By Claire Reilly
The opening of Sony’s new-format kiosk store in Parramatta has been delayed, with the kiosk still held up in building stages despite early plans for a 1 April opening.
The kiosk, located in Westfield Parramatta in Sydney’s western suburbs, has been billed as the first of a new network of small-format stores for Sony, after the brand closed its dedicated Sony Centres across New South Wales and held liquidation sales to clear stock.
Two kiosks are already open in Sydney, one in Bondi Junction (in Sydney’s eastern suburbs) which is run in conjunction with Harvey Norman, and another in Chatswood (northern Sydney). Current.com.au has previously reported that the Chatswood kiosk is being used as a blueprint for the new in-mall shopfronts.
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The “brand and retail agency” Creative Activation has been working with Sony to hire staff and train them to work in the new kiosks.
According to a representative from Creative Activation, during the planning stages in February the Parramatta kiosk was scheduled to open on 1 April 2013 — the Easter Monday public holiday this week.
On Tuesday, Westfield Parramatta centre management revised this date, saying the kiosk was scheduled to be up and running last night (4 April) when the centre has extended trading hours for Thursday late night shopping.
However, Current.com.au today visited the Westfield Parramatta shopping centre to discover nothing more than some basic signage and a cordoned off 8-by-8-metre area containing unbuilt cabinetry a mysteriously large cardboard box. There was no sign of staff or workers at the site.
Speaking to Current.com.au today, Centre Management still had the kiosk scheduled for a Thursday 4 April opening, and this advice had not been updated by management as of this morning.
Current.com.au has contacted Sony Australia for comment on the roll-out of its new-format kiosks, including the Parramatta shopfront, and its plans for further launch sites.
A representative for Sony told this website that there had been “no delay” in the launch of its Parramatta kiosk, and that “bump in was from Thursday [with a] soft launch tomorrow”. The representative declined to comment on Sony’s future plans for further kiosk sites.
Are kiosks are good use of floor space or a watered down version of a proper retail presence? Tell us your thoughts.
Sony's newest kiosk is located on level 3 of Westfield Parramatta, surrounded by fashion stores and next to Myer.
The new kiosk is currently cordoned off.
Inside are the early signs of cabinetry and point-of-sale displays.
New stock? A large display? Sony's most mysterious element was under wraps today.
Sony says the kiosk will hold a soft launch tomorrow.