Microsoft has open the doors on its latest retail space, the first flagship Microsoft Store in London. Microsoft invited me to check out the store which today I got my first view of it. Set across three floors, Microsoft has laid out everything it has to offer. With Other Microsoft stores I have visited not too far from the Apple store.
Located in the heart of Oxford Circus, the new Microsoft Store is in a prime location in central London. Customers will be able to try out the HoloLens in store, allowing many to experience wearable AR for the first time. There’s also an Xbox area which features a real McLaren Senna supercar that has been fitted with an internal Xbox One X and hydraulics that sync up with Forza Motorsport 7 on the big screen. Visitors will be able to sit inside and virtually drive the McLaren Senna.
The second floor is where things get even more interesting. There’s the regular support Answer Desk Microsoft’s version of Apple’s Genius Bar and areas to showcase Xbox hardware, laptops from Asus, HP, and Razer, and Surface accessories. The second floor is Microsoft’s gaming area, though. It’s filled with 15 Xbox One stations, fitted out with Xbox-themed gaming chairs, the latest Turtle Beach headsets, and there’s even Acer’s absurd Predator Thronos gaming chair.
Microsoft’s third floor of this store is where things start to get different. Instead of the usual retail space, it has been transformed into an enterprise floor, complete with meeting rooms and event spaces. Microsoft is using this floor to meet with its business customers to demonstrate new services and hardware like HoloLens 2 or Surface Hub 2.
The store is fantastic, and I’m sure there will be plenty of people popping in just to check out the venue. It’s a real flagship Microsoft Store experience.
