Microsoft Corp. is getting ready for the year-end holiday shopping season by preparing temporary retail stores around the country.

The Redmond, Wash., company will open a dozen pop-up stores in cities including San Francisco, Chicago, New York and Miami, which will get two stores.

This holiday season will be important for the tech company since it will be launching its brand new Windows 8 operating system this October, and with it, there'll be plenty of new devices, including the and an expected batch of new devices running 8.

According to the Verge, Microsoft has also advertised job openings for locations in Natick, Mass.; Braintree, Mass.; St. Louis; Vancouver, Canada; Cleveland; Portland, Ore.; and San Antonio.

The company is looking for "retail product advisers" in "holiday" stores, the Verge said.

Currently, Microsoft has stores in 20 cities with many major markets not among them, including some of the ones getting temporary stores.

Over the next two years, the company plans to open an additional 75 stores.

(c)2012 Los Angeles Times
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