In June, we spotted some new job openings for three previously unannounced Microsoft specialty retail stores. This week, Microsoft confirmed that two of those locations will soon open to the public as the latest stores in the company"s retail empire.
Microsoft"s press release states that on July 26th, a new specialty store will open at the Mayfair shopping center in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. The other new store will open on August 8th at the La Plaza Mall in McAllen, Texas. Microsoft has been opening large retail outlets across the US and Canada for the past few years but in the fall of 2012, the company also began opening these smaller specialty stores that sell a limited number of Microsoft products.
Currently, Microsoft has opened 75 stores (43 full stores, and 32 specialty stores) in North America. The company recently announced plans to open 26 more stores over the next 12 months, bringing the total up to 101 retail outlets. Microsoft has also indicated it will be opening a number of retail stores in China but so far there"s no word on when exactly that will happen.
Microsoft is also working to launch a "store within a store" in 500 Best Buy locations in the US and more than 100 Best Buy and Future Shop stores in Canada, with all of them in place by the end of September.
Source: Microsoft | Image via Microsoft