Microsoft to open Austin store on Apple turf
updated 11:50 pm EST, Mon February 6, 2012
Microsoft Store to open at Domain in Austin
Microsoft through its Facebook page and separate confirmations has confirmed another retail store opening that will clash with an Apple location. The new store will open in northern Austin's Domain shopping center, a location Apple has occupied since 2007. It hasn't given a date or an exact position of where the store will be located.
News of the store follows just over a week after Microsoft planned a similar push Palo Alto in California, one of the closest locations to Apple's actual headquarters. The store is due to open in April.
Microsoft has slowly been shifting its strategy from considering its stores to be experiments for retail concepts to making them direct, Windows-friendly alternatives to Apple shops. As many as 75 new stores will be open in the next few years, most of which will be in the US and in many cases will either be close to or inside malls where Apple operates.
The stores in many ways emulate the Apple model, but include more diverse lineups such as Xboxes. Its PC lineup also stands out from the traditional Windows lineup by including 'signature' notebooks that aren't saddled with the usual trial apps and other unwanted content from their regular versions.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Feb 2005
Opening a Microsoft Store Near an Apple Store ...
... is like opening a lemonade stand across the street from a McDonald's.
With bad lemonade.