Microsoft plans to take the fight directly to Apple in NYC with a massive new retail outlet

Microsoft isn’t about to let Apple hog all the prime retail real estate in New York. The New York Daily News reports that Microsoft is in talks to open up an enormous new 8,700-square-foot two-story retail outlet on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, just blocks away from Apple’s own giant retail outlet.

The move is somewhat surprising since Microsoft hasn’t shown so far that it seriously wants to take on Apple in the realm of retail but a giant new store in a high-profile location that’s close to one of Apple’s iconic stores would certainly be its most aggressive move yet. This would also be a very pricey bet for Microsoft since the Daily News points out that Fifth Avenue commercial real estate can sell for as much as $3,500 per square foot. Doing some basic arithmetic, that means Microsoft’s prospective flagship store could be worth $30,450,000.

“For Microsoft to land on Fifth Avenue just a few blocks from Apple would certainly be interesting,” retail broker Faith Hope Consolo, tells the Daily News. “It would be very dramatic.”

You don’t say.