I guess it had to happen: Microsoft is opening retail stores with the help of some guy named Dave Porter who used to work for Wal-Mart. Super synergy. I can see it now: these stores will be the exact polar opposite of the Apple Store – brightly lit, overstocked, and oddly jarring (kind of like Windows – ZING!!!)
No real information on these stores just yet, but Dave is going to start planning a slow and steady roll-out. Will they have Smartie Stations with crack technicians? Weekly training in Windows Paint? What I suspect will happen is that Microsoft will launch a set of pop-up stores using distressed retail space and then roll out if and when these spaces become popular. Nothing like a boom or a bust to build out bricks and mortar.
