If you’ve walked down Pitt Street Mall in the last couple of months, you might have noticed a giant conspicuous Microsoft logo on one of the vacant retail outlets. Now that store has an opening date — we’re six weeks from the grand opening of the first official Microsoft store in Australia, smack bang in the middle of Sydney’s shopping district.
Thursday, November 12th at noon is when the doors will open on the Microsoft Store at Westfield Sydney — and like the Apple Store around the corner, it’s a multi-storey glass-faced building split into different sections. There’s a retail level with Microsoft Surface and Lumia devices and partners’ hardware and software on show, as well as a Genius Bar Answer Desk where customers can take their Windows devices for help, troubleshooting and repair.
There’s also a “community theatre” where users can gather for demonstration and information sessions. Microsoft is giving away $5 million in software and grants to celebrate the new stores; there will be events planned for Sydney’s opening, so keep an eye on the group’s Facebook page if you’re keen. It’ll be the first official Microsoft Store outside of North America, and it’ll open only a fortnight after an equally luxe flagship store in New York on Fifth Avenue. [Microsoft]
Click through to see the approximate location of the Microsoft Store at Westfield Sydney.