Sony Style And Comcast Take The Wraps Off New Store Concept

Marcy Cohen, Sony Electronics senior manager, corporate communications, was in Philadelphia for the opening of the first Sony Style store done in conjunction with industry leader Comcast. She took a moment to write the guest post below: Rick Clancy

Last night hosted a special sneak peek event for local media and VIPs during which Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and the senior VP of Sony retail stores Dennis Syracuse will talk about how this store concept came to be. You may be familiar with our 40-plus Sony Style retail stores in the U.S., but this is our first collaboration store. The concept was conceived by Sony’s chairman and CEO Sir Howard Stringer along with Roberts more than a year ago in an effort to provide consumers with an interactive shopping experience where people can buy Sony electronics and couple them with Comcast services.

The store is on the lower level of the new Comcast Center, which is also accessible directly from the El subway. The store is broken into four areas — the entry area with a concierge desk, the Vaio computer and PlayStation gaming area, the digital imaging area, and the Bravia home-theater section. Each section includes various Comcast services, as well as Comcast and Sony Style personnel to help consumers people make informed decisions.

Something that is already generating a lot of attention and excitement is all of the prototypes being shown in the store’s "lab."  These are not actually available yet for purchase but instead are future technologies that are being demonstrated here. They include Comcast’s 100Mbps high-speed Internet service, as well as a smartphone with email, IM and text. We’re also demo-ing the much-anticipated Tru2way technology on a Bravia HDTV set, but it’s just a prototype and there are no definitive launch plans.

All of the talk of Philly being one of the first wireless cities makes this retail concept perfect for residents of "the city of brotherly love."  Certainly the store is wireless, which is actually how I posted this blog entry.