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Surprises

by Mike Masnick

Wed, Apr 6th 2005 11:07am





Nintendo Copies Sony Who Copied Apple With Retail Store Plans

from the sounds-pointless dept

A year ago, Sony decided to mimic Apple's widespread success with their retail stores by setting up more retail stores of their own (the company already had a few). Now, it appears that Nintendo seems to think this is a good idea as well, and will be creating a Nintendo store in NY. Of course, it's still questionable how well these stores work for anyone other than Apple. Remember, computer maker Gateway tried the same thing and ended up losing a ton of money before closing the stores down. It works for Apple for a few reasons: mainly, that the company prefers to sell direct and has been de-emphasizing channel resellers for some time. This isn't true of Sony or Nintendo -- and the stores either upset their resellers greatly, or have to be priced way over the regular going retail price. At the same time, Apple's stores work because of the culture (maybe we should drop that trailing "ure") surrounding Apple products. The stores are designed to play up that culture and the whole concept of the Apple experience. It's not clear many other consumer electronics makers can pull off the same sort of success without the same level of devoted followers.

11 Comments | Leave a Comment

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  1.  
    identicon
    armando, Apr 6th, 2005 @ 11:14am

    re: nintendo

    i would think that this would be more of a showcase or boutique store, not one where they expected to compete with other retailers.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  2.  
    identicon
    ChuckVonChuck, Apr 6th, 2005 @ 11:17am

    Sony Store

    In fairness to Sony, the Sony Store, a Sony owned and operated store stocking only Sony products has existed in malls and downtowns longer than there has been an Apple Computer company.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  3.  
    identicon
    ChuckVonChuck, Apr 6th, 2005 @ 11:19am

    Re: Sony Store

    That should have read:

    In fairness to Sony, the Sony Store, a Sony owned and operated store stocking only Sony products has existed in CANADIAN malls and downtowns longer than there has been an Apple Computer company.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  4.  
    identicon
    thecaptain, Apr 6th, 2005 @ 11:29am

    Re: Sony Store

    There were Sony stores around here in the eighties and before?????

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  5.  
    identicon
    ChuckVonChuck, Apr 6th, 2005 @ 11:56am

    Re: Sony Store

    My memory's a bit sketchy on the whole thing but I remember getting my Apple IIe from the store next-door to the Sony Store.

    From:
    http://www.sony.ca/sonyca/about_chronology.shtml
    1981 - ... Acquisition of Miller Electronics Limited, western retail chain subsequently renamed The Sony Store.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  6.  
    identicon
    Rajesh, Apr 6th, 2005 @ 12:48pm

    Not sure if its just the cult that visits the Appl

    I realize its anecdotal but my father-in-law who is retired and definitely not a kool-aid drinker wanders by the Apple store every time he is at the mall and fiddles around with iPods and other stuff. Recently, after 4 or 5 PCs in his lifetime, he switched. I think there're a lot of those stories. Not sure if he'll wander into a Sony(or Nintendo or Palm or ....) store and play with a PSP though

     

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  7.  
    identicon
    Qwijybo, Apr 6th, 2005 @ 1:58pm

    In A Related Story

    Ford, Gm, Chrysler, BMW, Toyota, Kia, Honda, Saturn, Volkswagen, Porsche, Ferrari, Disney, MGM abd a dozens of other product specific companies are all starting their own retail shops, oh wait its old news. This dosent surprise me that diff tech companies are starting their own shops. Personally I think prostitutes were most likely the first industry to set up product specific shops.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  8.  
    identicon
    Cow-hard, Apr 6th, 2005 @ 4:16pm

    Re: In A Related Story

    Yeah, and they have better packaging!

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  9.  
    identicon
    Ajit Monteiro, Apr 7th, 2005 @ 7:53am

    No Subject Given

    In a lot of ways Nintendo also has a cult following also.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  10.  
    identicon
    Jason Scott, Apr 21st, 2005 @ 8:08pm

    Re: Sony Store

    Well, Chuck, it is refreshing and interesting, to see someone correct their own wrong fact with information.
    Apple was founded in 1976, so it sounds like Sony was close to their founding (compared to, say, the mid 1990s) but not quite "before" them.
    But if we're going to play THIS game, let me say that Nintendo has them ALL beat. From a Nintendo History site:
    "It was 1889, and a Japanese man named Fusajiro Yamauchi founded Nintendo Koppai, a Kyoto-based card manufacturer. The cards being made were hanafuda playing cards, each one hand crafted and painted. The hanafuda game consists of 48 cards in 12 suits, and display natural symbols used in gameplay. The cards were sold in Kyoto and Osaka in Yamauchi's own Nintendo stores."
    1889, bitch! That's 88 years before there's an Apple Computer! (But only 57 years before Sony, founded in 1946).

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  11.  
    identicon
    Stew, Jan 7th, 2008 @ 7:41pm

    Yep Jason is correct.
    There also were about a million or so stores that have done this a long time ago. We call them common brand names now - but back then you had to go to a specific store to buy em.
    Stores and the like specilised in 1 or mabey 2 brands MAX. However most of the time it was only for upmarket clients. Kind of compare it to the current day Ferrari/Masserati stores......you will never see a Fiat parked in those stores/showrooms. But we all know who owns them.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]


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