Hasta La Gadget!

By the end of its fiscal 2013, which is next June, Microsoft is planning to have 44 retail stores in place. It was about a year ago that Microsoft said 75 retail stores should open within the next two to three years. Although the computer giant still has quite a bit of catching up to do with Apple’s established 300 retail locations worldwide, Microsoft seems to be relatively on track with its plans.

The company’s plans for its retail launch was initially announced in February 2009, and this year Puerto Rico and Canada will see new stores open. The “Microsoft Store brand will become more pervasive and go out into the world,” says Kevin Turner, Microsoft’s Chief Operating Officer.

To prepare for the holiday season and the launch of Windows 8, new stores are also planned to open in Orlando, Florida and in the Prudential Center in Boston. Unsurprisingly, Microsoft’s strategy has always been to place its stores as close to Apple locations as possible.

[via ZDNet]

Microsoft to have 44 retail stores by next June is written by Elise Moreau & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Stepping into one of Apple’s retail locations is barely comparable to stepping into any other store, and the Genius Bar is just one of those things that is truly unique to the whole experience. Be prepared now to potentially see a few changes in stores soon, because Apple has been testing a new layout that adds more stools and accommodates more customers with the hopes of increasing overall efficiency.

The new layout being tested involves the Genius Bar table being in a position where it’s perpendicular to the store’s back wall with an added emphasis of more iPad use for managing customer service records, so get ready to see more touchscreens in action. Since the new positioning takes up more room, the kids’ tables and seats need to be eliminated.

At this point, it’s not known whether or not Apple will go ahead with this particular Genius Bar layout tweak or if it will just be incorporated in select stores. The changes are said to be well-suited for stores that are narrow and don’t have as much room to work with in certain shopping malls.

[via Apple Insider]

Apple may be changing its in-store Genius Bar layout is written by Elise Moreau & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.