Sony to close all its stores in Canada

[morgin]

Going to brick and mortar to "check out" a product will be a thing associated with old people soon enough. What special skillset do I have to evaluate a TV under harsh fluorescent lighting with the settings cranked to "retail display mode", compared to the numerous high quality sites that specifically review all these products? Check a few review sites and a/v forums and order online. There is literally no reason I can think of if you want to buy the majority of stuff fs/bb sells to go anywhere near those stores, unless there isn't a deal on and you need to go in to haggle with the sales guy (which is also going to be a thing of the past once Amazon and its razor thin margins ramps up more on consumer electronics in Canada). Clothing retail will barely make sense soon if retailers get competitive with free easy returns and prepaid return labels and all that stuff for things you order and don't like. Some people enjoy the act of going shopping and trying things on and looking at physical products, but that is going to become more niche and you will pay a premium for it. Retail overhead is incredibly expensive compared to the costs of being an online only retailer.

[Hugh Jahrmes]

I enjoy going shopping. At 29, im far from ancient. I understand the costs are causing billionaires to make fewer millions.. But I can honestly say this is one facet of modern society I completely disagree with. Do everything from home, goto work, rinse repeat? Nah man

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

A Samsung / Android store would actually be a good idea, and sell everything from phones Ultrabooks to appliances.

Why the hell would Samsung want to do that? You want them to repeat what Sony just failed at? Is Samsung in the retail market at all? Why would they want to be?

[RedMileDJ]

There's a Samsung store in Vancouver, from what I recall.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by Daradon

Hate the Sony retail stores. So overpriced.

Yeah, the prices were always ridiculous, and the service was never good.

Speaking of bad stereo salesmen, this guy was the worst! He never even called me back!

[gargamel]

Originally Posted by Hugh Jahrmes

I enjoy going shopping. At 29, im far from ancient. I understand the costs are causing billionaires to make fewer millions.. But I can honestly say this is one facet of modern society I completely disagree with. Do everything from home, goto work, rinse repeat? Nah man

Of course not. You should telecommute so you don't have to leave the house at all.

[T@T]

Back in the day there were 2 kinds of TV's.

Sony and every other brand, Even know Sony cost 2x as much they sold a tonne and really owned the market.

They finally got their ass handed to them a few years later when they couldn't compete when the Plazma/LCD era started and they never recovered.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Yep. Nice to check up on their latest technologies most that will never be adopted mainstream.

I'm of the opinion that Sony could be no more by the end of the decade. They have been hemorrhaging money for years now. How long can they go losing billions annually?

No way they disappear completely, they could just close every other department other than Playstation and do quite well. I think that's what you'll see them do to some extent, keep the sides of the business that actually do well or that they're making some inroads in (gaming, phones, cameras) and dump the rest. What they've done with their smartphone line in particular makes me think there at least some talented people still there

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

No way they disappear completely, they could just close every other department other than Playstation and do quite well. I think that's what you'll see them do to some extent, keep the sides of the business that actually do well or that they're making some inroads in (gaming, phones, cameras) and dump the rest. What they've done with their smartphone line in particular makes me think there at least some talented people still there

The talent has always been there and it's just the questionable business decisions they have made over the years that have sunk them. Unless you are Nintendo I don't believe the console business is stable enough to be the major organizational focus as profitability would be a higher focus without having a massive company to lean on. Sony had a good year with the PS4 but the industry is pretty volatile and they would have to run a tighter ship up against Microsoft that can burn money to keep the Xbox viable in the market. A more plausible scenario would be Sony selling off the Playstation division to a company like Apple for instance that like Microsoft can absorb losses in a volatile market.

[Igster]

Originally Posted by Hugh Jahrmes

I enjoy going shopping. At 29, im far from ancient. I understand the costs are causing billionaires to make fewer millions.. But I can honestly say this is one facet of modern society I completely disagree with. Do everything from home, goto work, rinse repeat? Nah man

Agreed. Love shopping and just browsing through various stores. It's sad to see these stores shutting down. I hardly ever buy anything online unless I can't get it locally.

Originally Posted by RedMileDJ

There's a Samsung store in Vancouver, from what I recall.

One in West Ed as well.

[Vulcan]

I've bought four of my last TVs on line. I just go by what I've read about them and haven't been disappointed yet. Living in a small town with few stores makes buying electronics on line an easy choice. Also I get delivery to my door and also usually get the best price with the most choices. Sometimes I feel bad for not fully supporting the local economy but it's a changing world.