It had to have been in a Magnolia 'store'. Our local Best Buy has one. And yes, it's a welcome change. They've had them for several years now.
Like your experience though, there's hardly ever anyone back there to help. Usually the demo rooms are lit though, and it's easy enough to cycle through which gear you want to hear. Sometimes it's nice to be left alone, but there has been a time or two when I've had a question and had to wander around to find a 'blue shirt' to come help.
The real benefit of the Magnolia store, IMHO, is that they do have good deals on stuff from time-to-time. They'll have sales and open-box deals that rival what you can find online from some of the more questionable outlets. Good stuff; Denon upper-tier AVR's, Pioneer Elite, Vienna Acoustics speakers, etc. And you know it's US-spec/warrantied gear that you can easily return if something goes wrong. And contrary to what you might think at Best Buy, you can haggle a bit on the prices.
