 Upon opening doors, Microsoft will be taking on the likes of Samsung and Apple, which both maintain dedicated stores in the Sydney CBD. While Microsoft has not specified a launch date, it has stated the store will be opened later in the year.
Microsoft Australia managing director Pip Marlow announced the move via a blog post, labelling it a “significant development” for Microsoft’s business “locally as well as globally”. Marlow wrote that the store “will give customers the same outstanding choice, value and service” as Microsoft’s stores overseas and online. “It will provide an opportunity to experience the best of Microsoft products, like Windows PCs, Surface devices, Windows Phones, Xbox One, Office and more in an innovative and vibrant setting,” she wrote. “In addition, the store will feature our Answer Desk – a one-stop shop for questions, troubleshooting, repairs and support for all Microsoft software and hardware.” The store will complement Microsoft’s existing retail partner network and will be a “natural extension” of its existing online store, Marlow said via the blog post. “We are also committed to being part of the fabric of the local community in which we’ll operate,” she wrote. “We will regularly donate volunteer hours, host community events, offer training workshops, support science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and build deeper relationships with our customers, one person at a time. “The space will be as much a place for engaging experiences as it is a retail store.” Microsoft currently has more than 110 physical stores in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico, along with 17 store-in-store locations in China, and online stores in 189 countries. |
