Pictures from the new Microsoft Store at Yorkdale

Published on 11-15-2012 08:52 AM

1 Comment Comments

*EDIT*, I added some more pictures of the phone displays along with pricing.

I'm at the Microsoft Store at Yorkdale right now.

There are a few Windows Phone displays. The people at the store can actually hook up the Windows Phones to the displays in on the side of the store. The phones sold at the store will be carrier locked.

Here's a HTC 8X display

Here are some 920's and 8X's.

Not sure where the ATIV-S are but they said the store is not fully stocked yet.

Here are some close-ups of the Windows Phone displays. Note the pricing. Rogers HTC 8X $49.99 for the 8GB.

Bell 16GB HTC 8X $49.95.

The price has dropped on the Rogers Nokia Lumia 920. It's now $99.99, down from $159.99.

Rogers HTC 8X 16GB is $99.99, double the price of the one on Bell. I smell a price drop coming soon.

Here's another Windows Phone display.

Looks like the Windows Phone challenge is back.

The Microsoft stores are the only place to buy Surface Tablets. If you ordered one online you can bring it here if you have problems with it.

There's a community theater in the back. You can call in and rent it for free.

There are Kinects and XBox 360's in the back. You can play with them on the displays around the store.

They've also got computers. Here's an Ultrabook display.

Here's the small business center. There will be experts on hand who will answer SMB type questions.

You can also buy stuff and get it skinned.

If you're having troubles with your Windows PC you can bring it in and get 15 mins of troubleshooting for free.

_{This article was originally published in forum thread:

Pictures from the new Microsoft Store at Yorkdale
started by
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16 Comments

Mr Mystery - 11-15-2012, 09:15 AM
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Place looks huge judging by the photos, some prime leasing going on. Hopefully they can drive sales the way Apple is.

Sent from my SGH-I317M using HowardForums

DerekToronto - 11-15-2012, 11:56 AM
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Certainly more stools than the Apple store

howard - 11-15-2012, 12:06 PM
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Oh btw, when I was leaving the Microsoft store I couldn't help noticing the new Apple store. I'm guessing the Microsoft store is about 25% bigger than the old Apple store. The new Apple store looks like it's 2x the size of the Microsoft one. There is only one store separating the two!

rambo47 - 11-15-2012, 04:26 PM
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IIRC, Microsoft used the same design firm as Apple for their stores. That would explain a lot.

sabesh - 11-15-2012, 04:46 PM
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Do they have "Genius" equivalents?

DummyBuy - 11-15-2012, 05:51 PM
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I would rather see a completely different design,
Something high tech, chrome, lots of LED's to make me feel like I am in the 21st century.
When I walk into their stores, I want a virtual person to greet me, possibly collect me MSN account and give me a card or some device tag to walk around the store where they know my name and what I like if I choose to give this to give my overall experience a WOW factor. I want all their pc to syns to my MSN ID by touching the pc or tablet. Am I asking too much?

Apple did it their way and if Microsoft thinks they can copy them, I am betting customers will find it lame.

Not sure why they have so much money and cannot be original?

Extraordinary - 11-15-2012, 10:34 PM
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Reminds me of Apple stores. lol

I smell a lawsuit.

geoken - 11-16-2012, 05:46 AM
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Do they not sell unlocked phones?

rambo47 - 11-16-2012, 04:21 PM
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Originally Posted by geoken

Do they not sell unlocked phones?

No. Right now they only sell phones in partnership with the carriers. Apple does the same thing. You have to pick a carrier and buy it that way. New contract, upgrade, etc. No unlocked/unbranded phones.

geoken - 11-17-2012, 06:18 AM
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Originally Posted by rambo47

No. Right now they only sell phones in partnership with the carriers. Apple does the same thing. You have to pick a carrier and buy it that way. New contract, upgrade, etc. No unlocked/unbranded phones.

Actually, here in Canada, Apple sells unlocked phones both online and in-store.

mottivi - 11-18-2012, 07:50 AM
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Originally Posted by sabesh

Do they have "Genius" equivalents?

Yes. Gurus.

rfd_addict - 11-19-2012, 12:44 PM
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Originally Posted by sabesh

Do they have "Genius" equivalents?

Yes, they are called Tech Advisors ... located at the Answer Desk.

simonseize - 11-20-2012, 08:51 PM
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High tech and chrome does not age well. the high tech side is more fad than style and chrome quickly shows fingerprints and discolouration. I was in the MS store in Fashion Valley last year and i thought they had done it well.

Originally Posted by DummyBuy

I would rather see a completely different design,
Something high tech, chrome, lots of LED's to make me feel like I am in the 21st century.
When I walk into their stores, I want a virtual person to greet me, possibly collect me MSN account and give me a card or some device tag to walk around the store where they know my name and what I like if I choose to give this to give my overall experience a WOW factor. I want all their pc to syns to my MSN ID by touching the pc or tablet. Am I asking too much?

Apple did it their way and if Microsoft thinks they can copy them, I am betting customers will find it lame.

Not sure why they have so much money and cannot be original?

cellphone-guy - 11-21-2012, 12:53 AM
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I seriously think that Google needs to open Google stores, or at the very least... Android stores. Apple and Microsoft understand how to develop customer loyalty. Android controls 75% of the market right now... not because of customer loyalty but because it's a cheap OS for hardware makers to work with. I personally feel it's an awesome OS... but that's not why it's #1 right now.

Microsoft certainly has the right idea with these stores. Every bit of market share they gain... comes off of the Apple and Android pie.

Sent from Motorola Triumph

aca2983 - 11-21-2012, 12:46 PM
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I visited the MS Store in the Fashion Center@Pentagon City in Arlington VA last night and was pleased.
It was my first time looking at or operating any Windows Phone, Windows 8, or Surface devices. I just went in and sat down and started playing with a Surface. Later, someone came over and helped me when I was trying out a laptop with Windows 8. He was helpful and friendly and seemed to have a clue.

Within the next 6 mos, I'm in the market for at least a new phone and a new PC. What I wanted from the visit was just to try out the devices and see how my experience matched with reviews I'm reading. Here's what I took away:
Windows Phone- I'm intrigued. Not committed to anything, but will look at again and not rule it out.
Windows 8- I'm not scared of it. I'm a minimalist and some things seem unnecessary, but I'm not turned off by it. I'm still using XPPro. Windows8 seems fine and won't be too much of a stretch to migrate to when the time comes.
Surface- Not sure. I question how much I need a tablet. Seems pricey for what it is. The cover/keyboard is nice, but lacks tactility, and I couldn't do much data entry with it without huge spelling mistakes.

t0ked - 12-04-2012, 11:15 AM
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I visited the MS store at the Westchester Mall in NY over the weekend. I would say very nicely done. Bright, wide spaces and aisles, lots of equipment to play with. The workers seemed very informed about both the WP8 and my Android RAZR MAXX HD.

I like the Surface tablet and was very pleasantly surprised. I played with the tablet about an hour while my better half was draining my savings at Cole Haan. It felt more like a tablet+netbook than just a tablet. Unfortunately, that was before I saw the price. At the price they are asking, I would rather buy a new ultraportable. These tablets need to be in the $400-$600 range, not in the $800+ range, where many ultrabooks begin. oh well.