Store Wars: Exploring The Galaxy’s First Microsoft Store On Opening Night
1:21 am, October 24th, 2009, Eli Milchman
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — On opening night, Microsoft’s first retail store here drew lots more visitors than the long-established Apple store right down the street.
Microsoft’s store might be a plank-for-plank remake of Apple’s groundbreaking shops, but it’s got one thing Apple’s stores lack — walls of Xboxes.
Hit the jump for more retina-burning retail pix, Microsoft-style.
The first thing that hits you as you enter the store is the wave of happy-happy, joy-joy enthusiasm and color. The sales staff is very friendly. Extremely friendly.
The deliriously delightful staff at Microsoft's first retail store.
The crowd visiting the store seemed a little less tech-savvy and certainly less metrosexual than Apple’s jet-setting, urbanite shoppers. This is Scottsdale, Arizona — a swank suburb of Phoenix — so the crowd is more soccer-mom, a little little less hip. I actually fit in quite nicely. A visitor asked me what the Flip HD vidcam I was playing with was. Not a question I’d expect in an Apple Store.
But that goes for the army of brightly-colored store employees too. One extremely cheerful Microsftee tried to sell me on the fact that there are more Zune apps available than iPhone apps. “Er, what?” I thought.
Fortunately, another employee, who identified himself as a “Zune genius,” set her straight: there are only 12 apps currently available for the Zune.
The money-taking area — ahem, cashwrap, in retail parlance — is even more minimal than an Apple Store's. No, the red shirts don't signify security, and the yelllow-topped employees aren't part of the Federation's engineering team. I asked.
Decor-wise, the store seems to be carbon-copy remake of an Apple Store. Not only that, but an employee confirmed that some of the employees were drafted from Apple Stores. Daring Fireball even posted two videos showing that a manager at the Scottsdale Microsoft Store was once an Apple employee — seen peddling iPod Nanos to Bono and Oprah in a YouTube video — at the Chicago Apple Store.
The store seemed smaller, but that could be just because it was jam-packed with employees, product, people, employees and product. And employees.
Squint just a little and you're looking at some MBPs in an Apple Store.
One really big difference over the Apple Store is the abundance of stuff to do at the Microsoft store. Four of Microsoft’s $15,000, touchscreen “Surface” tables are dotted around the store.
In the back is a massive touch wall-screen and a pair of Guitar Hero Xbox setups. There are several Xboxes installed along one side of the store — their screens projected onto the walls.
Here’s the crowd playing Xbox:
Something the Apple Store lacks: heavy gaming impact.
And here’s the relatively quiet Apple store, which is just a few miles doen the road. Obviously, it’s not opening night at the Apple store, but you gotta wonder about the attraction of a hot game console.
A quiet — maybe ominously quiet — night at the Scottsdale Apple Store, eight miles up the street from Microsoft's new store
One of four $15,000 Microsoft Surface tables in the store.
This really cool, massive touch-screen at the back of the store is somewhat hidden by poor store layout.
The Guitar-Hero area at the back of the store was in constant use.
Posted by Eli Milchman in News, Retail Stores | Comment on this article
When he was eight, Eli Milchman came home from frolicking in the Veld one day and was given an Atari 400. Since then, his fascination with technology has made him an intrepid early adopter of whatever charming new contraption crosses his path. He calls San Francisco home, where he works as a journalist and photographer. Eli has contributed to the pages of 
The only good thing about the Microsuck store that I notice is the presence of The Beatles: Rock Band. Besides that, it fails.
Jamal, on October 24th, 2009 at 2:43 am
Making second rate copies of good ideas is Microsoft’s business model. I bet MS retail stores are gone in 3 years.
Joseph, on October 24th, 2009 at 2:44 am
Its Rock band not guitar hero….
Jordan2g, on October 24th, 2009 at 2:50 am
Looks good
Rajesh Wadhwani, on October 24th, 2009 at 3:34 am
“lots more visitors”
Yeah, but they’ll need lots more buyers.
iFanboy, on October 24th, 2009 at 5:09 am
what they lack in iphone department(like apple stores) they have with xbox…big deal..its still pathetic and rather embarrassing for Microsoft and the people that work there at how much of a copy the store is.
Tim, on October 24th, 2009 at 5:12 am
As long as that? What are you an MS shill?
chano, on October 24th, 2009 at 5:13 am
Wow, I’d figured they’d do a _little_ copying, but geeze man.
Mathue, on October 24th, 2009 at 8:36 am
One HUGE problem I see is that in order to actually purchase an XBox game, you need to get in between a gamer and their screen. This prevents the essential browsing part of game buying and will likely soon result in yelling, game time limits, and eventually removal of the playing area all together.
Nik, on October 24th, 2009 at 8:49 am
I think this is great. Apple has forced MS to crawl out of its shell and try a new approach. If it works or not is another story but for now I like the fact that MS is at least trying. I hate to use the phrase “free market” as it seems to have gotten so political these days but MS stores are a direct result of this and I hope it continues.
Sangony, on October 24th, 2009 at 9:20 am
You know, I wonder what a opening day for a Apple Store was like…
yourofl10, on October 24th, 2009 at 9:35 am
@ Sangony
Agreed. It’s nice to see Microsoft crawl out of its tired old business models and trying something new. Ok they may have copied a lot of what Apple does, but if the formula works why reinvent it?
If they tried something ‘different’ they would have been criticised as being lame and maybe out of touch. This way they are criticised for copying but at least they are copying a proven concept. It’s about time Microsoft embraced fun ;p
KenseiDave, on October 24th, 2009 at 9:57 am
Opening day is opening day. Let’s see how the store compares to the Apple store during the Christmas rush. (How many people you see carrying around a Zune?) Apple has done more to improve Microsoft than Steve Ballmer ever will.
Lee, on October 24th, 2009 at 10:12 am
I live 20 minutes north of the Gates estate, the same distance to Redmond’s headquarters, surrounded by MS this, MS that. Bill and Malinda Gates foundation is always making local news headlines, whatever.
I’ll never turn to windows….My Mac taught me how to “want” to create. My old Dell’s taught me how to deal with anger.
Steven, on October 24th, 2009 at 10:14 am
I agree about the illogical gaming layout, placing merchandise between the players and the monitor. That’s just asking for a confrontation between customers.
And that giant touch screen looks like only an NBA player could reach the top area. But it does look neat.
I imagine this first store will be a learning experience for MS and that they will correct the flaws in future outlets. But I still do not see the logic in this combined retail concept.
Chris, on October 24th, 2009 at 10:31 am
I remember going to one of Dell’s stores before the “COPY” Apple store was invented. Get off your high horse, fanboys. More times than not someone else has done it first…. Just like your girlfriend and in her case it wasn’t someone but plenty of someones.
Bill Jenkins, on October 24th, 2009 at 11:46 am
I think Microsoft should open up retail stores, definitely. Looking at those pictures, I want to go there and play some xbox and fiddle with those surface tables. BUT the fact that they are deliberately copying Apple Stores just makes me mad for some reason. The bright multi-color shirts the employees wear, the lanyards just like apple, their mock genius bar, the wooden floors and tables. Even the way the tables are set up the EXACT way Apple’s are. 3 machines on each side of the table, two tall signs in the middle, slanted signs beside each computer. They could have done it so many different ways, and HAD there been just a Few coincidences, wouldn’t be a big deal. But this is too much.
Chase, on October 24th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Well based on that I don’t think we have much to worry about! LOL!
Course it’s busy, first day opening. That store manager should be looking at writing to Apple and grovelling for his job back, ‘cos he won’t be running that MS store for long! Ha ha!
Fuzzypig, on October 24th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Typically Microsoft LAME-NESS. They can’t come up with their own ideas and copy Apple all the way down to the FURNITURE! Bitch please!
dom, on October 24th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
OK Overpriced Microsoft Surface use processors that lower than the New Mac mini 2.26GHz Core Duo 2. It’s really overpriced 2.13GHz Core Duo 2 the graphics are ATI X1600 256MB, 250GB HD SATA, 2GB DDR2 667GHz this is really the brains with a 30″ Touch Screen that’s $15,000? Microsoft is really going to rape somebody rich and dumb! I rather buy a 65″ Samsung 1080p Flatscreen for $5399 and a New $799 2.53GHz Core Duo 2, 8GB DDR3(yes it can officially handle 8GB now) and 500GB HD Mac mini with Magic Mouse and Wireless Keyboard come out cheaper and better than that! Well I guess its good Microsoft opened a storefront now when your 360 get the RROD or E-74 failures you now got a place to take it to with out waiting 3-4 weeks for shipping and delivery.
LE Studios, on October 24th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Not much action around the money-taking area.
Partners in Grime, on October 24th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
P-a-t-h-e-d-i-c. Didn’t MS try this already in the past? And failed? Apple retail’s focus is to enrich customers lives, and give them the “complete solution”. MS employees in their random colored shirts can pretty much just add on Anti-Virus software and call it a day. Fail.
Elizabeth, on October 24th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
Can’t wait to visit a Microsoft Retail Store. Got my virus disk ready and everythang.
Nef@r!ous
Nefarious, on October 25th, 2009 at 6:16 am
LE Studios:
That is why it’s not yet available to a wider public: just stores and developers.
It’s heading for a 2010 release with a lower pricetag.
-Bejn
Bejn, on October 25th, 2009 at 6:28 am
Wow! I am sure people will run right our and buy one of those 4 Microsoft Surface tables for 15,000 dollars. Nice try but it is like an accident – these people are rubber necker’s – not customers. After awhile who is even going to even stop by? I can play xbox at Fry’s/BestBUy if I need to. Do your think the other retailers are going to like Microsoft selling their computer brands? No! Microsoft will always have to sell at a higher profit. Not because Ballmer is a rocket scientist but because BestBuy and others are going to constantly bitch. What a freaking joke. So this will become a complaint store where people go to bitch about Windows 7. I will visit just so I can hear all the sales reps help people who use Vista they should upgrade to Windows 7.
By the way I laughed when I saw the Lenovo Thinkpad now with Windows 7. I bought one for my wife the other day. It was 2.0 ghz with four gigs or ram and it wouldn’t even boot into Windows 7. After I finally got it going it wouldn’t let me uninstall the trial version of Office or Roxio Media Center. Then I started getting remote call procedures and the screen blanked. I won’t even bitch about how long it took me to find a driver to get her printer working. Apparently HP says it isn’t available yet? How long has Windows 7 been in beta? Shame on you HP. I took it back to the store and asked the manager if this reminded him of Vista and he just smirked. BTW – it wasn’t the computer – it ran XP and Ubuntu fine.
I can’t believe somebody doesn’t axe Ballmer. He is a complete and pathetic idiot. That man alone has done more to eff up Microsoft than anything. Yes – the buck stops there. Microsoft should spend more time fixing their crappy products and less time throwing Windows 7 tupperware parties.
I am not a fanboy of anything – I just want something that works. Apparently until Windows 7 – six months from now – it just won’t.
Harden Atuhl, on October 25th, 2009 at 9:44 am
The Apple store in not right down street. It’s in Phoenix. 6-7 miles away.
Rizza, on October 25th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Actually, both stores are in Scottsdale, and both are on North Scottsdale Rd. There are other Apple Stores in the Greater Phoenix area.
Eli Milchman, on October 25th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
What interests me is something that nobody has so far commented on in stories about the MSFT stores: Who decides, and on what basis, what partner OEMs get their desktops and laptops sold or featured in these stores?
Obviously there are so many MS-Windows-licensed computers that the stores couldn’t carry all of them. So, how does MSFT store operations decide between Toshiba and Acer, HP and Asus and Sony, etc?
Could it be that (should these stores actually be successful) MSFT will use the stores to strong-arm partners into not offering, say, netbooks with Linux preloaded? MSFT has a long history of such tricks.
Would inclusion in the store confer an implied ‘blessing’ of MSFT, along the lines of, ‘these are the best Windows7 machines out there,’ or ‘these machines have demonstrated the highest compatibility and workability with our OS and programs’?
Looking at the online MSFT store, I see very, very few laptops offered … just a handful, in fact.
This also raises the question of MSFT competing with its partners in other ways. Would the MSFT store offer discounts on an Asus netbook with Win7? Or would the store not discount commodity PCs at all? Without discounts, the MSFT is not going to sell any PCs — the customers will find better deals at Best Buy or Walmart or online, just about anywhere. But without sales, the space devoted to the laptops and desktops is wasted as retail (though perhaps valuable as pushing the MS-Windows experience in hands-on ways you can’t find at Best Buy stores).
And then, with so much of the floor space ‘wasted’ in the commercial sense, would the stores devolve into ‘XBox Stores’? That’s kind of what I expect: that 90% of the store space would be devoted to XBox playing, XBox games, and XBox accessories … with a pitiful and sad corner in the back where a few boxes of Win7 and MS-Office gather dust beside some full-priced laptops.
I’ve seen other predictions that this is what will happen, too. If it does, the next question becomes, Can the XBox alone support these stores? MSFT has in the past shown a willingness to expend monopoly-dollars into losing ventures for long-term gains — the gaming platform itself lost many millions for years — so maybe they would.
pond, on October 26th, 2009 at 8:58 am
I haven’t heard anyone ask the obvious question about opening day in this first store: How many of the “visitors” did Microsoft pay or otherwise compensate for their participation? In a video I saw, the shrill noise level of the crowd seemed falsely manic.
Dave Gude, on October 26th, 2009 at 11:38 am
I don’t understand all of the hostility towards MS opening up a retail store. Sure it’s lame that they essentially copied an Apple Store, but in the long run, who cares?
If people want Apple products, they’ll go to the Apple Store. If they don’t, they might go to the MS Store to play with something new, go home, and find it for cheaper online. I fail to see how this impacts Apple in any significant way; especially with the stores 8 miles from each other. It’s not like they’re even in the same mall.
I’m not a fan of MS at all and I don’t foresee their retail presence being sustainable, but I still fail to see how this is in any way a threat to Apple.
Rick, on October 26th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
Who the hell cares that MS opened a retail store, ya know what in this economy I hope they open 500 more. MS is actually providing new jobs with this and providing new competition for apple in this market how is that a bad thing? Everyone complaining that the MS store is just an Apple store clone needs to get over themselves, MS is here to stay with there store.
Dombre, on October 26th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Actually, it’s Microsoft’s first store. Their first store opened in 1999 and was a failure. More info on that here:
Microsoft New Store, Unique or Apple Store Copy?
http://obamapacman.com/2009/10/microsoft-tries-to-copy-apple-store-scottsdale-az-store-opening-reveals-extent-of-blatant-plagiarism/
Obama Pacman, on October 26th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
google why are you so obsessed with apple, continuing to dump on them.
could it be your a poor looser when it comes to makeing phones .you have good company . please get over it . enough is enough.
basil Cleary, on October 26th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
The fact that the store is a copy of Apple is very deliberate. m$ wants/needs it to look that way.
Every one likes Apple products, even Apple haters know that Apple stuff is the best. Apple is cool and has cool products that every one wants. MS knows this. MS is trying to show the world that it is just like Apple.
Sure it is a copy of Apple but that is fine. It want to be a copy of Apple. It knows it cannot be better than Apple in the eyes of the public. The only way it can compete with Apple is to appear to be the same as Apple.
Greg, on October 27th, 2009 at 2:12 am
I think they would have been better off calling it an “Xbox” store. Thats the crowd they’re going to attract.
Besides the $15,000 tech demos around the store, how is this any different from any Best Buy or DeoDeo in the world? Its just a generic computer store with expensive tech demos.
Apple at least had a good reason for their stores when they first started (more exposure in high traffic area, better support, actually having their products somewhere for a change). MS is just trying to play catchup. Sadness.
Joshua Zimmerman, on October 27th, 2009 at 11:14 pm
Hehe 4th photo down top left corner is an Apple store employee in uniform wearing an Apple track jacket.
Tialyx, on October 28th, 2009 at 9:45 am
Tialyx: You’re right; good catch! Completely missed that.
Eli Milchman, on October 28th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Really am trying not to be biased, but the store looks so cheesy and well, a bit rubbish to be frank. It looks quite bland and the fact that there are a large variety of computers that are quite unattractive makes the store look even worse.
Jake Brown, on October 31st, 2009 at 4:39 pm