Microsoft Will Open Flagship Store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan
It might surprise you to learn that Microsoft has been quietly building up a significant retail presence since 2009. The Microsoft Store retail locations now number over 100 across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. However, despite running a specialty store at Columbus Circle in New York's Manhattan, they've so far lacked a store with some pizazz to really make a statement that they're serious about their Microsoft Store footprint. Well, no more.
The company has secured a choice location having signed a new lease at 677 Fifth Avenue. The location previously housed the Fendi Store but it will soon be offering Microsoft software products and Surface tablets to visitors who wish to venture five blocks down from the nearby Apple Store to take a gander at what the software maker has to offer visitors.
The Fifth Avenue spot will be their flagship location, a centerpiece to their retail strategy overseen by David Porter who is the Corporate Vice President for Worldwide Retail Stores. He stated recently that this was a goal they had for the retail business from day one but up until now they lacked the right location to execute on it.
The location did not come cheap either. Similar real estate in the area leases for $2,750 per square foot and the former Fendi Store location comes with 8,700 square feet. Just under 24 million annual leasing costs. Ouch. The deal was brokered by CBRE.
Microsoft is taking a different approach to retail stores than that of Apple which is famous for the long lines that snake around their buildings when the latest iPhone or iPad is released. The software company sees their stores as a place for experimentation. They have the Nokia phones under their wing now so the Lumia brand will take pride of place. The latest Xbox console will be a popular option for gamers who wish to come to try it out before buying it. The latest Surface Pro 3 and other Windows tablets will also get some room for visitors to play with them and put them through its paces. And the Windows 10 operating system will also be on show once it is released early next year.
A retail store is also something of an anathema to Microsoft because they've always been the large Seattle based company that releases software and tries to stay out of people's way. They're never been especially popular and their products are loathed as much as liked in equal measure. They've always lacked the razzle dazzle of Apple and the Apple-like fanboys to boot. But that's mostly on the software side of things.
With the more open approach to a single version of Windows, a plan to release updates faster and new software cross-platform from day one, we're starting to see a different Microsoft under the careful direction of new CEO Satya Nadella.
The retail store is not seen by the CEO as a core business for Microsoft according to a recent conference call with investors. The company is also working closely with Staples and Best Buy to include mini Microsoft Stores inside some of their retail outlets in order to try to get around the lack of available quality retail spaces for a large presence in certain markets. Their larger stores do lend Microsoft additional visibility and they do try to locate their stores as close to the Apple Stores as possible in order to stay relevant to consumers.
