In this day and age, it can seem easy to say that eventually all shopping for wants and needs will be done online and that stores in the real world are on the way out. But if even the giants of the computing (and online) industry can up and open new real-world shops for their products – much like Amazon in New York – then all is not lost for the traditional brick-and-mortar stores. The latest to prove this is none other than Microsoft. They have just confirmed their plans to open their first UK flagship store over in London, where Snapchat has its international HQ.
The Microsoft site is also close to the location of a shop being run by Apple.
Global shopping district
Microsoft has confirmed on their official blog that they are indeed going to open a flagship store in London, located on Regent Street close to Oxford Circus. That area, which constitutes the intersection of Regent and Oxford Streets, is considered to be one of the most prolific shopping districts in the whole world, similar to New York’s Fifth Avenue where Microsoft has another flagship store. The legendary computing giant describes their latest shopping hub as another step in the company’s journey towards engaging with their customers face to face.
“We couldn’t be happier to be opening a flagship store in the heart of central London at Oxford Circus, where two of the world’s most iconic shopping streets meet,” remarked Cindy Rose, head of Microsoft UK.
She adds that the new shop will become a community hub where shoppers from London, the rest of the country and the world too, will be able to experience a genuine Microsoft in-store experience as they check out the latest hardware, gadgets, and software releases. The building where the store will open is to be leased to Microsoft for a 10-year period.
Its current occupant is a shop for United Colors of Benetton.
Old plans revisited
The announcement of the London Microsoft flagship store is the first step towards the culmination of the company’s dream to open a branch for their products and services in this world-famous shopping district. Plans were drawn up as early as 2012, and in the following year, they had even registered a retail company to handle their UK business.
Now the momentum looks to be set for the computing giant to finally set up shop on Regent Street. The fact that they will be competing with a nearby Apple Store, which had a major revamp in 2016, is only the icing on the cake for Microsoft in London, the first in Europe. Aside from the US and Canada, other Microsoft flagships stores can be found in Australia and Puerto Rico.
