Microsoft will open its first two retail stores in ritzy malls in Scottsdale, Arizona, and at The Shops at Mission Viejo, California — two locations where Apple already has stores, CNet reports.
A few days ago, it was revealed that Microsoft is considering many of the same features that make Apple’s stores so successful, including a rival to the Genius Bar called the “Guru Bar.”
One of the key factors in Apple’s success is the location of its stores. Apple chooses upscale malls, or shopping streets in tony neighborhoods, with lots of foot traffic and easy freeway access.
Microsoft has obviously learned the same lesson. Its first two shops will be at the Scottsdale Fashion Square in the heart of Scottsdale, one of the richest satellite towns of Phoenix area. Apple opened an architecturally stunning store at the nearby Scottsdale Quarter mall in June.
Microsoft’s other store will be at The Shops at Mission Viejo, another rich town south of Los Angeles in the heart of Orange County. Apple already has a store in The Shops mall.
“Over a billion people use our products every day yet we don’t always have a way to directly connect with them,” Microsoft spokeswoman Kim Stocks told CNet. “We see the physical stores, as well as a consistent online experience, helping that.”
Like Apple, Microsoft also intends to take its shops global, the company told CNet, though declined to give details.
Microsoft has reportedly hired former Apple real estate chief George Blankenship as a consultant to help securing locations for its stores. The company has confirmed that it hired Wal-Mart veteran David Porter to head up its stores initiative.
The stores will open in the fall, just before Microsoft launches Windows 7 on October 22.
Leander Kahney is the editor and publisher of Cult of Mac.
Leander is a longtime technology reporter and the author of six acclaimed books about Apple, including two New York Times bestsellers: Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple’s Greatest Products and Inside Steve’s Brain, a biography of Steve Jobs.
He’s also written a top-selling biography of Apple CEO Tim Cook and authored Cult of Mac and Cult of iPod, which both won prestigious design awards. Most recently, he was co-author of Cult of Mac, 2nd Edition.
Leander has been reporting about Apple and technology for nearly 30 years.
Before founding Cult of Mac as an independent publication, Leander was news editor at Wired.com, where he was responsible for the day-to-day running of the Wired.com website. He headed up a team of six section editors, a dozen reporters and a large pool of freelancers. Together the team produced a daily digest of stories about the impact of science and technology, and won several awards, including several Webby Awards, 2X Knight-Batten Awards for Innovation in Journalism and the 2010 MIN (Magazine Industry Newsletter) award for best blog, among others.
Before being promoted to news editor, Leander was Wired.com’s senior reporter, primarily covering Apple. During that time, Leander published a ton of scoops, including the first in-depth report about the development of the iPod. Leander attended almost every keynote speech and special product launch presented by Steve Jobs, including the historic launches of the iPhone and iPad. He also reported from almost every Macworld Expo in the late ’90s and early ‘2000s, including, sadly, the last shows in Boston, San Francisco and Tokyo. His reporting for Wired.com formed the basis of the first Cult of Mac book, and subsequently this website.
Before joining Wired, Leander was a senior reporter at the legendary MacWeek, the storied and long-running weekly that documented Apple and its community in the 1980s and ’90s.
Leander has written for Wired magazine (including the Issue 16.04 cover story about Steve Jobs’ leadership at Apple, entitled Evil/Genius), Scientific American, The Guardian, The Observer, The San Francisco Chronicle and many other publications.
Leander has a postgrad diploma in artificial intelligence from the University of Aberdeen, and a BSc (Hons) in experimental psychology from the University of Sussex.
He has a diploma in journalism from the UK’s National Council for the Training of Journalists.
Leander lives in San Francisco, California, and is married with four children. He’s an avid biker and has ridden in many long-distance bike events, including California’s legendary Death Ride.
You can find out more about Leander on LinkedIn and Facebook. You can follow him on X at @lkahney or Instagram.
