How unusual, Microsoft following Apple. Too bad they don't make a little more hardware to sell in those stores (well, not really - but you get my point perhaps).
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Microsoft Planning 75 New Retail Stores to Take on Apple
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I try to stay out of malls, but my in-laws invited us to a holiday event at a nearby mall. The Apple Store was as usual, jam-packed, and then a few doors further I saw something that just made me stop in astonishment and then bust out laughing. A Microsoft Store that looked like a perfect copy of the Apple Store except for the logo. A couple of employees just inside the window glared at me. At first glance the store looked like it had a decent crowd, not jam-packed like the Apple Store, but good foot traffic, until I noticed that about 3/4 of those in the store were employees.
down to the look of the personnel.....
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/html/pbPage.Locations/losangeles
but... at the end of the day... they sell MS crap...
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/html/pbPage.Locations/losangeles
but... at the end of the day... they sell MS crap...
What if you bring up a computer to this Answer Desk and the people there look at the computer and find it's a hardware and not a software fault. Would the Answer Desk staff still look at the computer or just pass the buck and tell you to do to the hardware manufacturer to get the issue fixed?
That's something I always wanted to know. Would MS deal with hardware issues or just pass the buck to someone else?
That's something I always wanted to know. Would MS deal with hardware issues or just pass the buck to someone else?
Elaborating on that, I believe it was also because, in the cases where they could get their stuff displayed, Apple had zero control over how their stuff was displayed. They didn't like that either, for obvious reasons
Oh... that's right... the one that closed a couple years later. How could I forget?I'm sure that was the model for Apple.
Fanboy or not... this is a blatant effort to copy Apple. I just don't get the economics. Now they compete against everyone and I'm not sure what they'll do at the Help Bar (or whatever they call it) when they don't make the hardware.
LIke the Microsoft branded Desktops, laptops, phones, tablets . . . . oh, they don't do much of that stuff . . .
The main hardware they manufacture has one of the worst (consumer electronics) failure rates in history. Anyone ever hear of the Red Ring of Death, so pervasive, it earned its own acronym: RROD ?
so really, the people who should be up in arms about Microsoft opening a retail isn't Apple or it's fan base. It should be all the retailers both online and store front who currently sell the XBox, accessories and games. And they should because the manufacturer of the product they are selling is now competing with them.
LOL! I went to the LA Store site from your link... clicked on "Make and Appointment" at the Help Desk... Only times that were not available were times that have already passed.
They look really busy! LOL!
I went to the MS store in Mission Viejo CA on opening day. There was a TON of people there. They gave out $50 gift cards. Since the store was jammed I was told I could use the card online. Turns out, 90% of the people there were women and young girls (I was puzzled) because they were giving away 2 tickets to a private Justin Beiber concert. Most people left the minute they got the tickets. Anyway, I went home and found out you COULDN'T use it online.
Months later I was at the mall anyway, so I stopped in and decided to use my gift card. It took them 2 hours to figure out how to use the gift card; they were totally confused! At least I got COD:Black Ops for free.
I've been by it several times, and there are very few people in there. I'll never return, they have nothing that I would want.
I've heard it all before, about a year ago. Still waiting! It's funny because I had a friend call me a few nights back. "Windows wont load" what should I do? my reply, get rid of it.
Hmmmm. Here's a thought
Microsoft Store has a horrible ring to it.
Micro Store sounds small and uneventful.
Software is the core of Microsoft's offerings..
I got it... They should call it the Softcore Store.
That will really get the media buzzing
Microsoft Store has a horrible ring to it.
Micro Store sounds small and uneventful.
Software is the core of Microsoft's offerings..
I got it... They should call it the Softcore Store.
That will really get the media buzzing
So... XBox is the reason for Microsoft stores?
I don't know how much the rent will be for a store in the mall.... but will Microsoft sell enough XBoxes?
Remember... you can buy an XBox anywhere...
I am a bit unclear on what the MS Store is or will be. I've never seen one yet I heard a few years ago about MS opening brick and mortar stores.
The problem (not really a problem) is that MS does not sell hardware. They are a software company with a splish and splash of a few hardware devices (keyboard, mice, Xbox, Zune). So...why would I go to an MS store to buy Office or SQL Server or Windows or the other bazillion products they sell?
My guess is they want to create something like an Apple store with some hardware that people can play around with and have a pristine looking store unlike Staples/BB/CC/Sears that has clueless employees and a poor selection/stock of units. The problem is who will they partner with? If they choose 1 vendor like HP, they will tick off the HP haters like myself and we will never walk in. If they choose multiple vendors, then essentially it's a Best Buy or Staples. However, I bet MS would have some seriously trained employees to know the ins and outs of those hardware...and force the vendors to provide top notch units...as well as not having busted units in the store that bratty teens and kids physically broke (Best Buy and Circuit City and Sears are classic examples of having display models that people busted and yet take weeks to replace).
We'll see what it comes down to. I wouldn't mind actually getting my hands on a some Dells before I buy. Maybe the MS store will have 10+ different Desktop models and 20+ laptop models.
Microsoft cracks me up! Many valid points by some users on here! Windows is licensed by so many other manufacturers, What's the point of a Microsoft store? I could be wrong but I don't see a point for it.
By that logic arent a lot of shops Apple stores, since places like PC World and many electronic retailers sell Macs.
Yes they will sell PC's. The beauty of it is Microsoft remove the bloatware that the companies load onto it, and stick stuff like Microsoft Security Essentials Anti-Virus on it and things you actually need. Also Microsoft negotiate for a cheaper price for the computers in their stores. And they even make sure their laptops dont come with those annoying stickers
Black Box of Death Store. See, I can be that witty too.
Yes, Microsoft does sell Hardware, Xbox. Kinect, Keyboards, Mice and other computer hardware like Webcams and Microphones. They will be showing off all PC vendor hardware, divided into categories like "Business, Gaming, Student" They will also show off Windows Phone 7 Handsets. They also have a variety of software for Windows on sale.
I would say they already do that, I love Windows 7, and Office 2010, Windows 8 looks promising. Do you complain about Apple opening other stores?
Yes because having them all in one place, often at cheaper prices than rip-off merchants like PC World is such a bad thing. I would say you need yours examined if you think of this as a bad idea.
Microsoft opened a store in San Francisco in 1999, I guess opening a Store is Apple's idea and every store for everything ever since is copying Apple.
How sad is it that the only thing Ive wanted from Apple were an iPhone and an iPad. My Cell Phone Provider gave me the iPhone, and I bought the iPad from PC World. Whats the point of an Apple Store?
Yep, opening a store was first done by Apple. Every store and shop in existence simply copied them.
I live by two Microsoft stores and most people seem to go there to play with Kinect.
Everytime Ive had to get to an Apple store, was to actually purchase something, or get a faulty product looked at. Ive had to squeeze through a huge crowd of what Id say were
80% people browsing Facebook on the Macs
10% people returning faulty products
5% people filming themselves at the Apple Store
5% people buying things
Crap for you maybe. But not for over a billion people.
I've been to the one by me. I thought it was a joke. It was like a satire of Microsoft. It is a cheap, pale carbon copy of an Apple store - same glass and wood aesthetic, but with that characteristic trying-to-be-hip lameness that Microsoft puts on everything they do.
Walking around and seeing nothing but a bunch of third party laptop brands with their terrible plastic designs just gave the whole thing a tacky feel. It was like someone dumped a Costco into an empty Apple Store.
They even had a Surfaces demo which now looks and feels laughably outdated compared to iOS.
I'm not even anti-Microsoft. These stores really are just incredibly lame.
Walking around and seeing nothing but a bunch of third party laptop brands with their terrible plastic designs just gave the whole thing a tacky feel. It was like someone dumped a Costco into an empty Apple Store.
They even had a Surfaces demo which now looks and feels laughably outdated compared to iOS.
I'm not even anti-Microsoft. These stores really are just incredibly lame.
I just love this, Microsoft has never let competition flourish as much as under Ballmers rule, that dude doesn't seem to have a clue!?
I dread the day when Microsoft wakes up and understand that they should do what they are good at, and that is not trying to imitate Apples business model.
I dread the day when Microsoft wakes up and understand that they should do what they are good at, and that is not trying to imitate Apples business model.
Apple took a fresh look at retail and designed a successful retail environment which people enjoy going and using. MS need to take a chance and create something fresh that people will want.
The senior management team that approved the MS store should be fire for getting paid lot of money to copy. What a waste of money.
The senior management team that approved the MS store should be fire for getting paid lot of money to copy. What a waste of money.
That's not what I meant when I posted the pic. I meant the new batch of MS stores are looking like trying to copy the successful Apple Store format. Nothing to do with any other shop in the world.
Well... Apple retail stores have the highest revenue per square foot of any retail store.
Somebody must be buying things...
Can you imagine if 10% of the people in Apple stores bought stuff?