Sony Closing the Metreon Store

The landmark Sony store in its Metreon building is being shut down this summer as the company's problems deepen.

Opened June 16, 1999, the monstrous 350,000-foot structure Metreon building became the symbol of Sony's industry dominance. The Metreon shopping center in San Francisco included a Sony Style game store where the conglomerate hosted launch parties for both the launches of the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3 along with a former Microsoft store that was closed in 2001 as Microsoft entered the gaming ring.

In 2006, with the launch of the PlayStation 3 looming, Sony sold its controlling interest in the Metreon center to two real estate companies, the Westfield Group and Forest City Enterprises, but continued to operate a store within the mall. As the economy continued to chip away at Sony's revenue, it concluded that managing the store was no longer a worthwhile or profitable operation.

The announcement is mostly telling sign for both the Japanese corporation, who is contracting its operations while competitors Apple and Microsoft are expanding their own retail outlets. Whether these cost-cutting measures save the business or lose ground to Microsoft will only become clear once the global economy rebounds.

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Source: VentureBeat