Microsoft opens Tysons Corner store near Apple

Microsoft on Thursday opened its first East coast store at the Tysons Corner mall in McLean, Virgnia. The company's location, deliberately located just moments away from Apple's first-ever retail store, saw an eight-hour line to get in. As with most of Microsoft's openings, though, the queue was primarily to get free tickets for a Microsoft-run Joe Jonas show the following Saturday, which only went out to opening day visitors.

The opening also carried an unintentional irony for Microsoft, since it revealed in a photo that the DJ hired to entertain the waiting line was using a Mac. Microsoft had him cover the back of his MacBook Pro with a "Microsoft Store" sheet.

Choosing Tysons Corner is a symbolic entrance into the East coast after focusing primarily on the West, most of all California and Washington state. Microsoft has signaled a more serious retail expansion in the next two to three years that would take it beyond just a retail experiment and into more direct retail competition with Apple.

By Electronista Staff