PRINT THIS STORY:

CHANGE TEXT SIZE:

TECHNO CHIC

Stylish stores give Sony’s gadgets a feminine edge

BY KIMBERLY PFAFF

A concierge desk, a mock family room stocked with plasma-screen TVs, some hardwood floors, a faux fireplace. Take one look around this sleek, futuristic setting, and it’s clear that Sony Style isn’t your typical electronics store.

“We’ve tried hard to demystify technology, to make it fun and fashionable,” said Dennis Syracuse, senior vice president of Sony Style Retail, a division of Sony Electronics, which is a subsidiary of Japan-based conglomerate Sony Corp.

According to Syracuse, Sony Style is also pointedly courting women, which is why it is opening these stylish stores inside high-fashion malls, next to such chichi brands as Gucci and Louis Vuitton. “If you want to go where families shop, then you have to go to the mall, where typically it’s 65 percent female shoppers,” he said.

Sony launched the chain of boutiques in 2003. The company currently operates two flagship stores, one in San Francisco and one in New York City, and 15 suburban mall units in California, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey and Texas. The company says it plans to have a total of 30 of these in the top U.S. metropolitan-area fashion malls by April of next year.

Fashionably arrayed
Products range from CDs ($14.99) to plasma-screen TVs ($20,000), with laptops, desktops, camcorders, digital cameras and more in between. “It’s the range of Sony, but with a fashion approach,” said Syracuse. “You have to edit your line.”

Analysts say the plan is a smart move to reach out to an often undervalued yet increasingly important electronics consumer. According to a report the Consumer Electronics Association put out last year, 46 percent of women say they have the most influence in their households on decisions to buy consumer electronics, and 30 percent consider themselves early adopters of technology.

“Sony is thinking about who they want their customer to be and going to where she is,” said Doug Fleener, president and managing partner of Dynamic Experiences Group, a retail consulting firm based in Lexington, Mass.

At the same time, the store is a valuable advertisement for the Sony brand. “It’s about awareness, making more shoppers aware of the brand image,” said Candace Corlett, a partner at WSL Strategic Retail, a New York City-based retail consulting firm.

“They’re creating an environment that makes people say, ‘I identify with that brand. When I walk in there, it feels like me.’”

The stores span about 5,000 square feet. Sony says its focus is fashion malls, and it is working with several mall owners. The chain also plans to test out a lifestyle center unit next year, though it declined to identify the center.

However, the company does not envision running hundreds of Sony Style stores. “We’re highlighting the top 50 metropolitan markets and the top fashion malls there, so it’s a limited market,” said Syracuse.

That kind of exclusivity was certainly appealing to the leasing team at Taubman Centers’ upscale Cherry Creek Shopping Center, which brought in a Sony Style store last year. The center also has an Apple store, an Electronics Boutique unit and a Bang & Olufsen store in its lineup.

“This is the only Sony Style in Colorado, and we like to have unique, one-of-a-kind stores, because it reinforces our position in the market as a destination shopping center,” said Lisa Herzlich, marketing director at the 1 million-square-foot Cherry Creek, which is anchored by Foley’s, Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue.

“We have a sophisticated customer, one who appreciates high-tech products,” Herzlich said. “The Sony store really adds more depth to that mix. Sony Style appeals to both genders and to a multitude of ages and lifestyles.” The store, she points out, sits next to Tiffany and near Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters.

The store’s design encourages people to come in and explore the merchandise. Small, intimate displays abound. TVs tuned to Sony’s latest DVD releases are perched on individual stands instead of being lined up in rows at the same height; this gives shoppers a better sense of how the sets will look in their living rooms. And those thoughtful touches that may appeal to women are certainly there, from an approachable concierge desk at the front, to aisles that are wide enough for strollers.

Keeping it simple
The product selection is limited to avoid overcrowding the store and intimidating customers, Syracuse says. “We’re not overwhelming people with a huge [stock-keeping unit] selection,” he said. “Our whole goal is to introduce technology and innovation, in a warm, friendly, comfortable environment.”

The stores regularly offer free seminars on all the products, and spec sheets and brochures are readily available too. In addition, the sales associates are equipped with wireless remotes, so that a customer’s question can instantly be sent out to the entire team.

“Our emphasis on customer service and education becomes the differentiating point,” said Syracuse. “[Other retailers] clearly can’t provide the service to the brand that we can. We tell people that whether they buy the product here, or buy it there, they should come here so we can show them how to use it.”

Up until now, of course, most consumers bought Sony electronics at big-box stores. So how can the manufacturer keep retail partners happy, now that it has opened up its own stores? Sony Style carries more midrange to high-end merchandise than the traditional electronics chains, Syracuse says, and where there is some overlap, Sony will not sell items for less.

That move, many analysts say, is a positive one. “Sony is taking the right tack on that,” Fleener said. “They’re not undercutting the dealers. They’re pricing this so that any dealer can be competitive. Still, there will be a lot of retailers who aren’t pleased.”

Major electronics retailers are not saying too much. “Competition is a good thing, and it educates consumers,” said Steve Mullen, a Circuit City spokesman. “Once they know what products are available at what prices, we’re confident people will come back and purchase from us.”

Best Buy says its policy is not to comment on the actions of other companies. The Minneapolis-based chain has found its own success with female shoppers through a new format rolled out in October at select stores. Featuring softer colors, a children’s technology department and personal shopping services, the converted stores have seen same-store sales grow at twice the pace of traditional Best Buy stores, the company says.

Sony is not the first electronics manufacturer to put its own spin on retail. Apple’s stores have been successful, and the company plans to have 125 units running by the end of this year. Computer maker Gateway also sold through its own stores, though with less success; it closed its money-losing retail operation last April. Similar to the Sony Style format, Gateway displayed its computers in an environment that simulated the customer’s own home.

But neither case is an exact blueprint of Sony’s situation, say analysts. “Apple is fighting for market share,” said Fleener. “It’s not like they had a lot of dealers they were going to upset with their stores anyway.”

There are real differences between Sony Style’s stores and Gateway’s, too.

“Gateway’s stores were either stand-alone units or located in strip centers, and they couldn’t draw enough traffic,” said Fleener. Gateway “was also in a low-margin business.”

Sony is a recognizable brand in consumer electronics, but it could certainly use a financial lift. Analysts point to the competitive battles Sony has experienced selling its branded products. The company has also been slow to market such products as flat-screen televisions.

Sony’s overall revenue was down in the first six months of this fiscal year because of declining sales in its gaming, electronics and music divisions. (The company does not break out sales for its electronics unit in the U.S.)

Ultimately, though, Sony Style may be just what the electronics giant needs to boost its image. “The strongest asset of a company like Sony is the power of their brand identity, and that just gets diluted in the big-box retail environment,” said Corlett. “Having your own real estate reinforces the brand.”