Microsoft’s next retail store headed to Austin

Here’s a right shocker: Microsoft’s next retail store will be located in Austin, Texas. Yes, the Austin that hosts the yearly drunken disaster nerdcon SXSW. Given the prominence of the tech scene in Austin, the location is hardly a surprise. We doubt it will be as popular as Apple’s local outlet, but it can’t hurt to be where the action is.

The company currently has 15 retails stores in operation in the United States, and has plans to open as many as 75 more in the next few years. The company is looking to expand its mindshare among browsing customers, and also to add some bite to its brand, which has become stodgy in comparison to its competitors.

To announce the forthcoming store, Microsoft held a poll on Facebook, in which each of the options for voting were for Austin. You could pick, but you had to pick Austin. Ballmer doffs his cap at Ford, naturally. As you already know, Microsoft has a store in Houston. The Austin store will therefore double the company’s presence in the state.

At this time, the opening date for the store is unknown. If Microsoft plans to open the venue before this year’s SXSW is an open question. However, given the timing of this announcement, and the rapidly approaching event, we suspect that the answer is no. Now, all we need to find out is which poplet will open the joint, and the picture will be clear.

You can read all of our coverage of Microsoft’s Stores here.