Massive Microsoft Store opens in Seattle-area
Crowds packed Bellevue Square mall this morning as the seventh Microsoft Store (and the first on the company’s home turf) officially opened its doors.
The first 1,000 people into the store received VIP tickets to a Miley Cyrus concert at the store on Saturday. The next 1,000 got two general admission tickets to the show.
And in a surprise move later in the day, Dave Matthews took the stage for a special acoustic performance.
As people started arriving (and camping out) last night, Microsoft provided a DJ, break dancers and a food truck to keep everyone entertained and well-fed until the doors opened.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer cut the ribbon at 9:30 a.m. and announced more than $1 million in software grants 
to local organizations including the King County Library, First Robotics of Washington, Seattle's Cleveland High School and the Bellevue School District.
The staff of 50 employees was upped to 1,000 just to manage the event which drew many thousands of visitors to shop and ogle all of the new technology on display.
The store itself is a piece of art. The 5,374 square foot space boasts 112 digital screens - or one screen for every 48 square feet.
For more info on this ongoing extravaganza (like, say, playing Kinect with Apolo Ohno on Friday night), follow Microsoft Store on Twitter or like Microsoft Store on Facebook.
Learn about retail and management careers with Microsoft at the Microsoft Store Careers site. Once in the site, make sure to join the Talent Network to stay connected with our recruiting team.
5 Comments
lauro Beck said:
I like so much databases and c# programming language !!!
seamus said:
I like all that too, but I like looking at all of the cool new Microsoft products under one roof even better.
the store is way more colorful and exciting than an Apple store.
Frank said:
It was a great retail experience. I found the staff very informed and helpful - However, I was bummed that the new Dell Windows Phone 7 w/QWERTY keypad was not available :(.
What was fun also was the side-by side compare with the Apple store that is near bye. It’s clear that APPLE's closed world allows them a greater degree of control over the retail experience. Apple is able to define a tighter retail brand experience- yet that is not necessarily better. When in the Microsoft store it felt like there was more potential for discovery- more variety - less aseptic feel. The Apple store felt almost like a hospital or museum while Microsoft was more like a marketplace where you did not know what you would find.
Idea:
Surface is pretty cool but somewhat underutilized. I am very surprised they did not use the Surface display as a retail experience enhancement tool. Seems it would be pretty simple to create an interactive UI for the store that could be used to highlight the location of desired products and in store promotions. How many RSP are inundated with questions like "where is XXX located in store?". Net, its a missed opportunity for the Surface team to show off how their product could be utilized to enhance a retail experience for consumer and drive more business for a merchant.
Net - Great job I am glad to see the store and look forward to seeing all the innovation on Microsoft's platforms.
Microsoft store said:
Great post, Thanks for sharing this new Massive Microsoft Store opens in Seattle-area
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