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First MS Retail Stores Will be In Scottsdale, AZ and Mission Viejo, CA
UnknowingFool writes "MS has announced the locations of its first two retail stores. The first one will be located at The Shops in Mission Viejo, CA sometime in the fall. There is an existing Apple store at the location. The second one will be located in Scottsdale Fashion Square in Scottsdale, AZ. That location does not have an Apple store. According to Corporate Communications Director Kim Stocks, the locations were picked because they were 'hot markets,' presumably meaning high traffic. Also, the stores will sell laptops, Zunes, Xbox 360s, MS and 3rd party software. No details on which laptops were provided."
Does anyone know if they have a deal with a hardware manufacturer? Which companies' laptops will they sell?
The Scottsdale loc does have an Apple store; it's shiny, new and enormous. I just bought a mac-mini there a couple days ago.
Not that I expect an MS store to compete with WalMart, but these first two locations seem to target flush consumers.
Would be interesting to hear from people who actually go to one of these stores.
Hey didn't Gateway open retail stores, right before their final demise? This is't really a bad thing then, is it?
Working at the Microsoft store in a mall where there's an Apple store would be a painful experience.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
And if they do, is that even....LEEEEEEGUUULLL??
...Clippy the Action Figure!
they will probably synchronize the release of new products, how will the fan boys figure out which line to stand in...
"Also the stores will sell laptops, Zunes, Xbox 360s, MS and 3rd party software."
I would hope that if theres ANY place I could find Microsoft Software, it'd be at a microsoft store. Not that I'd go looking anyways.
Its funny that they would open 2 locations to start, one with an Apple store nearby and one without - I would love to see the stats a month or two in. I'm curious if it'll make a difference.
Congratulations to Microsoft. More choices are a good thing, no matter what anyone says. Also, it'd be fun to stand at the entrance to their store (and the Apple store) and hand out Ubuntu CD's.
They'll never open the store since they won't dare cut the ribbon.
My webcomic
Hey guys! You know that software vendor, you know, the one that you send really, really REALLY big checks to every weeK? You know, for license fees?
Well guess what? They're taking all that money you are sending them, and using it to build a private chain store in order to cut you out of the equation! Really makes you feelg good about that six-figure WEEKLY check you send them, doesn't it?
This is probably the DUMBEST possible move that MS could make - after 30 years of selling only through 3rd parties, setting up a 'bricks & mortar' chain while trends are to go virtual, while simultaneously pissing off their huge, multi-billion dollar partners... stupidity at its finest!
I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.
these stores arent so bad! now when your XBox red-rings, you can form lasting relationships as you return defective unit after defective unit to the same trusty store employees.
Good people go to bed earlier.
Damn Americans, think the whole world knows the abbreviations for the 50-something states ...
Microsoft is going to have to sell somebodies laptops in the store - probably a mix of Dell and HP and possibly someone else.
So while they might irk the hardware makers they do not choose to sell, I don't think any of the makers are going to make a big deal of it.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I didn't realize that Mission Viejo was such a hot market... No one goes to The Shops except for locals. If MS really wanted to 'showcase' their products they could have chosen a much more high profile-venue. And there are plenty in OC: The Spectrum, South Coast, Fashion Island, or even The Block. Not to mention the fact that there is a Costco across the freeway and a Best Buy a mile up. I'm sure they'll be happy to 'introduce' consumers to Microsoft (as if MS needs an introduction anyway).
Who will they recruit for THAT duty?
I often say to my lUsers:
I don't understand computers... I just know how to make them work. If I understood them, I'd be the richest man in the world. Oh, wait, he doesn't understand them, either.
get a free iPo- ...Zune, or a gift certificate to Macy- ...Sears or Cinnabo- ...Dairy Queen.
http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/7/20/
Nuff said.
With the first link, the chain is forged.
Scottsdale is full of up-tight white people.
Up-tight white people buy BMWs and Macs.
???
Profit!!!
Wait. . .
What?
What about the Microsoft store that's in the Metreon in SF?
This guy's the limit!
Are you sure you're not thinking of the east side of Scottsdale Road, opposite Kierland Commons?
Lacking <sarcasm> tags,
that's where they belong for the customers they have. As I've said time and time again, Microsoft is the McDonalds of computer technology. It isn't the worst, it is far from the best, but it is what it is and the average Joe/Josey who either doesn't want to do any thinking or can't is fine taking what's shoveled onto their plate. Apple stores work because they are high end and stylish so their stores work fine in various mall's but would not do so well next to Walmart. The Microsoft store isn't going to do anything but weaken their already weakening brand because it doesn't make sense to have a Microsoft store other than another attempt at marketing the brand.
Should be fun to watch this unfold because unlike other Microsoft failures, this failure will not take out the innovator in the market.
LoB
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
Who wants to be the first asshat and go to one of those stores and ask to buy a laptop with no OS preloaded, or better yet, a laptop with Linux preloaded on it?
Better yet, after purchasing a laptop, open it up, boot it, reject the EULA, and then request a refund for the windows license. :)
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
If they had any chutzpah, they'd put one in Cupertino! Really, if they're competitive, beard the lion in his den!
The only good part of the store will be the gaming section with it's X-box 360s hooked up to 50" LCD TVs.
.
The rest of the store will suck.
.
I wonder if they are going to have someone dress up as clippy so that the children can beat them with pinata bats?
Tsukasa: All I really want, is to be left alone...
Four years ago, I worked retail at the Dell kiosk at the Mission Viejo Mall. Fully half of the customers purchasing new computers were buying because they stated they had a virus, had reinstalled Windows countless times, and just wanted to start over fresh. The strange thing was that less than ten percent of those also purchased anti-virus software. I'll wager that the new Microsoft store sees the exact same percentages.
One of the worst problems with the Gateway stores is that they couldn't fix your computer, they could only ship it to be fixed, even if it just needed a disk swapped. One of the best features of the Apple store is that you can have your hardware fixed relatively quickly. If they're out of the part, you might have to get it the next day.
If MS can't fix any of the hardware they sell on site, even if it's from another vendor, it's going to hurt their reputation and make people hate the stores.
I distinctly remember one in downtown SF, in the same mall that has the Sony store and the iMax theater. Just because they tried it and failed and tried it again doesn't mean it's the first ever.
The CB App. What's your 20?
Great! At last no more having to buy god-awful Fruit of the Loom or tighty-whitey underwear!
Are they gonna have the food store with some decent cheese and wine and...
oh, wait... you meant Microsoft didn't you?
Bollocks!
----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
Clearly, you can't be taken seriously as an internet-savvy tech company in the 21st century without brick and mortar stores.
Perhaps 2010 will be the Year of the Linux Storefront.
The problem will be they will never lock the the stores back doors. maybe they will try around the mid/end of every month. but they will never lock it
I thought one thing was a bit odd. When I walked up to the store, the front doors were closed. On the door is the following: "By opening this door you agree to abide by our End Shopper License Agreement. Detailed terms of the agreement can be found inside at the back of the store".
#DeleteChrome
Wasn't there an article a few weeks back about Apple setting up mini stores inside of Wal-Mart?
if they had a large xbox/pc gaming section stocked with games and free demo stations. They'll get the rabid gaming demographic in there, and can then sell them high-end gaming PCs and laptops as well. They can also then get in on the lucrative used games market that lets gamestop/EB laugh all the way to the bank.
If they were to open in Silicon Valley, they'd have to close within a week's time.
"You might as well get your son a ticket to hell as give him a five string banjo." -unknown minister
I'll give Microsoft a B for effort. If they were really going to go head to head with Apple on high-class locations they would have put this store in the Biltmore next to Apple's flagship store in Phoenix. By going with Fashion Square mall they're only targeting the clueless upper middle class and rich wannabes. Then again that's probably the crowd buying Zunes anyways. [cough snicker].
Mac: Hi, I'm a Mac Store.
PC: Hi, I'm a Microsoft Store.
Mac: Hello, PC, wow your store has a very similar feel to the thousands of Mac Stores that we have had open for a number of years now.
PC: Um, no we are nothing like your Mac Stores. You have a Genesis Bar. I have a Guru Bar. Totally Different.
Self proclaimed wannabe geek. You know how it is. Most of us who read this stuff probably fit in that category.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Hopefully they piss GameStop off and hurt XBox in the long run. I think this was a bad idea all around because Microsoft deals in profits way beyond the scope of these brick and mortar stores. If they take off there won't be any excuse to axe them, but they will anger brick and mortar competitors while not significantly adding to revenue. They're just giving other retailers more reasons to support Chrome and Apple. Not to mention the fact that too many OEMs use MS software to include them all in one store, so those who are left out may lean toward Google as well. You are right, XBox will be the store's main attraction and they hope to turn XBox dweebs into MS borg. What MS doesn't realize is that they already are, they just aren't tech savvy and don't want any technology that doesn't digitize combat and war. No, XBox kids don't want your Zune.
"From the depths of my skeptical and rationalist soul, I ask the Lord to protect me from California touchie-feeliedom."
If they add a new piece of software to the sales floor, does everyone have to leave the store and then come back inside?
Every Wal-Mart I've been to in the last 2 years has a huge iPod/iPhone display in the very middle of their electronic section. Which demographic are we talking about?
does this mean I could walk into a store and buy MSSQL (CAL version) without going through a channel partner? it's easier to go from windows to php/mysql than to get one of those licenses fast
an Apple store is not and iPod store. But, given the iPod's fame and market penetration, it would be nuts for Walmart not to sell iPods also but I would doubt they sell as many of the $250+ models as an Apple store but probably sell much more of the ~$100 shuffle and lowend iPods.
My point was about the Apple "store" and in general Apple products tend to be high end and stylish at a higher price. Microsoft, in general is about low end, kinda works, products and so it goes with the Microsoft "store". Sure, Microsoft will show a MS Surface device in every store but come on, is that where you'd go to buy one? It's just a marketing gimmick and so will most of the expensive hardware there. Even the Microsoft ads sell them as the low price company.
They'll do better near Walmart and away from Apple stores. But, they've got the money to dump on yet another money losing venture.
LoB
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
* Registers will be (right) next to the door
* There may, or may not be metal railing that separates and routes threshold traffic
* The colors black and brown will be utilized extensively in the furniture, with white walls
* Lighting will be fluorescent
* There will be lots of cardboard standees, on average twice as many as at the Apple store
* There will be a marketing-shotgun-blast of co-branded devices literature and posters plastered anywhere a surface that will accept adhesive will allow
Apple needed its stores to showcase their product which was getter smaller amounts of shelf space. What made the store good was the fact that you could really try out an Apple product before you bought it which helped them to convert PC users. Coupled with sought-after products like the iPod and iPhone, Apple stores are successful.
Contrast that with MS. You can get MS software in many different places. Thhe store doesn't help the exposure of Windows because many people use it at work already. Besides the Xbox 360, the MS store doesn't really have sought-after products. Even then the Xbox on the whole is not a profitable product for MS. It will take some time to recoup the costs the initial years of debt that the Xbox and Xbox 360 accumulated.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
What bullshit is this?? Microsoft is setting up stores that sell computers. Microsoft does not manufacture PCs, so who do you think is going to make all that hardware they'll sell?. OEMs (msotly) don't own stores, so how is this going to piss of their partners? Seriously, how the HELL does this hurt the OEMs? It's a retail outlet, selling their stuff. This is a win for them!.
There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
Unfortunately MS is trying to open a store to showcase all of their products and not just to be a gaming store. I don't think this effect will bleed into their other products. The gamer who will be interested in the Xbox section is not likely to be the same person who will be a PC. The person buying a PC will not likely want to visit a store full of gamers.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
How is this the first?
Their first store was in San Francisco at the Metreon in 1997.
It failed miserably.
I don't know how much it is going to be, but I understand Microsoft will be charging admission to get in.
"Computer Scientists can count to 1024 on their fingers" (non-mutant, non-mutilatated, human computer scientists)
Scottsdale and Mission Viejo are both wealthy communities. Apple has pretty much cornered the "premium" computer market now. So Microsoft feels threatened and tries to grab it back. QED.
Personally I'd love to walk in there with a Windows install on Bootcamp and tell them I've got a problem juts to see how long it takes them to blame the hardware.
If MS can't fix any of the hardware they sell on site, even if it's from another vendor, it's going to hurt their reputation and make people hate the stores.
I don't think it will hurt MS reputation, but I do think this aspect may well have people see the stores as basically useless - the equivalent of the Gateway stores (as you mentioned), or perhaps more like the Sony Style stores (which were never widespread).
Basically, this ends up being a vanity project for Microsoft to say "hey, we're cool too!".
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley