Report: Is this the first look inside the Microsoft store experience? |
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Report: Is this the first look inside the Microsoft store experience?
Image via Gizmodo
We've been trying to track down details on Microsoft's new chain of retail stores -- including design plans, images and locations -- for a few weeks now. We've gotten some clues on where they're headed with the concept, especially after the company hired former Apple real estate chief George Blankenship as a consultant.
That drove some speculation that Microsoft may copy the Apple store idea -- complete with demo stations and a Genius Bar knock-off.
Now, thanks to Gizmodo we may be getting a better picture of what the Microsoft retail experience will entail. Gizmodo today published a leaked PowerPoint presentation from the design firm Lippicott, which shows a Microsoft store mockup that includes a large digital media wall that wraps around the store, demo areas for the Microsoft Surface and a so-called "Answers Bar" or "Guru Bar."
You also can apparently schedule birthday parties at the store. And there are even special shopping bags, described in the slides as "iconic expressions of the store experience and identity."
We've not been able to confirm -- nor has Gizmodo for that matter -- whether these drawings are the real deal or not. Check out the 54-slide Powerpoint, and let us know what you think and whether you'd shop there.
Gizmodo's Matt Buchanan seems convinced, writing that the new store is "going to make the Apple Store look downright boring."
UPDATE: A Tweet from the official Microsoft Twitter account appears to confirm the legitimacy of the documents, though it says they are "early store concepts, no final decisions made."
About Todd Bishop
Todd Bishop is co-founder and managing editor of TechFlash. He has covered Microsoft and the technology industry for more than five years, most recently as a daily newspaper reporter and blogger based in Seattle.
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