1960: America got a new 50-star flag and Sony Corporation of America became official.
As the popularity of transistor radios grew, a new market opportunity in the US arose. Based in New York on 514 Broadway, the idea was to further the Sony brand in the US with a sales network, offering all levels of operations from sales to customer service. The first “project” for Sony America truly tested their operational prowess. A contract had concluded with an agent so in the middle of an east coast winter, Sony America’s job was to collect over 30,000 transistor radios from the agent’s warehouse.
The operation took literally all day and all night beginning in the morning and ending at 4am the following morning. Men in overalls manually loaded the transistor radios onto the trucks. And who was part of that group? None other than Sony’s founder Akio Morita. The job was accomplished and several trucks were filled to the brim with transistor radios.
A mere two years later, the first Sony showroom was opened on Fifth Avenue in new York featuring the latest and greatest 1960’s gadgets. Outside its doors proudly displayed both the Japanese and American flags. Almost a half century later, Sony employs tens of thousands in the US and has gadgets carried in hundreds of stores across the nation.
So as we quickly shut down our computers, set our “out of office” emails and hastily pack up for the long weekend where we will scoop up more gizmos during all the many Memorial Day sales, I say wow. Sony America is 50 years old and this isn’t just a Friday. It’s a Flashback Friday.
And to all the troops we say thank you, we’re thinking of you and stay safe!!
Source: Sony.net
