The “Break it Down” Blog

Many thanks to Chris Hunkele for the pics and video’s from the grand opening!

If you live in Phoenix or Scottsdale you like saw the news that Microsoft has opened it’s first (new) Microsoft Store in the Scottsdale Fashion Square mall and from the looks of things, it was a huge hit. With a few hundred people milling around the store itself Chris explained a bit more about the setting:

… what you didn’t see were the 5 mall cops and 7 Scottsdale police officers monitoring the outside of the store where fabric lane dividers stretched down the hall.

I’ve been inside Fashion Square enough times to know that “down the hall” like means “22 miles”… or there abouts… it’s a long mall.

The “store” idea was actually something Microsoft tried back in 1999 (before Apple) with the “microsoftSF” store – back when Microsoft thought DirectX was awesome and APIs were a good way to market beige colored desktops. That idea didn’t pan out and Microsoft focused on tech for about 8 years before deciding it had to become “cool” again — like Apple.

Fast forward 10 ass-sore years later and now that Microsoft has finally gotten the company lined up behind the Xbox-leading vision of developing and delivering trendy “cool-tech”. The timing was perfect to try the store idea again and there is plenty for Microsoft to be eager to show off.

The overall vibe of the store is exactly what it should be: “Here’s cool tech we have had a hand in, go ahead and play with it”.

Whether it was laptops, netbooks, Xbox 360s hooked to a wall full of LCD TVs:

or the molestation-thrilled Microsoft Surface – which had a very solid showing – Microsoft had every sexy product out and ready for show.

Yes this idea sounds familiar, but it works when you have something that can attract a crowd of onlookers and gadget-lovers. Besides the customer support angle, Microsoft has never offered anything compelling enough to structure a store’s existence around; now they do.

For the longest time Microsoft was a software-only company and you can’t launch a store to show off… what… Exchange Server 2010 and Outlook? Even trying to establish deals with exclusive vendors 10 years ago to decide which Microsoft-blessed hardware would go into such a store would be just as boring, there was nothing flashy to show off… just a big green Start button and an Explorer view that now had a web browser in it. As for hardware, everything was black and boxy — what was compelling about that?

To get consumers to stop and peek in, you need glitz and ‘window appeal’ — give customers something they want to walk in and put their hands all over (Surface).

The only reason Apple pulled off the “store” idea in recent history is because they were offering solutions of sexy hardware and sexy software. If Apple had only nailed the sexy hardware, but ran say Windows XP — I doubt the stores would have lasted. But they managed to provide a refined hardware and software experience that you couldn’t get anywhere else and then mixed in the support and developed a really compelling reason to peek your head in the Apple store’s door as you walked by: “Oh, I want to ask about a bluetooth headset for my iPod”.

Enter the Xbox 360, Windows 7, Microsoft Surface, Zune HD, Windows Mobile 6.5 and mobile/tablet touch-screen devices and a slew of other 1-off items and you suddenly have the makings of a store that’s fun to walk into and play around with until you’re ready to buy something. It’s basically Gymboree for adults — not saying that if Microsoft put a huge pool of balls in there I wouldn’t jump in… just that Surface and Xbox 360 with motion control are just as fun for adults.

If you go walking by the Microsoft store and on a 150″ plasma (yes they have one) you see someone playing Halo Reach on one wall and then see someone throwing paint on a dog on another wall of LCDs with Project Natal, I’m going to bet you’ll walk in — and maybe ask a question or two — and maybe walk out with a new mouse, maybe a Zune HD (Zune 2) and high hopes for an Xbox 360 for Christmas.

Brilliant

You throw some decent customer support on top of that, and next time your laptop tells you that it cannot install the driver for your digital camera, you throw that shit in your car and roll down to the Microsoft Store and ask them what’s going on — as opposed to calling India and talking to Rajesh* about reformatting your AOL internet.

* No offense intended, Rajesh is a hell of a guy and great at backgammon.

Update #1: Thanks to Dave Bullock for the heads up that you can actually get your RROD’ed Xbox 360’s fixed at the new Microsoft Store. Basic repairs can be done in-house, like faulty power connectors, but more common repairs (like heat-sync failing and typical RROD causes) the console will still need to be shipped out, however, Microsoft will ship you a replacement console immediately after the store has taken it into custody and you don’t need to wait those extra days for Microsoft to confirm receipt of it.

Update #2: Chris has done a technical analysis the likes of CSI and we are pretty sure Bill Gates doesn’t work at the new store… or at least he does and he was having a bad hair day:

Videos

You can scroll through the playlist of videos from the Grand Opening below.

Pictures