Microsoft is close to securing a site for its first London flagship store close to rival Regent Street’s Apple store.
The software giant is in talks with the Crown Estate to open a store in a prominent corner block on Oxford Circus at 255-259 Regent St, W1, which is currently occupied by United Colors of Benetton.
If a deal is agreed, then Microsoft would have a larger London flagship than Apple’s on Regent Street, which is 11,000 sq ft.
The computer company has been looking for a West End site since January 2016 and has considered sites on Oxford Street and Regent Street.
The Crown has been contemplating a number of options for the high-footfall 15,000 sq ft corner site over the past two years.
The landlord previously considered redeveloping the block with co-owner the Church of Wales and neighbouring owners Aviva Investors to create a department store.
Sportswear brand Underarmour was also considering the corner spot at the intersection of two of the country’s busiest shopping streets for its UK flagship, but a deal was never agreed.
United Colors of Benetton will vacate the space where it has been for the past 20 years and relocate to a new shop at Great Portland Estates’ 73-89 Oxford Street, W1 at the end of this year.
The clothing retailer was paying £2.6m pa for the block. However, owing to rising West End rents and the prominence of the site it could command a rent of closer to £4m pa.
Microsoft will likely use the space to showcase its most recent products and hardware. The computer giant has recently unveiled a new image and launched products that include the Microsoft Surface Pro tablet and the Microsoft Surface Pro laptop to rival Apple’s iPad Pro and MacBook Pro.
It has already opened stores on New York’s Fifth Avenue and in Sydney’s commercial business district and the UK flagship is likely to be similar to these shops, where customers are encouraged to handle and test Microsoft products.
The existing stores also have “answer desks”, similar to Apple’s Genius Bar, where customers can ask questions about products or have them fixed.
CBRE acted for Microsoft and the Crown Estate.
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