Big Apple Opening: Microsoft Stores Opens On Fifth Avenue

Apple's iconic Fifth Avenue store with its unique glass cube entrance may now be overshadowed by Microsoft's new five story, 22,000 square foot store that will open its doors to customers for the first time on Monday. Microsoft's new store is located just a few short blocks away from Apple's store and will sport a glass façade that allows pedestrians to glimpse inside the store. Once inside, customers can seek information and test out the company's wide array of offerings, including Surface Books, Lumia smartphones, Xbox hardware and games. The store will also be the company's only retail location to display its new $3,000 augmented reality headset, HoloLens. The large property also allows Microsoft to deploy "store inside of stores" and will feature products from its partners, including Dell. The store will also feature several "Answer Desks" which offer assistance on any Windows hardware. The Street's Brian Sozzi

that Microsoft Stores COO David McAughan said that "one reason we built these stores is to showcase the first-party products we do have." The executive also said that Microsoft is "at that point in time where we think we have a real story to tell." Microsoft currently operates 111 retail stores across the world, well short of Apple's 456. In an email to Benzinga, Sozzi said Microsoft's new store is "Impressive" and he "likes the focus on services, video walls to drive in a consumer's eye."