This is actually very good for Best Buy...and actually good for at least a decent segment of us CI's as well.

The dedicated space paid for by manufacturer's is nothing new, both Apple and Microsoft have been paying them significantly for the past couple years; its just the concept of slotting fee's (or Front loaded VIRs) on a grander scale. It is also the only way Best Buy will be able to keep their large format stores open for the foreseeable future.

I look forward to them having a decent looking space to show off the technology and SONY spending on marketing (it's results will be similar to what SONOS did with Target). They will get some sales, but clients looking for a higher level of service will seek out our services - most likely through online services like Angieslist and Yelp (or others) and it is then up to us to qualify, close and capitalize on those new/prospective clients.

As far as existing client basis, those who were your good clients will probably just call you first (mine do), those that don't means I failed to either keep in touch or didn't do my job well enough the first time.

Separately, I would tell you Nordstrom might be a company to be wary of as they do have a lot of client overlap with many of us, and if your business includes incremental revenues off certain categories you might lose some business.

They are getting into the world of premium electronic systems, it will most likely only be a test market this year, but will probably roll out nationally a year from now. They are in talks with Bose, Shure, Sennheiser, B&O, Definitive Technology, Grado and others...Their talks with SONOS actually fell through. I can't give to many more details yet but will be consulting with their buyer over the next few months and will try and update if I learn anything new. At the same time, this might be a great opportunity to work on some co-branding and become their preferred installation company (they have no plans for installation services at this time - assuming DIY)