Microsoft to open its largest store ever in NYC, first worldwide flagship

Earlier this month we reported that Microsoft’s first flagship store located at 677 Fifth Avenue in New York City was looking close to finished.

Microsoft never has occupied a New York City address with one of its retail stores, lacking a presence in the city since 2012 when it opened a temporary pop-up kiosk for the holidays. Luxury fashion brand Fendi was last to occupy Microsoft’s location, which is a five minute stroll from Apple’s Fifth Ave. store. Below is an artist’s rendering of the new store.

The NYC location is at Fifth Avenue and 53rd Street, and Microsoft will hold a grand opening event at noon ET on October 26. Whether a part or the entire story was wrong is unknown at this time.

In addition, Microsoft will open its first global flagship, at Westfield Sydney on Pitt Street Mall in Sydney, Australia, on November 12.

Microsoft says that the store has been in the making for six years, it focused on providing “exceptional choice, value and service” and promises that the store will deliver on these commitments. These stores have a smaller footprint and offer a select, curated assortment of best-in-class products.

The flagship location will include an “Answer Desk” for technical help, as well as a “Community Theater” for customers to learn about products.

That said, we doubt it’ll be open 24 hours like Apple’s flagship, and there’s no word on whether Microsoft will allow rappers to record their albums in-store. In anticipation of a diverse set of consumers, Microsoft employees will be able to speak more than 19 languages. The space will be more than 6,000 sq. ft. and span two floors.

Perhaps the highly-anticipated Microsoft Studios’ video game Halo 5: Guardians, which is slated for an October 27 release, will be available for gamers to tap their thumbs to during the flagship store’s grand opening as well.