Sony to open 350 mini-stores within Best Buy stores

Still in turnaround mode, the Japanese manufacturer is raising its profile at the last national big-box electronics retailer. Starting in mid-May, about a third of Best Buy stores in the U.S. will be reconfiguring their home entertainment departments to make away for a new feature: “The Sony Experience at Best Buy.” It’s the latest instance of the electronics chain introducing a flashy store-within-the-store dedicated to one brand–something it did last year with both Samsung mobile gadgetsand PCs running Microsoft’s Windows. The Sony Experience will stock a variety of Sony products: TVs at various price points, audio equipment such as sound bars, and the PlayStation 4. But the emphasis will be on 4K–the technology that’s the next step in image quality beyond HD–with Sony 4K Ultra HD TVs and camcorders on display, and demos comparing the sharper 4K picture against mere 1080p HD.