Magnolia Design Centers, with eight units inside consumer electronics giant Best Buy stores, will be part of a major announcement next week in New York City in which the retailer will bundle Panasonic HD 3D televisions at 1080p with Blu-ray players, but without the geeky red-blue lens glasses, smartHOME and SDM Magazine have learned.

At home, viewers will use battery-operated active shutter glasses that work with specific 3D HDTVs.

In an exclusive interview, Steve Delp, Magnolia’s chief operating officer, said he sees great growth for 3D TVs, even without the content already available with 2D, since they are being “priced at just a few hundred dollars over” similar high-end televisions.
 
Magnolia Design Centers, which employ in-house technicians, designers and installers, offer a diversity of premium home systems, often platformed on Control4 tech, as well as burglar alarm, security video, energy management and possibly home healthcare monitoring, as that latter approach gains steam and technology muscle. Its operations are aimed at high-end homeowners, home builders and remodelers, as its business model offers a next level of customized home systems and services that goes beyond that of the more than 350 Magnolia Home Theater locations within Best Buy retail stores nationwide.

Best Buy acquired Seattle-based Magnolia HiFi in 2001. The firm, around since 1954, is a CEDIA member.