News: computer and electronics retailer Microsoft has become the first US retailer to sell MakerBot's desktop 3D printers on the shop floor for customers to take home on the same day.

Microsoft has partnered with 3D printing manufacturer MakerBot to offer customers the chance to buy their own MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer from 18 retail stores across the USA. This move makes Microsoft the first retailer to sell MakerBot's desktop printers outside of the company's own New York store. Microsoft store customers will also be able to buy the PLA bioplastic material used by the printer and in-store 3D printing demonstrations will be available.

MakerBot has been testing 3D printing demonstrations at Microsoft stores in Seattle, San Francisco and Palo Alto, offering consumers a firsthand experience of 3D printing.

"We've seen tremendous interest and enthusiasm at the three initial 'MakerBot Experience' stores," said MakerBot CEO Bre Pettis. "Rolling the program out to 15 additional Microsoft Stores supercharges our mission to bring 3D printing to more people."

At the 3D Printshow in London last year, MakerBot CEO Bre Pettis told Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs that "cheap 3D printers mean manufacturing can again take place at home as it did before the industrial revolution."

A number of retailers have been moving into the consumer market for 3D printing. Staples were the first US retailer to sell 3D printers in store and earlier this month The UPS Store launched the first in-store 3D printing service in the US. In July, electronics retailer Maplin became the first UK retail chain to sell 3D printers aimed at the domestic market.

Read more about how 3D printing is changing the worlds of architecture, design, food and medicine in Print Shift, our one-off print-on-demand magazine all about additive manufacturing.

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Here's the announcement from MakerBot:

The MakerBot® Experience, our in-store 3D printing demonstration at the Microsoft retail store, is expanding from its roots in Seattle, San Francisco, and Palo Alto and sweeping the nation. Get yourself to a Microsoft Retail Store near you and grab your MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer.

The Microsoft retail stores are the only full line stores outside of MakerBot's own NYC store where you can purchase a MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer in person and take it home the same day.

The full list of 18 Microsoft Stores that will sell MakerBot 3D printer and offer in-store demonstrations:

Scottsdale, AZ – Fashion Square
Costa Mesa, CA – South Coast Plaza
Mission Viejo, CA – The Shops at Mission Viejo
Palo Alto, CA – Stanford Shopping Center
San Diego, CA – Fashion Valley
San Francisco, CA – Westfield San Francisco Centre
Lone Tree, CO – Park Meadows Mall
Danbury, CT – Danbury Fair Mall
Atlanta, GA – Lenox Square
Oak Brook, IL – Oakbrook Center
Schaumburg, IL – Woodfield Mall
Bloomington, MN – Mall of America
Salem, NH – The Mall at Rockingham Park
Bridgewater, NJ – Bridgewater Commons
White Plains, NY – The Westchester
Houston, TX – Houston Galleria
McLean, VA – Tysons Corner Center
Bellevue, WA – Bellevue Square