Microsoft to open retail stores

Software giant Microsoft is preparing to open two bricks-and-mortar retail stores in the US later this year, following rival Apple’s lead.

The stores will be located in Mission Viejo, California and Scottsdale, Arizona, with the California location set to compete with an Apple retail store.

Microsoft corporate communications director Kim Stocks told The Age that these locations were chosen because they are “hot markets” with the correct demographics.

The store will sell hardware, such as laptops, along with third-party software, the Zune line of media players and Xbox 360 consoles and games.

Details of the stores were leaked to tech site Gizmodo, which obtained a PowerPoint presentation showing the fit-out of the stores, which include a “Guru Bar” where customers can receive advice about Microsoft products. Apple has a similar “Genius Bar” at which users can ask for advice and repairs.

“Essentially, Microsoft is taking the best elements from the Apple Store, Sony Style and other “flagship” stores,” Gizmodo wrote.