Microsoft Retail stores

Well well well, finaly the cat is out of the bag and we know MS is coming up with thier own stores, There is definitly nothing wrong with that and I am excited because I kind of got sick of seeing Ipod and Iphone invasion all over. I worked at Sony and I know retail is highly important to reach your customers, products can be touched,tested,played with and microsoft has every rite to do that as well. The things which I would like to see besides a snazzy store is

excellent customer service not just smiles.

products being shown on a live demo style

mini product road shows with user participation and product parties

They should also create a member club for people who are really serious buyers so they feel more connected and also since they are the real buyers they get first hand look at products and other stuff

create every store with a theme but do not and I mean do not Clutter the store with advertising and products pictures.

One of the most important thing is to do Live marketing research at the store level and understand what customers think on a continuous basis to create the best store and product experience

Good Luck guys