The Apple Store on New York’s Fifth Ave has become nearly as iconic as the other shiny glass and aluminum beauties it sells, and now Microsoft is ready to take on Apple in the Big Apple with a Fifth Ave store of its very own.
Microsoft is in negotiations to open its first ever NYC store on Fifth Ave, reports the Daily News, which says the new shop will go up a mere six blocks away from Apple’s famous store.
The new store would be located on 677 Fifth Ave. near 53rd St, giving Microsoft a flashy retail location at the most popular retail corridor in the country. The spot Microsoft is looking to takeover was last occupied by luxury fashion brand Fendi, and includes 8,700 square-feet of retail space over its two floors.
Renting ground floor space on Fifth Avenue can cost as much as $3,500 per square foot, which isn’t too steep when your store makes more profit per square foot than any retail location in the world. But for Microsoft, who barely flirted with the idea of taking on Apple in NYC back in 2012 with a pop-up store in Time Square, they’re going to need a whole new product lineup, or have Ballmer and Gates greeting people at the door to get half as many people as the cube sees on a launch day.
