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Comment by aggie | Hacker News Reader

I first saw a Microsoft store at the Stanford Shopping Center (Palo Alto, CA), right next to the Apple store. At Valley Fair (Santa Clara, CA), I noticed a Microsoft store and my friend commented how it looked like an Apple store. I looked around and sure enough there was an Apple store 30 feet away. Microsoft isn't trying to be subtle at all, which seems to support your theory.

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If you've ever been to the Mall of America, its even more blatant. The Microsoft store is directly across from the Apple store.

I was in there once when I got my 4s, and decided why not pick up Forza 4 while I was there. It was a bit surreal, the overall experience of walking in and telling an associate: I want X was markedly different. This store unlike the Boston store, was almost dead except for people playing xbox, and browsing the web on the computers.

Yeah the Microsoft store in Palo Alto is pretty embarrassing. You notice two things immediately since you can visibly compare just by turning your head. First, it's a carbon copy of the Apple store's design. Second, the Apple store has tons of people in it and the Microsoft store is empty.

Same thing in Seattle! I went to an Apple Store there with a friend and we found an Microsoft store across the parking lot. The exterior and some of the decor were similar, but the Microsoft products were much more haphazard (different brands, OS versions, some weren't working, etc...).

Same deal in the University Village store near University of Washington. They even set up a tent to pitch to the standing queue for the latest iThing du jour.

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