A long time ago I worked in retail and we had to jump through a lot of hoops to become a Sony dealer, along with a substantial opening order and volume expectations. When I went to work for a CI, I called the rep I knew at the time and was told to buy from a couple of retail shops he recommended. Sony in Canada (at that time) was not set up to deal with small CI firms or non retail businesses.
Of the small group of people I know in this business in and around Toronto, I believe everyone has a "guy" they get Sony from, no one is direct.
I may be wrong, but I recall talking with people at Cedia years ago and it is different in the US, and you can get Sony direct or through some sort of distribution down there.