Microsoft will close nearly all of its retail stores
- by Randall Martin
- in IT&Software
- — Jun 29, 2020
Microsoft said Friday it will close all of its stores and move its retail operations online, keeping just four locations and transforming them into "experience centers".
"Our team has proven success serving customers beyond any physical location", said David Porter, Microsoft Store vice president, in Friday's announcement. Microsoft noted in its statement that its retail employees have been working with customers from the company's corporate locations or remotely since the pandemic began.
A wider retail initiative was stated in 2009, with launches in Scottsdale, Arizona and Mission Viejo, California. The assessment mainly includes major assets written off and losses.
Microsoft isn't the only company that is closing stores.
More news: Louis couple points guns at protesters near mayor's homeOnly four stores will open but no longer sell products. There are now more than 100 stores globally.
There are approximately 72 stores in the United States, and several others overseas showcasing and selling laptops and other hardware. In late March, the company had already chose to temporarily close all of them due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Numerous offline retailers across the world have switched to an O2O (online to offline) model where customers can register their interest in a product online on the company's official online store or social media page. Microsoft said that the online stores of Microsoft.com, Xbox, and Windows have 1.2 billion customers per month in 190 markets. The 83 retail stores, which were likely inspired by Apple's retail locations, closed in March at the outset of the Chinese virus pandemic.
Microsoft's brick and mortar stores are becoming largely extinct as the company pivots even further into digital.
As The Verge points out, the announcement is surprising as Microsoft opened their big London store as recently as previous year.
More news: Mississippi lawmakers vote to remove Confederate emblem from state flagThe closing of Microsoft Store physical locations will result in a pre-tax charge of approximately $450 million, or $0.05 per share.
The company said that they will continue investing in digital innovations across software and hardware. "Today we offer tools including virtual customer support from our trusted experts, online tutorial videos, virtual workshops with tips and much more".
Did you ever visit a Microsoft Store?
