microsoftSF

You Can Lose Your Mind, When Tech Stores Are Two of a Kind: Welcome to the Appl…Oops, Microsoft Store (The Video Proof)

Kara Swisher in News on October 22, 2009 at 5:11 pm PT

A gauntlet of wildly cheering sales people dressed in brightly colored T-shirts, a sleek, white store, a simple but elegant design. You will be excused for thinking the video below is from an Apple store, but it is actually from the opening of a Microsoft Store in Scottsdale, Ariz., today. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?

Department of Déjà Vu: Last Microsoft Retail Store Foray Was a Bust

Kara Swisher in News on February 13, 2009 at 6:00 am PT

Displaying BoomTown’s advanced age and elephantine cache of meaningless tech memories, after news yesterday that the software giant was plunging into the retail market, I was surprised to find little mention that Microsoft’s last store effort had ended in failure in 2001. That’s not to say it’s a particularly good or bad idea to hire a former Dreamworks and Wal-Mart exec named David Porter as vice president of retail stores to create Microsoft-branded stores–or as the company announced yesterday, “to create a better PC and Microsoft retail purchase experience.” Just as long as the Zunes go on the back shelf!