Microsoft stores breaking ground in Orange County, Arizona
Microsoft certainly isn't entering the retail outlet game with timidity. Earlier this month, Microsoft COO Kevin Turner issued bellicose statements indicating that when the software company begins to open its new chain of retail outlets this fall, some of those stores will be set up "right next...
Microsoft certainly isn't entering the retail outlet game with timidity. Earlier this month, Microsoft COO Kevin Turner issued bellicose statements indicating that when the software company begins to open its new chain of retail outlets this fall, some of those stores will be set up "right next door" to those operated by software archrival Apple, creator of the ubiquitous iPhone and iPod devices and the Mac OS X operating system.
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This week, Microsoft revealed where it would be making its first stand on the retail outlet battlefront against Apple. Speaking to The Seattle Times, a Microsoft representative confirmed that the company will open one of its first stores at The Shops at Mission Viejo in Orange County, California, which currently houses an Apple Store. A second location, at the Scottsdale Fashion Square, in Scottsdale, Arizona, will also open this fall, though Apple does not currently operate a store in the immediate area.
"We really picked them because they're hot markets," the Microsoft representative said of the decision to The Seattle Times. "Scottsdale is one of the fastest growing markets in the U.S. Mission Viejo is consistently rated one of the best places to live." Microsoft has not yet announced what it intends to name its retail outlet chain.
As with Apple and Sony's Style stores, Microsoft plans to offer a range of hardware and software products at its brick-and-mortar shops, including Xbox 360s and Zunes. The publisher's latest operating system--Windows 7--is expected to go on sale October 22.
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