Located on tony Fifth Avenue in a location once inhabited by Fendi, Microsoft will sell all of its latest devices including the Surface Pro 4 and the Surface Book laptop/tablet. Inside the new Microsoft Store you can find screens on both sides pushing Microsoft products, and it is the only Microsoft Store with the huge Surface Hub touchscreen display for businesses, in stock.
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Overall, Microsoft seems to have emulated the sleek ambience of the Apple stores. It is the company’s largest store to date. ( MSFT ) said it is opening its first flagship store in the heart of Manhattan at Fifth Ave. and 53rd St on Monday. Those are the first two products you see as you enter the store. Microsoft has emphasized video displays, placing 198 LCD monitors throughout three floors and a 30-foot, two-story video tower with 36 monitors acting as the store’s centerpiece.
Microsoft is jumping into retail.
Highlighting the fact that the opening of the New York City flagship store will give Microsoft an opportunity to create unique branding which the company has failed to create in small retail outlets or with third-party retail partners, eMarketer retail analyst Yoram Wurmser said: “Microsoft wants to create an environment stressing its commitment to the Surface and other new products”.
Microsoft has established more than 110 stores in the USA, Canada and Puerto Rico, but the company wanted to wait for the right moment to establish a flagship.
But why bother having physical retail locations at all, when shoppers – especially tech-savvy ones – are increasingly shifting to online ordering?
You can build it, but will they come?
Visiting the 677 Fifth Avenue location is a little like going to an Apple Store in an alternate dimension.
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Microsoft will also offer free educational workshops and trainings at the store’s community theatre, which can host up to 60 guests.
