been in have all the computers locked behind glass where you can't use them. If anyone is familiar with the Sony store in the Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield then they'll know what I mean.]]>Mar 14th 2010 11:40AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/
What the hell is wrong with some of you?

It's a GD store! Go there if you want DONT IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO!

Why on Earth are adults frigging fighting over whether company A's store is "cooler" than company B's?

Ooooh X's store has lots of people! Ooooooh their store is full of pretentious emos!

Ooooh their store is full of junk. Ooooh their store is too bright!

In the end, if you buy anything from either, you didn't accomplish much more than fattening THEIR pockets for some cheap Chinese plastic doodad that will be at a garage sale in 5 years.]]>Mar 14th 2010 12:08PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/
When looking at cameras, I've been able to pop my own SD card in and snap a couple of pics. Most of the phone carriers have live demo models you can just walk up to and play with - with internet connections as well.]]>Mar 14th 2010 12:45PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/Mar 14th 2010 1:06PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/
Any of the stores I've been in (Belfast, Edinburgh X2) they have been more than willing to let me play with cameras or laptops even if they were behind the glass, I've been in the Apple Store in Glasgow and when you can actually get near a Macbook or iPhone you have a queue of angry fanbois tutting behind you to get their turn, not a great shopping experience for me.

Mind I have yet to buy anything from a Sony Store, I'll play there then source it cheaper online, which is still a sale for Sony regardless.]]>Mar 14th 2010 1:36PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/
Being a fanboy about stores? Oh come on. Are we going to fight over who had wooden floors first?

"Sure, maybe Apple didn't have wooden floors first, but they popularized them and brought them to the masses".]]>Mar 14th 2010 1:49PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/Mar 14th 2010 2:00PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/Thank you, those were my thoughts exactly]]>Mar 14th 2010 5:09PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/
I just completely read that in Shakespearean-like prose, it worked perfectly and amused me.

"What possible musing canst befall a man to drive him thus to such places?"
"Thou dost wonder I fear in vain, since thy feature their vaios and readers more."]]>Mar 14th 2010 6:49PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/Mar 14th 2010 6:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/Mar 14th 2010 9:51AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/Mar 14th 2010 10:02AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/Mar 14th 2010 10:21AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/Kinda disturbing when the Scientology-like atmosphere in an Apple store is the lesser evil thanks to the creepy MS counterpart.]]>Mar 14th 2010 9:56AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/Mar 14th 2010 9:57AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/Think of a sixty-something politician wearing a hoodie and listening to gangsta rap in order to appeal to young voters.]]>Mar 14th 2010 10:03AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/
Lets face it they are both creepy, Apple stores remind me of THX 1138.]]>Mar 14th 2010 11:01AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/
If I'm buying into the Sony 'lifestyle'...can we have sales people that support and exude that style instead of Best Buy sales people with a different shirt on.

]]>Mar 14th 2010 9:56AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/Mar 14th 2010 10:14AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/
Sony 'lifestyle' ? Yeah, there's a memory stick for that...]]>Mar 14th 2010 12:33PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/Mar 14th 2010 12:37PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/You know I've read these types of comments about how stupid sales people are in retail stores, and I'd really love to believe it...but I have to call BS. Just because it makes you feel better about yourself that you out smarted a person working retail doesn't make it true. I have never ever seen anything close to what I've read of most people's expectations of sales people. ]]>Mar 14th 2010 11:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/Mar 14th 2010 9:57AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/17/laptop-reliability-survey-asus-and-toshiba-win-hp-fails/]]>Mar 14th 2010 9:59AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/Mar 14th 2010 11:41AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/Mar 14th 2010 12:10PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/Mar 14th 2010 10:03AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/Mar 14th 2010 10:13AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/Mar 14th 2010 10:13AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/Mar 14th 2010 7:51PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/I hope you realize the Sony Style stores came way before the Apple Stores.]]>Mar 14th 2010 11:11PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/
That said, they really do have to do something about the sales staff. They seem nice enough, and I'm glad they don't hire super young people, like Best Buy. The bad suits should go, though; the employees seem a bit like cell phone sales people and that's not a good thing. I imagine SonyStyle employees dating the girl who works at the mall shoe store, getting into their Civics after work and pump rap music on their dual oversized XPLOD subwoofer's in the trunk. Not a good look. It's a weird, greasy, dad's suit look. (And I like rap music).

Apple store is cool because it's a uniform, but it's also casual t-shirt and easy to approach. I also think the Apple store is good because it hits the middle of their target markets (designers, hipsters, elderly, education, and those who like minimalistic design).It's pretty much everyone except for young gamers (the kind who like the look of Alienware computers). I'd like if they used darker wood and made it feel warmer, but then it might not hit right in the middle, the way it does.]]>Mar 14th 2010 10:17AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/Don't forget, this specific store is in Japan. They have much different standards and expectations.]]>Mar 14th 2010 10:40AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/Mar 14th 2010 10:19AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/Mar 14th 2010 10:48AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/Mar 14th 2010 10:29AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/Mar 14th 2010 10:45AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/
And the whole point of this post is that....

duh duh duh!... Sony is revamping their stores to... imitate Apple.

*facepalm]]>Mar 14th 2010 11:10AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/Mar 14th 2010 12:04PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/14/sony-opens-idyllic-new-retail-store-in-nagoya-japan/
There there...we weren't attacking Apple...better now?]]>Mar 14th 2010 12:08PM