Left coast gadget-philes will have a few new playgrounds sometime after spring of 2009, when Pioneer adds at least three more West Coast locations to the current Costa Mesa, CA store. Specific locations and dates have not been announced, but the stores will hopefully add some brand presence for Pioneer as it gets its restructuring efforts underway. Yeah, it's ironic that the Pioneer store will be populated by Panasonic panels (and maybe Sharp, too), as well as JVC beamers. But hopefully this move will help give Pioneer some more of the upscale appeal it's seeking (and pricing for). We've chided Pioneer's marketing for not making better use of the fact that its plasmas were generally regarded as "top of the class," so hopefully this move marks a new approach. We'd also suggest reallocating concept car floor space to darkened demo theaters.

[Image courtesy ocregister]