Microsoft prepares to boot up demand as store opens today

The opening of Microsoft’s retail outlet in Sydney was a landmark day in the company’s history.

The opening of Microsoft’s retail outlet in Sydney was a landmark day in the company’s history.

The 557 square-metre store in the Pitt Street Mall, aims to be more than a straight retail outlet. Apart from offering a full range of Microsoft products — everything from new Surface Books to the Xbox and Office 365 — Microsoft wants it to be a place where customers can bring their ailing Windows devices for fixing.

At the answer desk on the ground floor, they can ask staff to remove viruses, or get rid of bloatware — trial software often installed on new Windows notebooks. It doesn’t matter if the device has Windows 10 or an older version, or if it is made by Microsoft or another manufacturer. They will look at it.

Microsoft says it would even fix Windows installations on Apple MacBooks. The service is free, but you pay for hardware repairs.

And Microsoft says it won’t be chaining new devices that you want to try to display stands. Instead, customers can pick them up and walk around the store while trying them out.

Inside Microsoft’s retail store, Sydney

Early this month The Australian revealed that Microsoft had engaged former Sydney Apple store leader Nick Wells to run the new outlet. As a senior Apple store manager, Mr Wells said he had opened Apple Sydney city stores and stores at Bondi, Newcastle and Castle Towers as leader of that business at that time.

Yesterday he said staff would have Microsoft phones capable of handling purchases so that customers could buy items anywhere in the store. The store features free Wi-Fi. He said business specialists could assist enterprise customers.

Travis Walter, general manager of International Retail Stores at Microsoft, said the store planned to host enterprise meetings with customers as well as offering “Skype with Santa” during the upcoming holidays.

Microsoft Australia managing director Pip Marlow said the store was “a key part of our commitment to delivering a truly interactive retail experience that gives customers, partners and community organisations the opportunity to see, experience and do great things, all made possible by Microsoft technology.” All Microsoft products would be available under one roof.

Apart from stocking Surface tablets, Surface Books, Xbox games consoles and Windows notebooks built by partnering manufacturers, the store stocks a range of accessories.

The answer desk at Microsoft's new Sydney store.

There’s a community theatre that Ms Marlow said would offer training and a space for meeting business customers. Coding for girls, games launches and holiday experiences were among planned activities and even hackathons were a possibility.

The store has two levels and is situated at Westfield Sydney on the Mall where Microsoft says some 50,000 people walk by daily. It follows the recent opening of the company’s first flagship and largest store to date, in New York City, making Australia the home of the second only retail flagship. It was the company’s first retail flagship store outside North America.

Since opening its first store in 2009, Microsoft has expanded its retail footprint and online presence to serve more than 1 billion customers through the company’s community-based retail strategy. There are more than 110 stores across the US, Puerto Rico and Canada, as well as online stores in 189 countries.

The new Sydney store will open at 12pm and there will be a concert at 7pm at the State Theatre featuring British singer-songwriter Jessie J and Ellie Drennan, this year’s winner of Nine’s The Voice Australia. You’ll need to be among the first 750 to visit the store earlier in the day to get tickets.

Whether we see Apple-esque type customer queues outside before the opening remains to be seen.

A Surface Pro 4 inside Microsoft Sydney retail store.