Microsoft to be Opening Retail Stores Close to Apple Retail Stores

by Jody Mitoma on July 18, 2009 at 4:28 pm

Microsoft is happy to announce that they will be opening several Microsoft retail stores near and neighboring Apple retail stores come later this year, and early 2010.

While Microsoft declared its intentions to enter the retail game and counter Apple’s public image months ago, its chief operating officer Kevin Turner on Wednesday revealed just how important Apple is to its strategy: when they open in the fall, the new shops will be situated near Apple stores, not independently. A Microsoft representative eventually confirmed that at least some stores will be “in proximity” to Apple’s.

Turner also emphasized that the company’s stores will be as much a learning experience as centers of commerce and that it would ’share with partners’ what it finds from its experience. The gesture would potentially assuage fears from PC manufacturers that also sell at retail elsewhere.

He wouldn’t enter into a discussion of what the stores themselves would resemble other than to say they wouldn’t copy Apple. They will instead “innovate for the long term,” one attendee heard Turner mention. One clue as to Microsoft’s direction might be found in the company’s Retail Experience Center near its Redmond headquarters. The 20,000 square foot location has been characterized as a testbed for what the software giant would like to see for Windows PCs, Xbox 360s and Zune media players displayed at retail. Among its touches would be intelligent shopping carts that receive live data to guide customers.

Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet, however, hears from her sources that the stores will be “showcases” more than they will be traditional stores. The strategy is controversial; companies like Dell and Gateway have both tried opening stores that wouldn’t allow customers to carry home physical goods and were ultimately forced to shift their focus towards third-party retail.

via Apple Insider

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