Sony Opens 20th Sony Style Retail Store

With purchasing power among women rapidly increasing, a new Sony Style® retail store is opening at the fashion oriented Roosevelt Field shopping mall in Garden City, N.Y., encouraging consumers -- especially women -- to test-drive a variety of electronic devices.

The nearly 6,000-square-foot store, which is the 20th to open across the country, will cater to both genders by offering a high level of personalized service and opportunities to learn how consumer electronics fit into ones' lifestyle.

"Today, women are playing a more active role in buying electronics," said Dennis Syracuse, senior vice president of Sony's retail operation. "The Sony Style stores are designed to not only help demystify technology for women, but also be visually appealing to them with comfortable mock living rooms, sleek demonstration areas and wide aisles to accommodate strollers."

The Consumer Electronics Association recently reported that women's role in initiating purchase of consumer electronics products is "about equal" to men's.

The new store's customer service is another element that helps set it apart from other consumer electronics shops. Consumers receive personal attention from attendants at a concierge desk located at the store entrance, who help them identify exactly what they may be looking for.

"Women do not have time to 'play' with consumer electronics. They want to know how a product will enhance their lives easily and quickly," said Mary Lou Quinlan, author and founder of the strategic marketing company Just Ask a Woman. "Through personalized customer service and product displays that are open and inviting, the Sony Style stores offer a unique shopping experience that caters to this desire."

The Roosevelt Field store features several demonstration areas, including an HDTV display wall equipped with high-definition TV sets and DVD players, and a digital imaging gallery with a selection of digital still cameras, photo printers and camcorders, as well as VAIO® PCs to demonstrate connectivity.

The store also showcases all of Sony's entertainment merchandise, including DVD movies from Sony Pictures Entertainment, the latest CDs from Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Playstation Portable® and PlayStation 2® consoles and game software, as well as digital music downloads from Sony CONNECT™.

The store offers Wi-Fi Internet access, custom installation support, online product information through SonyStyle.com, and custom in-home delivery service.

In addition to the Roosevelt Field store, other locations include South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, Calif.; Beverly Center in Beverly Hills, Calif.; Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, Calif; Valley Fair in Santa Clara, CA; Woodfield Shopping Center in Schaumburg, IL; Cherry Creek Mall in Denver; Mall at Millennia in Orlando, Fla.; Somerset Collections Mall in Detroit; The Dallas Galleria; Copley Place in Boston; West County, Des Peres, MO; The Houston Galleria; Fashion Valley Mall in San Diego; Caesar's Forum Shops in Las Vegas; Garden State Plaza in New Jersey; Providence Place in Providence, R.I.; and La Cantera in San Antonio; Fashion Center at Pentagon City in Arlington, VA; and Kenwood Towne Center, Cincinnati, OH.

   Contact:  Marcy Cohen
             Sony Electronics
             201/930-6884
             marcy.cohen@am.sony.com

             Jessica Northrup
             Nuffer, Smith, Tucker
             619/296-0605, ext. 222
             jn@nstpr.com

SOURCE: Sony Electronics

CONTACT: Marcy Cohen of Sony Electronics, +1-201-930-6884,
marcy.cohen@am.sony.com; or Jessica Northrup of Nuffer, Smith, Tucker,
+1-619-296-0605, ext. 222, jn@nstpr.com, for Sony Electronics

Web site: http://www.sonystyle.com/