Sneak peek at new Microsoft stores

Jake Widman
Tuesday, 28 July 2009 03:37

IT Industry - Strategy

Plans for the upcoming Microsoft retail outlets have surfaced, and Microsoft has indicated that they're real.

The stores will feature a wall-size screen touting new products, promoting seasonal specials, and generating "inclusive exuberance" in the store, according to the plans.

The plans make several references to "Emily," apparently the personification of the target customer. Emily, for example, watches the Today show while checking e-mail.

Like Apple stores and Sony Lifestyle stores, the Microsoft outlets will have attractively arranged samples of technology for visitors to try out.

The plans, prepared by design and branding firm Lippicott, also explicitly discuss Niketown and AT&T stores' identity systems, signage, fixtures, and materials.

The stores will even have an Answer Bar for customers to get help with their questions.

The plans, in a series of slides , first appeared on technology blog Gizmodo .

A representative of Waggener Edstrom, one of Microsoft's PR firms, left a comment on the blog implying that the plans were just "early prototypes and concepts," but also implying that they were real.

For more on Microsoft's stores, see Page 2.