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A veteran executive from the world's biggest retail chain starts work Monday at Microsoft with a mission to open stores specializing in the software giant's products.
The first order of business for David Porter, whose resume includes 25 years working at Wal-Mart, will be to map out where and when to open Microsoft stores and how they will be designed.
Microsoft appears poised to follow in the footsteps of rival Apple, which has seen revenues and profile boosted by a flourishing chain of Apple stores it started about eight years ago.
"There are tremendous opportunities ahead for Microsoft to create a world-class shopping experience for our customers," said Porter.
"I am excited about helping consumers make more informed decisions about their PC and software purchases, and we'll share (what we learn) from our stores with our existing retail and OEM partners."
Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) make computers and other hardware through partnerships with the US software giant.
Porter worked in operations, merchandising and information technology positions during his 25 years at Wal-Mart. He left Wal-Mart in 2007 to oversee worldwide product distribution at Dreamworks Animation film studio.
Porter will report to Microsoft chief operating officer Kevin Turner.
"David's unique and diverse background, coupled with his deep retail roots and distribution understanding, will be an invaluable asset in this long-term effort," Turner said.
"We're working hard to transform the PC and Microsoft buying experience at retail."
© Wire reports
17 Comments
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earthcreature
That is awesome!! I love PC and Microsoft related products (zune, xbox, webcam, keyboard, mouse etc...) I just hope they have thing at a good price... where is the first store suppose to open at?
sf2k
They'll probably design the store...uh oh
telecasterplayer
Hopefully, better than Windows Vista.
earthcreature
hey I have vista, and I love it!! :) you just need the horse power to have it :P its my personal opinion but I think vista was made for gaming :P due to its crap load of resource use! But yea I guess thats one of the bad things about visa, but over all I love my vista :P
proxy
Microsoft sure needs the help in the marketing department.
nath
Microsoft don't make PCs. Why bother going to a microsoft store when you can get all their products cheaper elsewhere? Why bother opening a chain of stores when you have such a limited product range, just a few bits of plastic tat to sit on the shelves, when all the real money is in 1s and 0s.
jonnyboy
hey earthcreature, you do realise that operating systems are supposed to facilitate the use of computers, not restrict it? the more of your computer's power taken up by the operating system, the less you have to actually DO things with your machine
as for the stores, google the news and you will see plenty of comedy is already being extracted from this news
proxy
I hate OEM versions of Windows! If the Microsoft store sells PCs that come with the Microsoft installation disk, that is where I would buy a PC.
DeepAir65
Yawn...
I think they need something original and not copying something their main competitor did years ago.
seeker1
Microsoft needs to spend their money on fixing their buggy software, or invest more in making Windows 7 a success. They are going to lose so much money on this project. So many well-established chain stores are closing shops right and left. Even the venerable Starbucks. Apple was successful with their stores because their products were often hard to find, now their customers can easily check out their products. Microsoft products are everywhere, and access is easy. Another problem is if they have something like the Genius Bar at an Apple store, they are going to be incredibly busy doing troubleshooting for their customers. In the end, most customers will probably buy online anyway.
temporaryVisa
Instead of opening stores they should open recycle centers where you can hand in the broken crap that they sell.
kokuryu
They USED to have Microsoft mini-stores in many stores here in the US many years ago. They worked great because people could see demos of just about anything. But then they decided to stop paying the people for doing the work - and the mini-stores vanished overnight.
buddha4brains
Microsoft's campaign to be cool like Apple reminds me of Toronto's campaign in the early 90s to be cool like NY and London.
If you got to prove you are the same as your rivals, then you are not the same. Apple, NY, London and so on do not define themselves according to others ... they define themselves. Period. Microsoft has always been a great marketing company, but scratch the surface and you'll find a company that follows innovation, it doesn't define it.
Scrote
For those who don't want windows, I wonder if the stores will refund the windows license fee that you are obliged to pay when you buy most new PCs, whether you want windows or not?
Dennis Bauer
The interior will be blue i guess so you do not notice the blue screens
Ah_so
What is the point? Are they just doing it because Apple have some stores?
Waste of time, especially as we enter a depression.
seggahme
if in these Microstores Sony Vaio will be at 50% of price of Macbook Air, then maybe it will have sense.