Turning up the heat on its competition with rival Apple, Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner says the software giant will open Microsoft retail stores "next to" Apple stores this fall. Turner, who spoke at the company's Worldwide Partner Conference, also said Apple has tried to quash the Microsoft "Laptop Hunters" ad campaign.
Microsoft plans to open new Microsoft retail stores near rival Apple stores this fall, according to a key company executive.
During a keynote speech at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner
Conference (WPC) 2009 in New Orleans on July 15, Kevin Turner,
Microsoft's chief operating officer told the company's partners that
Microsoft will take advantage of customer demand for Microsoft products
at the retail level. Proximity to Apple's retail outlets only serves to
fuel the competition between two of the most recognized brands in the
technology industry.
According to the
"All About Microsoft" blog post, Mary Jo Foley quotes a Microsoft spokesperson as saying:
"As we progress on our retail strategy there will be scenarios where
we have stores in proximity to Apple. We are on track to open
stores in the Fall timeframe.
"Beyond that we have no additional details to share."
Turner is no stranger to retail, having held several executive
positions at Wal-Mart Stores Inc., where he started as a cashier while
in college, then became executive vice president and chief information
officer of Wal-Mart, and finally, president CEO of Sam's Club. Retail
is in his blood. Not to mention that in February Microsoft hired David
Porter, a former DreamWorks Animation and Wal-Mart exec, as Corporate
Vice President of Retail Stores earlier this year.
In a statement issued when the company initially
announced its plans to hire Porter and open retail sites, Microsoft said:
"Defining the time frame, locations and specifics for planned
Microsoft-branded retail stores will be Porter's first order of
business. The purpose of opening these stores is to create deeper
engagement with consumers and continue to learn first-hand about what
they want and how they buy."
And at the WPC 2009 event, Turner spoke directly of the competition with Apple, saying:
"And we're going to showcase this opportunity of Windows simplicity,
choice, value, and partners. And stay tuned, because we're going to
have some retail stores opened up that are opened up right next door to
Apple stores this fall. Stay tuned, just stay tuned.
"Every single thing we learn in those Microsoft stores that we put
on the street we're going to share that openly and transparently with
all of our retail partners so that they can do the exact same thing.
And we're going to get that customer feedback directly. We're in the
game for the long-term here. And I know something about retail, and
we've hired and incredible team to do an incredible job on retail."
Meanwhile, Turner also spoke of hearing from Apple's lawyers
regarding Microsoft's series of "Laptop Hunters" ads. Turner said he
had begun to grow tired of hearing from so many people: "What are you
going to do about those Apple ads?" So he told folks to stay tuned. And
shortly thereafter, Microsoft "punched right back" with its own ads,
which put Apple on its heels, he said.
Turner said the PC Hunters ads are "completely unscripted" and they are working.
Said Turner:
"And you know why I know they're working? Because two weeks ago we
got a call from the Apple legal department saying, hey -- this is a
true story -- saying, 'Hey, you need to stop running those ads, we
lowered our prices.' They took like $100 off or something. It was the
greatest single phone call in the history that I've ever taken in
business.
"I did cartwheels down the hallway. At first I said, 'Is this a
joke? Who are you?' Not understanding what an opportunity. And so we're
just going to keep running them and running them and running
them."
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