Nicholas TariqFaced with the undeniable success of Apple's retail store strategy, Microsoft is reportedly prepping its own retail boutiques, the first of which may turn up in the heart of New York City.
But Microsoft isn't looking to rent just any Times Square space, according to the report. Microsoft is said to be eyeing a location at 1, Times Square, the building famed as the backdrop to the New Year's Eve celebrations, including the New Year's Eve ball drop.
What is unclear is whether the company's initiative to secure a New York store is a precursor to a larger strategy for a retail presence. In the late 1990s, the software giant launched MicrosoftSF, a major San Francisco outfit to showcase its latest products. The store closed shop a mere three years later.
If the reports are accurate, Microsoft is again pinning its hopes on a high-visibility storefront — this time with the aim of regaining public mind-share now thought to have been captured by Apple. "They are not going to let Apple take that environment," Marshal Cohen, chief analyst at NPD Group, told Post reporter Louise Kramer.
Apple currently operates 120 retail stores worldwide, and intends to close out fiscal 2005 with 125 stores. The company will soon operate four locations in New York City, as evidenced by job listings and retail sources.
To much fanfare, in 2002 Apple launched its first New York City location in downtown trendy SoHo. The company now plans an extensive new outfit in Midtown Manhattan that sources say will upstage SoHo as Apple's premier New York flagship location. The company also holds plans for stores in the New York City borough of Staten Island, as well as the Flatiron district of Manhattan — both of which could open later this year.
"The Apple store has succeeded beyond their wildest dreams," said Marianne Wilson, senior editor of Chain Store Age to the The Post.
Most notably, Apple's stores reached $1 billion in sales faster than any other retail chain in history. Microsoft is likely to try and duplicate that success.
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20 Comments
What do they have to sell?
Wow! Not to state the obvious or anything, but 1 Times Square is going to cost an absolute fortune. A bidding war would be a good laugh! Anyone round here have any experience with property of that sort? Surely tens of millions, perhaps more?
What do they have to sell?
Virus protection?
What do they have to sell?
Exactly what I thought. Cardboard boxes? Thats something UPS or USPS delivers, not something you buy at a chic store.
I guess they'd sell boxed copies of MS software and keyboards/mice/etc. They'll also sell XBoxes. Seems kind of funny that they'd be selling all those xboxes at a loss in a place that costs that kind of cash. Anyway, it seems kind of stupid to go to Times Square to get an xbox when you can get one online or at any electronics store.
I've seem some interesting thoughts on other message boards (and my own) about this store:
1.) Could you imagine the line for the "Genus Bar"?
2.) Would you have to leave through the "entrance" door?
3.) Would you get a cold virus if you stayed inside for more than 20 minutes?
4.) Would the cash registers, lights, elevators, etc. just stop working at random times?
5.) Would the windows work?
6.) Would it attempt look like the SOHO Apple store, only crappier?