Microsoft has been rumored to be looking at Fifth Avenue, one of the most expensive shopping spots in the world, as a potential spot to open a new retail store.
The store would be the latest addition to the software maker's 50 retail stores established in the U.S., according to The Verge. Choosing the street would put the new store only a few blocks away from Apple's iconic cube store.
The report from New York Daily News claimed the deal would put the store at 677 Fifth Ave., close to 53rd St. The 8,700-square-foot, two-story area was previously occupied by Fendi, a luxury fashion company that left the building last year for a space on Madison Ave.
"For Microsoft to land on Fifth Avenue just a few blocks from Apple would certainly be interesting," said Faith Hope Consolo, a top retail broker with Douglas Elliman who did not participate in the agreement. "It would be very dramatic."
Consolo added that rents for ground floors on prime Fifth Ave. are the most expensive in the U.S., and that in recent deals, they have risen to over $3,500 per square foot.
Microsoft is known for establishing stores close to Apple stores that already exist as a way to compete head-to-head, The Verge reported. The company has opened pop-up stores in the past, such as the huge retail store in Times Square for its launch of the first Surface tablet and the recent specialty pop-up store in Staten Island. However, this deal would be the first dedicated store it would open in Manhattan.
Whether or not Microsoft's retail stores fit CEO Satya Nadella's new focus, which is less on devices, has yet to be determined.
"Nothing is off the table in how we think about shifting our culture to deliver this core strategy," said Nadella.
