Best Buy Opens Eighth Magnolia Design Center

By Alan Wolf -- TWICE, 2/26/2010

Costa Mesa, Calif. - Best Buy has opened its eighth Magnolia Design Center, this one within a Best Buy store located in this Orange County community.
The retailer said the center is the first of its kind within a Best Buy store in Southern California, and offers high-performance A/V solutions with a broad assortment of premium brands including McIntosh, MartinLogan, Pioneer Elite, Sonus faber and Control4.
The design center will also offer state-of-the-art services like solar solutions, whole home automation and outdoor electronics, Best Buy said.
 "Magnolia Designs Centers provide a unique shopping environment for the home theater enthusiast," said Steve Delp, COO of Magnolia Audio Video. "We believe our customers in the Orange County area will benefit from not only having exclusive brands, services and selection but also unparalleled experts to help create customized entertainment and home automation systems to fit their lifestyle."
Best Buy acquired Magnolia - then a 13-store Northwest A/V specialty chain called Magnolia Hi-Fi -in 2000 for $87 million. It assumed direct control over the operation last year and combined it with its in-store Magnolia shops under a new management structure at its corporate headquarters in Richfield, Minn.
There are currently more than 350 Magnolia Home Theater locations inside Best Buy stores nationwide, as well as seven remaining stand-alone Magnolia Audio Video stores in Washington, California and Illinois.
The new Magnolia Design Center in Costa Mesa includes a fully functioning theater, great room and an outdoor patio. Within the space are lifestyle vignettes that focus on rooms throughout the home. The showroom will also feature A/V solutions from AMX, Vienna Acoustics, Project, Primare, Marantz, Monitor Audio and NuVision.
Previews of the new Magnolia Design Center will be made available to media by request.
About Magnolia
Magnolia has been in business for over 50 years, and is a premier retailer of high-performance audio, video and home automation systems. Today, there are over 350 Magnolia Home Theater locations inside Best Buy across the nation, as well as 7 stand-alone Flagship locations in Washington, California and Illinois-operated under the Magnolia Audio Video name. These flagship locations provide end-to-end entertainment and engineering design solutions for their customers. From collaborative in-home consultations, to custom audio/video and control system design, to final installation and support-Magnolia Audio Video is without peer. Magnolia also owns the distinction of having won 22 customer service awards in their storied history. Magnolia joined the Best Buy family of brands in 2000 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Best Buy. For more information about the Magnolia Audio Video experience, including the store's extensive selection and services, visit www.magnoliaav.com.