A new report claims Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) will open a retail store in New York City’s famed Fifth Avenue. The report comes from New York Daily News.
Microsoft declined discussing retail plans
Microsoft’s representative stated the company is always searching for the best possible locations for Microsoft retail stores but declined to give any information beyond that. The PC maker already has a kiosk speciality store in Columbus Circle but as of yet there is no full retail store in Manhattan.
There are other full size Microsoft retail stores in NYC including a Long Island location.Microsoft previously opened a retail store at Times square years ago but it subsequently closed months later. The Windows maker already has over 100 retail stores in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. The company has yet to open any stores outside this area. It was reported the company was looking into opening stores in the United Kingdom, but it appears those plans were abandoned.
Microsoft’s top competitor Apple has plenty of retail stores throughout the world
Microsoft’s main rival Apple already has hundreds of retail stores throughout the world. Four of those stores are in Manhattan.
During the company’s Q4 fiscal 2014 earnings call, CEO Satya Nadella said he believe retail stores are not the core of the business but rather a supporting system. Microsoft still maintains it’s retail focus in big box stores like Best Buy and Staples where it was a store-within-a-store outlets.
In other Microsoft news, there is a growing concern that the Surface tablet will be the next Zune. Earlier this year, the company nixed plans to unveil a Surface Mini and put more focus the Surface Pro 3. Nadella even used Microsoft Surface as an example of the company’s plan to approach devices created by third parties. It also serves as a productivity focus on hardware.
