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."

Comments

Going the way of Gateway

[hfsys]

Hey didn't Gateway open retail stores, right before their final demise? This is't really a bad thing then, is it?

Talk about a lousy job...

[jcr]

Working at the Microsoft store in a mall where there's an Apple store would be a painful experience.

-jcr

I hope they sell...

[dan_sdot]

...Clippy the Action Figure!

Well... Yeah...

[Monkeedude1212]

"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.

Dell, HP, Lenovo, Asus: TAKE NOTE!

[mcrbids]

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!

look at it this way

[nimbius]

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.

Re:look at it this way

[Telvin_3d]

Will they have a genius bar? If my Aunt Click-on-everything has messed up her computer, can I simply point her to the Microsoft Store store and expect them to fix it for free?

Doesn't matter if you can because everyone automatically will. First, because Apple has trained people to expect the kind of service. The last thing MS wants to do is get a reputation for saying that it's the other guys that take care of their customers.

Second, there will finally be a live face for Microsoft. This is huge and I don't think MS realizes how this is going to play out. As someone who has sold computers and has a lot of experience with hardware support, the eternal refrain in every box store employee in the world when clueless customers come back four months later with screwed up software is "I'm sorry, that's a Windows problem, there's nothing we can do". Now there is actually a face for Windows. There will be physical stores where poor unsuspecting sales people will be forced to address every software problem that can happen on a windows box, regardless of if it is actually caused by anything MS is responsible for.

See, the backfire to MS's ubiquity is that for a LOT of people (and a majority of those that will be prone to software problems) equate the the computer with Windows. Their computer IS windows and everything that happens on it is Windows. So if something is wrong is is a Windows problem. And now every box store employee that doesn't want to spend time troubleshooting another screwed up system has somewhere to point the customers. And once people have been told that their hardware is fine but Windows is broken the employees at the MS store are NEVER getting rid of them.

Re:Anyone Going?

[Man On Pink Corner]

I just got back from the Mission Viejo store. They're serving free beer! At least, they said it was beer, I've never had bright-red, fruit-flavored beer served with ice in a glass pitcher before. Anyway, apart from the cherry-flavored sugary stuff they said was beer, the Microsoft store experience is a well-executed, classy affair that calls to mind the most elegant retailers outside the technology sector, from Nordstrom's to Saks Fifth Avenue to Neiman Marcus. There was free beer, and the tranquil, soothing environment makes you feel like you're the only customer in the store (which I'm sure was just a coincidence in my case) and really puts the crowded, noisy atmosphere in the Apple store to shame.

Clearly, Microsoft, under the forward-looking leadership of CEO Ballmer, has taken a bold yet welcome step into the world of luxury retail. Their new storefront strategy looks like a can't-miss proposition. And the beer, did I mention the beer was really good? And it was free, too, I'm pretty sure I mentioned that. Anyway, I look forward to returning, once I've installed these new copies of Vista Ultimate Edition I just picked up. Thanks, Steve!

Re:Anyone Going?

[shrubya]

Here's pics from two guys who visited a few days ago.

Re:Only true if MS made laptops

[sprag]

Its yet another club that MS can use against the OEMs.

Don't like what MS demands for the desktop? Oops, I guess we can't sell your laptops in the stores anymore.

Promise to ditch linux? Yeah, we can make space for your wares in the stores.

This isn't good news for vendors no matter how you slice it.

put them next or inside Walmart, that's where they

[Locutus]

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

Re:Anyone Going?

[StyxRiver]

And so, with that, the might Woosh bird takes flight.

Kool-aid. He drank the Microsoft kool-aid.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=drink+the+kool-aid

The only good part of the store... maybe

[jameskojiro]

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?

They need to fix those laptops, in store

[bigtrike]

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.

At the Microsoft store

[93 Escort Wagon]

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".