Microsoft have just opened their first retail store outside North America. The store is located in Sydney, at Westfield Sydney on Pitt Street Mall. The retail store offers Microsoft customers (both software and hardware) the opportunity to experience the best of Microsoft before making their buying decisions.
Not only does it feature Microsoft’s own hardware, but is also offers consumers an opportunity to access 3rd party devices that leverage the Microsoft ecosystem in some way.
Sydney was first announced as the location back on April 21st, but today, the 12th November, the doors are now officially open. Inside you’ll find hardware displays for laptops, wearables, gaming, mobiles and even an ‘Answer Desk’. If a lot of this sounds familiar, its because the design of the Microsoft Stores certainly borrow from Apple. When Apple’s retail experiences some of the highest sales per sq metre, then it’s probably not a bad idea.
To celebrate the launch, Microsoft are giving away tickets to see Jesse Jay perform, for the first 750 people who arrive. On the Facebook event page, there’s been more than 2,000 people register to say they will attend.
SUCH A DIE HARD JESSE J FAN WE GOT MEET N GREETS FOR TONIGHTS EXCLUSIVE CONCERT IM SO EXCITED #MicrosoftSYD #MSAU pic.twitter.com/QKRy19JmLP
— Marika Zorlu (@Marika3llen) November 11, 2015
There’s also hardware giveaways which include Xbox one bundles, Surface Book and Surface 4 devices. To keep the crowd entertained, there was also product demonstrations like the Band 2 and Lumia 950.
My lucky day! 😀 #surfacebook #MicrosoftSYD pic.twitter.com/l6c0r3heoY
— Norman Ma (@darkhorse166) November 11, 2015
Make sure you check out Gizmodo Australia’s post which has plenty of photos from inside the store. Of course you can follow along at home by watching the #MicrosoftSyd hashtag for the event.
Go there, hang out, check out the products, leech some WiFi, if you’re around the area, its definitely worth a look. Keep in mind there are some products and deals that are only available in-store.
Image credit: John McDuling.