Microsoft has confirmed its rumored plan to open what it describes as its “first flagship store” on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, a few blocks away from Apple’s glass-cubed flagship store, reports the WSJ.
“As our first flagship store, it will serve as the centerpiece of our Microsoft Stores experience,” said David Porter, corporate vice president for Microsoft retail stores. “This is a goal we’ve had since day one—we were only waiting for the right location. And now we have it.”
Microsoft started opening its own stores in 2009, some eight years after Apple opened its first retail store in McLean, Virginia. Microsoft currently has 104 stores across the USA, Canada and Puerto Rico, selling laptops, smartphones, Surface tablets, Xbox consoles and accessories.
The store will be located at 677 Fifth Avenue, currently a Fendi outlet. Presumably the company is hoping it might sell a few Surface tablets to help offset the $1.7B loss it has made on the device, despite its series of misleading ads attacking both the iPad (and iPad mini) and MacBook Air …
NYMag also has an interesting piece today on the story behind Apple’s famous glass cube, a clever way of transforming a ‘useless’ basement space into one of the most famous stores in the world.
Steve Jobs apparently wanted a 40-foot cube, which the owner of the property, Harry Macklowe, felt would be too large. Having got to know Steve over numerous conversations, he decided that it would be pointless trying to change his mind. He instead decided on a demonstration.
He invited Apple’s retail development executives, Ron Johnson and Robert “Rob” Briger, to the building two weeks after the Cupertino meeting, to view a scaffolding mock‐up of the cube — in the dead of night. (Regulations forbade Macklowe to build during the day.)
Around two in the morning, the group met in front of the GM Building. The 40‐foot cube was unveiled. They all agreed it was too big. It obscured the building. Macklowe was grinning. He then gave the signal, and the model was dismantled — only to reveal a 30‐foot cube he had secretly constructed underneath.
His magic trick worked. Apple was sold on the smaller cube.
Macklowe said that he was getting so many calls from Steve that he felt they were becoming friends, and the property developer offered Steve a NY office in the GM building behind the Plaza. Steve refused.
When I come to New York, I want to be in Soho. I want to be in Chelsea. I want to be surrounded by young people … I can listen to what they’re thinking. I want to have new ideas.
Macklowe also revealed that part of the deal included a percentage of the store’s sales – but as even Apple had no idea what to expect from the store, he opted for most of the rent in cash with only a tiny percentage – or ‘stop.’
Apple really had no idea what this store was going to do in business per year, and we negotiated the ‘stop’ at a level that turned out to be horrendously low. The first year they made a million dollars a day.
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No. Sock. There.
Now – All they need are some good products to hawk.
Anyone want to bet on how long this store stays open? ;)
No SHOCK There.
It’s too early on a Monday for me.
I’m kinda shocked that *any* of the Microsoft stores are still open, especially after Balmer has left.
Not a single one of them makes money, and even if they did, it wouldn’t be on the level that Apple does. Almost everyone thinks, and rightfully so, that the whole deal is just a “me too” kind of thing by Microsoft as an attempt to show that they have the same kind of consumer caché that Apple does, when they clearly do not.
Throwing all that money, for all those stores down the drain every month must be hellishly expensive. It’s always been a case of *when* they are going to stop, not if.
I’d be interested to know if the Microsoft Stores are actually making any money or whether it’s another black hole that MS is pouring money into.
Without good products how does this store make a difference in how Microsoft is doing in turning a profit. I really see this as a smoke screen of sorts to mask the fact that things are not good..
I was at the Fashion Valley Mall in San Diego a month ago, and they have a MS store almost right next door to the Apple Store. The Apple Store was crazy packed with people while the MS store had more employees than customers. How can MS hope to convince any fence sitter to pick their products over Apple’s when the clear consensus choice is Apple. MS needs to put there stores as far from Apple’s as they can just to avoid the peer pressure.
I hope MS puts a store near me.
The Apple stores here are awful.
You have a Apple store in your mom’s basement? Aren’t you special.
Wouldn’t you need to be allowed OUT to know what’s around you, Herby?
Keep plugging away Microsoft…you were a little late to the game but with continued development you’ll be competitive in short order.
As a gamer the Microsoft store is appealing.
However they seriously need to work on their customer service area.
Went to one of the stores to buy an Xbox one. Almost no customers in there but several employees.
I stood at the desk for a good 10 minutes to ask if they had any Xbox one’s. Even though employees walked by I was not asked once. I only got my answer because I overheard someone else ask the same question and found out they were out. I am 6’5, not exactly easy to miss either.
In contrast to the Apple store. You enter and if you don’t get asked if you need help within a minute (most likely as soon as you step in) its a shock. Plus they are packed.
MSFT needs to get their own ideas. They are not good at hardware. Their strength is their software. They’d be better off doubling down on software not necessarily OS’s. If they actually focused on their software they really could have the best software for all platforms. More people would rather use MSFT office products than Google and Apple’s office products.
Their strength is leveraging their ecosystem to charge companies over $1000 for Office and CALs per system when the actual hardware only costs $699.
MS OFFICE PROFESSIONAL PLUS LICENSE
MS SQL CAL LICENSE
MS SHAREPOINT STANDARD CAL LICENSE
MS LYNC SERVER STANDARD CAL LICENSE
MS EXCHANGE STANDARD CAL LICENSE
MS WINDOWS SERVER CAL LICENSE
All of those CALs are required to be compliant when hoping up a PC or Mac in a corporate environment. What a scam!
“Look… me and the McDonald’s people got this little misunderstanding. See, they’re McDonald’s… I’m McDowell’s. They got the Golden Arches, mine is the Golden Arcs. They got the Big Mac, I got the Big Mick. We both got two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions, but their buns have sesame seeds. My buns have no seeds.”
Thanks Leo….
““As our first flagship store, it will serve as the centerpiece of our Microsoft Stores experience,” said David Porter, corporate vice president for Microsoft retail stores. ”
Any idea what that “Microsoft Store experience” might be? A feeling of emptiness and loneliness, perhaps? :-)
Based on their mall performance, it will be the emptiest store in New York City.
I never even realized Microsoft had a retail store. I live in LA and never saw one or visited one.
I’ve never seen one before either, until I was going around different malls looking for a T-Mobile iPhone 6. I was at the Apple Store at the Topanga Mall in the Valley. There was a Microsoft store right across from the Apple store, and surprisingly, there was a line for something as well. Obviously not as long as the Apple store. The Samsuck kiosk on the other hand, had like 4-5 employees, bored, trying to look busy. ZERO customers.
Thats insane. The rent on the FENDI space on 5TH Ave must be at least 100,000 a month. Why would they waste over a million dollars a year? It just seems like bad business.
BTW, I clicked on those links to stories of Microsoft’s misleading ads, guess what? The videos are PRIVATE or don’t exist anymore! lol
There is a Microsoft kiosk just down from the Apple Store in the mall near my home. Every time I go and visit Apple, I walk by and look over and see two to three MS employees keeping themselves busy because there isn’t anyone coming to the Microsoft kiosk to buy anything. The big TV with the Xbox stands there alone.
The Apple Store looks like a huge ant colony with people running in and out every few seconds.