Microsoft plows ahead with plans for retail store presence
Despite the contrary wisdom of the current economic crisis, Microsoft appears to be moving ahead with plans to open a series of retail stores. The company has hired a former Wal-Mart corporate hound as their corporate VP of retail stores, which probably doesn’t bode well for anyone expecting an intimate, customer-focused retail experience ala your local neighborhood Apple store. Little has been set in stone, but the company is currently scouting out retail locations and attempting to codify its retail strategy, hoping to “improve the PC buying experience”. There’s no word on whether the stores themselves will be solely focused on PC retail, or if they’ll also allow shoppers to purchase various other Microsoft-themed products, including Zunes and XBoxs, though we can’t imagine Microsoft would pass up an opportunity to peddle their full range of wares. The time frame for opening the babies up is still unknown, but in typical Microsoft fashion, we wouldn’t expect much to happen for quite a while, giving us enough time to mentally and physically prepare for the Wal-Mart of computer buying experiences.
Ha, maybe they should buy up some of the Circuit City stores that will be empty in a month or so.
Loads of laptops, unfortunately they ALL run the wrong OS. just go over to the Apple store and see the machine that runs ALL the OS’s. I just love my Mac, it makes money for me every day and has no viruses. iPhones are great too.
^^ What a 14M3R
Found a good take on the situation here via a podcast, really funny:
http://www.amrresearch.com/podcasts/default.asp
Last I checked you also Run mac OS on PC as well.
Shit….I just missed another call on my iphone due to my excessive playing of my fart application….
Buisness device my ass.
Unless they keep locations highly exclusive, this has clusterfuck written all over it. If MS wants to stay above the fray, they would choose 4 or 5 strong logistical cities, at most, and focus on getting the formula right. Instead, what does MS do best? … Fuckin’ ramrods without a compass.
When did Microsoft start making or selling PC’s? When it comes to computers Microsoft is just a software company. Never saw or heard of a x-machine other then the X-box I have seen mice and keyboards but besides the xbox and zune and now clothing what could they possibly sell at a microsoft store.
Microsoft lies about it’s software’s minimum requirements. Microsoft says 1GB for Vista, Walt Mossberg is now saying 3GB. Is Microsoft gonna have it’s “gurus” contradict official company marketing policies? Hard to believe those gurus are really gonna be helpful.
Being an Apple Genius is good entry level position to becoming a Mac administrator. Just hard to believe these Microsoft stores are going to provide the same opportunity to their employees.
backbeat. 100% agree with what you said.
is that a macbook on the upper-left corner?
Why not?
lol @ macbook in the corner.
Let’s see: an App Store and now a retail store. Is there any originality left at Microsoft? Or it all waiting to see what Apple does next? it’s really pathetic.
although I didn’t get laid off, everyone at my job is working reduced hours. I can hardly afford at netbook. What is microsoft thinking? There is no market for this. Five years ago maybe.
I could see something like this working, but as we all know, it need be planned carefully and thought out fully rather than just jumping into it. Assuming that MS knows the situation it’s in with competition, the economy, and society in general, they could very well make this a great success. Good Luck!
I work in real estate and represent several properties that would be excellent sites for Microsoft to open flagship type locations. Does anyone know who would be in charge of their new store openings and decision making??
That looks like the new Samsung NC-10 in White.