Best Buy Continues Transformation Into Gadget Food Court With Mini Sony Stores

Best Buy wants to stage a comeback, coaxing customers back into its stores with price-matching and promises of top-notch service. Maybe the most appealing idea that the chain has had is to transform itself into an electronics food court, featuring mini-stores from individual manufacturers. Last year, this plan started with Samsung and Microsoft, and next up are mini home theater stores from Sony.

Here’s a time-lapse video that Best Buy released this week of one of the new stores being set up.

The centerpiece, as you can see in the still from this video posted above, will be glorious new 4K higher-definition televisions. Most people who aren’t interested in Kevin Spacey’s pores probably aren’t ready for 4K yet, but the ministore will let consumers check them out.

“Sony’s 4K Ultra HD televisions have to be seen to be believed,” Best Buy chief merchandising officer Mike Mohan said in a statement released to media outlets. Yes, we’re fairly certain that’s how televisions work. “Our newly transformed home theater areas will, for the first time, allow customers to test, try and experience how all of the Sony products work together.”

The Sony mini-stores will roll out to 350 Best Buy stores. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the food court, Samsung already has mini-stores for its mobile gadgets, and plans to put home theater “experience” sections much like Sony’s inside 500 Best Buy stores.

Samsung, Sony carve out own ‘Experience’ spaces at Best Buy [CNET]

Best Buy to Offer Sony & Samsung Experiences [High Def Digest]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist