Microsoft poaches Apple retail executive to find store locations
Microsoft has already revealed that it’s planning to open retail stores near rival Apple outlets. Now it’s unveiled its latest weapon in the bricks-and-mortar battle: the man who used to be in charge of choosing Apple locations.
George Blankenship, who also worked in a senior position for Gap, has joined Microsoft in a consultancy role rather than as an employee. He was formerly Apple’s head of real estate and had a key role in the development of the firm’s national chain of Apple stores. His most high-profile work was overseeing the opening of the first Apple store in Europe.
During his time at Apple, Blankenship developed a strategy of paying higher rents to get into busy locations, particularly those frequented by upscale consumers. That was in contrast to common tech policies of keeping rent costs down and picking locations in areas with plenty of tech-related stores.
Microsoft noted last week that several of its planned store locations are in the vicinity of Apple stores. While that may seem like a deliberate challenge to a rival, the revelation of Blankenship’s hiring raises the possibility its more of a coincidence caused by him continuing to look for locations with the same criteria as when he worked at Apple.
The current secrecy over the store locations has produced some unfortunate problems. Microsoft has recently posted recruitment ads for store managers. If you’ve got five years’ experience as a retail manager, you can apply – you just won’t know yet where the posts will be.
Meanwhile a writer at CBS’ SmartPlanet site speculates that the decision to launch Microsoft stores is not primarily driven by the urge to imitate Apple. Instead Dana Blankenhorn argues the firm is more likely acting out of concern over the decline of traditional specialist technology retailers. He notes that many places selling computers today are larger, general, retailers in which tech products – and in turn the Microsoft brand – get a much lower profile.
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