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New Microsoft store in Beachwood strives to mix business with hands-on fun [The News-Herald, Willoughby, Ohio](News-Herald (Willoughby, OH) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) April 21--It sort of feels like walking into an alternate universe. There's a new store at Beachwood Place filled with high-tech goodies. It may seem incredibly familiar, but, chances are, you've never set foot in one before. You probably have been in a store with a certain piece of bitten fruit above the entrance, where iPhones, iPads and MacBooks line the walls and fill tables throughout the middle of the space. At this new store, where there's another familiar corporate symbol -- one represented by four panes of glass -- above the entrance, the walls and tables are bursting with Windows Phones, Surface tablets and Windows 8 PCs. Although Redmond, Wash.-based software giant Microsoft may not want to say it, the new Microsoft Retail Store in Beachwood -- only the 34th of its kind, opened on April 13 with festivities that included a performance by pop star Kelly Clarkson -- appear to be at least partially inspired by Apple's incredibly successful retail stores, which include Northeast Ohio locations at nearby Legacy Village in Lyndhurst and across town at Crocker Park in Westlake. "It definitely seemed familiar," said Scott Galinac of Mentor, who dropped by the store recently on his lunch break. "It's intriguing what's going on in the industry with the brands opening stores -- this, Apple, Samsung doing its thing (with dedicated spaces in some Best Buys)." Galinac said he's considering buying a Windows 8 tablet and spent time with a couple of the store's associates getting questions answered. "They seem like they know their product pretty well," he said. "If they don't, they find somebody who does." And there you see another reason why there are now Microsoft stores. While Microsoft software and devices are sold by myriad retailers, it's a good bet that no store's sales force will be able to show off the products as effectively as the company's own. "We've got lots of associates here who have gone through lots of extensive training for this," said Stacy Vyas, manager of the Beachwood store, who has decades of experience in retail, most of it with electronics vendors. "You can come in and sit down. You can talk to an associate about what your needs are, and we can talk to you about what products are right for you." While a recommended product likely will be running Microsoft software -- the company makes the widely used various versions of Windows and the Office suite of programs -- it may not be made by the company, even though the tech heavyweight is shifting to make more devices going forward. "We don't just sell Microsoft products," Vyas said. "We have a wide array of products by other vendors, as well." Again, similar to Apple, which has its Genius Bars in stores, the Microsoft Retails Stores have the Answer Desk. Visitors can make an appointment by phone or online, but they also can drop by for tech support -- for an even wider array of products than what's in the store, Vyas said. (A spokesman representing the Microsoft Retail Store said Vyas was not in a position to answer questions about the store's apparent similarities to an Apple Store, and no other response was provided other than that the stores are designed to be warm, colorful and inviting.) Hey, product information and tech support is all well and good, but spend even a minute in the new Microsoft store and you realize this is a place to play. You can grab a phone or tablet or sit behind a computer with a very large touch-enabled screen and get to the business of fun. "Customers really want to see the products, see what they feel like in their hands," Vyas said. Oh, and did we mention that Microsoft makes the Xbox The store sells the popular video game console, as well as games and accessories. Better, perhaps, is that the store's "theater space" -- located in the rear and boasting a 103-inch touch screen display -- is wired for Xbox play. The store has started a league for gamers 14 and older but also uses that space for free programs and workshops regarding other Microsoft products and programs for everybody 3 and older, Vyas said. "That's where we really interact with the community on a daily basis," she said, adding that she helped promote those offerings well before the store's opening. "Most of the questions I get are, 'Are they really free ' It's really free. There's no charge. "We really want to educate the community on products they own and products that are coming." The store is even designed for the fun to extend just outside the entrance, where a display with another touch screen -- you'll be hard-pressed to find a screen that isn't touch-enabled aside from the 47-inch displays that constitute the wrap-around video wall -- allows visitors to play the popular game "Fruit Ninja." On the other side of the display, folks can interact with another screen wired into the motion-controlled Kinect product. "Kids really love that," Vyas said. The Microsoft Retail Store is located on the ground level of Beachwood Place, 26300 Cedar Road. Call the store at 216-755-1380 or visit content.microsoftstore.com/store/detail/Beachwood-OH . ___ (c)2013 The News-Herald (Willoughby, Ohio) Visit The News-Herald (Willoughby, Ohio) at www.news-herald.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |