First MS Retail Stores Will be In Scottsdale, AZ and Mission Viejo, CA 189
UnknowingFool writes "MS has announced the locations of its first two retail stores. The first one will be located at The Shops in Mission Viejo, CA sometime in the fall. There is an existing Apple store at the location. The second one will be located in Scottsdale Fashion Square in Scottsdale, AZ. That location does not have an Apple store. According to Corporate Communications Director Kim Stocks, the locations were picked because they were 'hot markets,' presumably meaning high traffic. Also, the stores will sell laptops, Zunes, Xbox 360s, MS and 3rd party software. No details on which laptops were provided."
Wrong! (Score:3, Informative)
The Scottsdale loc does have an Apple store; it's shiny, new and enormous. I just bought a mac-mini there a couple days ago.
Hot markets = upscale? (Score:3, Informative)
Not that I expect an MS store to compete with WalMart, but these first two locations seem to target flush consumers.
Only true if MS made laptops (Score:3, Informative)
Microsoft is going to have to sell somebodies laptops in the store - probably a mix of Dell and HP and possibly someone else.
So while they might irk the hardware makers they do not choose to sell, I don't think any of the makers are going to make a big deal of it.
Re:Dell, HP, Lenovo, Asus: TAKE NOTE! (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Wrong! (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Wrong! (Score:4, Informative)
How this got modded informative is beyond me. Anyone can simply head over to the web site that Apple maintains with the list of stores [apple.com]. The stores in Arizona are:
Furthermore, there's a link to the store at Scottsdale Quarter [apple.com], which gives a map that shows the store is located on Scottsdale Road south of Kierland Boulevard. A Google search will turn up the site for the Scottsdale Fashion Square [fashionsquare.com] mall, which is at the intersection of Camelback and Scottsdale Roads. Plugging that into Google Maps (which Apple conveniently uses for the map and provides a driving directions link for) shows that the two locations are separated by 8.5 miles. So they're not even close.
It Failed in SF, it won't work now. (Score:4, Informative)
How is this the first?
Their first store was in San Francisco at the Metreon in 1997.
It failed miserably.
Re:'Hot Market' (Score:2, Informative)
I didn't realize that Mission Viejo was such a hot market... No one goes to The Shops except for locals. If MS really wanted to 'showcase' their products they could have chosen a much more high profile-venue. And there are plenty in OC: The Spectrum, South Coast, Fashion Island, or even The Block.
The Shops being more of a locals mall is exactly why it is a good place. It is deep in south Orange County and surrounded by large amounts of high class residential neighborhoods who are in the perfect position to give the mall repeat business. You also have to realize what "locals" means to The Shops, as there are no other malls or major shopping centers from Laguna Hills mall (which sucks and I don't even go there despite it being my closest mall) to all the way down past San Clemente. It's where most of south Orange County shops, plain and simple, and is a perfect market to break into.
The Spectrum and The Block are both outdoor malls with movie theaters, entertainment, and hangout destinations. You really need instant gratification and that gee-whiz factor to keep people's attention in those types of entertainment malls, something Microsoft totally does not have. South Coast, while very high class in its selection of stores, is more of a tourist/destination mall, and the Costa Mesa/Santa Ana area is really not the best market for local repeat business. Fashion Island would probably be a good alternative, and was one of the first places I remember there being an Apple Store around here, but The Shops still has the better location due to its lack of competition of other nearby shopping centers while Fashion Island has the equally classy South Coast mall less than 10 miles away to compete with.
Anyway I used to work at The Shops and the majority of the clientele were MILFs/trophy wives or the equally well-funded affluent teenage children of said MILF/trophy wives. These people are prime pickings for computer products and services as they love technology but have no idea what they are doing, are easily influenced, and will believe anything you show/tell them. The place I work at in the area charges over a hundred dollars to go plug in a wireless router to your cable modem and connect your laptop to it and these people will seriously pay it. If Microsoft wants a place to dispense its own flavor of kool-aid, The Shops would be it.