Microsoft announced on Friday that it will close down virtually all of its 80 retail stores, reimagining four of them - in New York, London, Sydney, and on its Redmond, Washington, campus - as "experience centers."
The reason: “Our sales have grown online as our product portfolio has evolved to largely digital offerings, and our talented team has proven success serving customers beyond any physical location,” said David Porter, a Microsoft vice president.
The company did not say when the stores would be shuttered, nor if they would even reopen since being closed by the pandemic.
- KC's View:
-
There are maybe 17 people who are going to be disappointed this move.
The Microsoft stores never seemed to have a reason for being, other than "if Apple can do it, so can we." And then, Microsoft's stores seemed to be knock-offs rather than showing any sort of clear and differentiating insight into what makes the company different. Which is why they never seemed to be busy, which was even more obvious when they were located near Apple Stores that almost always were.
At least they're not overtly blaming it on the pandemic.
