(Image and video courtesy of 9to5Mac)
It looks like the folks in Redmond have fired up their copying machines again, this time taking the bold move of building a new Microsoft Store right across the hall from an already-existing Apple Store in the Mall of America.
9to5Mac is reporting that the latest Apple versus Microsoft skirmish has come to the Mall of America, the 4.2 million square foot shopping goliath in Bloomington, Minnesota (located in a suburb of the popular Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul). As you can see from the photo above, Steve Ballmer and Company are erecting a new Microsoft Store across the aisle from the existing Apple Store, which will certainly make for some potentially awkward (but interesting) moments between staff members at the two retailers.
Microsoft currently has four stores open, but the Mall of America location threatens to be much, much larger than Apple’s current location there, if the embedded YouTube video below is any indication -- and that’s saying something, since Apple’s location there is already pretty good size.
If we had to guess, we’d say somebody is gonna lose their job once this particular Microsoft Store opens -- can there really be room for both right across from each other in such a huge retail space? Time will tell.
Personally, we’d like to see some late-night water balloon fights between the stores, or perhaps a spirited game of dodgeball once the crowds have dispersed for the day. Now that would be entertainment…
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MadMan459
October 05, 2010 at 4:57pm
the amount of floorspace they are taking up. That video (the other one, not the one I linked to earlier) doesn't really do it justice. They are taking up a huge amount of sales floor space in a prime location near a busy entrance.
In other words they are going to be throwing away some serious money on this sure-to-be-failure.
Oh and I see some fun wifi wars going on between the stores. Those station ids are sure to change, ya think?
tulrich
October 05, 2010 at 12:47pm
What do Microsoft stores sell? Do they sell computers? They must! Surely they wouldn't make a store that big just to sell Zune's, X-Box 360's, and copies of Windows 7?!
tulrich
October 05, 2010 at 12:47pm
What do Microsoft stores sell? Do they sell computers? They must! Surely they wouldn't make a store that big just to sell Zune's, X-Box 360's, and copies of Windows 7?!
MacMike
October 05, 2010 at 10:20am
I can't wait until after this store is opened and we see videos of people walking out of the store simply to walk across the hall and get an Apple product. I'm betting the Apple store will still have more attendance and consumer interest than a Microsoft store. This could be a short lived store for Microsoft when all it does is lose money to the Apple store across the hall. Hopefully MacLife will keep us posted on how well they do.
MadMan459
October 05, 2010 at 8:45am
I can pretty much promise they won't see anything like this ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvmkvG5TK8I ) when they open that Microsoft store.
I may have to go see this for myself. *sigh*
tcoen@mac.com
October 05, 2010 at 8:15am
Um, yeah, cuz Apple needs help generating/increasing sales? Seems like another great Microsoft idea.... (sarcasm,,,HUGE sarcasm). Did the federal government take over Microsoft? This seems like a decision the Feds would make.
