Microsoft will close down all of its physical retail stores globally.
The company has said that all Microsoft Store locations in the United States and around the world will be closed down by it.
The company announced that it will retail physical stores in only four locations which will be “reimagined” by the company to serve as experience centers but will not be selling anything. New York City (Fifth Ave), London (Oxford Circus), Sydney (Westfield Sydney), and the Redmond campus location will be those four locations, the company said.
The store in London had been opened by Microsoft just about a year ago. Microsoft will now focus on digital retail. “Up to 1.2 billion monthly customers in 190 markets” are reached by Microsoft.com and the Xbox and Windows storefronts, Microsoft said.
There will be no layoffs because of the latest decision of the company about its retail stores. “Our commitment to growing and developing careers from this diverse talent pool is stronger than ever,” Microsoft Store VP David Porter said in a LinkedIn post on the move.
Microsoft had initially intended to execute this plan sometime next year but had accelerated this project because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, said report quoting sources knowledge of Microsoft’s retail operations.
The United States based tech giant will be launching its Xbox Series X this holiday season and the plan of the company was to continue to sell through its physical stores till such time. According to reports, the company has been forced to delay the shipment of the dual-screen Surface Neo device, which was planned to be shipped during the holidays. However shipments of the company’s Surface Duo device will be done on schedule - which is this year.
Contrary to what other tech giants had been doing, Microsoft had not opened a single physical store after they were all closed all across the world because of restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the pandemic. Analysts now see that to be a deliberate decision by the company when its latest decision is considered.
Microsoft’s “approach for re-opening Microsoft Store locations is measured and cautious, guided by monitoring global data, listening to public health and safety experts, and tracking local government restrictions”, the company said in a statement to the media last week. The company also did not provide an update on when any stores might open again when it had made the statement last week.
The continued closure of Microsoft stores has not stood out to be unusual because many of its stores are in shopping centers and malls. And many of the shopping malls in many countries are still closed or only partially opened as the pandemic still rages havoc in many countries and governments still trying to avoid a resurgence of the novel coronavirus. A number of countries, including some states the United States, have reported a spike in Covid-19 cases as they reopened economic activities which have forced some tech companies such as Apple Inc to close down its some of its stores the affected regions once again
(Source:www.theverge.com)
The company has said that all Microsoft Store locations in the United States and around the world will be closed down by it.
The company announced that it will retail physical stores in only four locations which will be “reimagined” by the company to serve as experience centers but will not be selling anything. New York City (Fifth Ave), London (Oxford Circus), Sydney (Westfield Sydney), and the Redmond campus location will be those four locations, the company said.
The store in London had been opened by Microsoft just about a year ago. Microsoft will now focus on digital retail. “Up to 1.2 billion monthly customers in 190 markets” are reached by Microsoft.com and the Xbox and Windows storefronts, Microsoft said.
There will be no layoffs because of the latest decision of the company about its retail stores. “Our commitment to growing and developing careers from this diverse talent pool is stronger than ever,” Microsoft Store VP David Porter said in a LinkedIn post on the move.
Microsoft had initially intended to execute this plan sometime next year but had accelerated this project because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, said report quoting sources knowledge of Microsoft’s retail operations.
The United States based tech giant will be launching its Xbox Series X this holiday season and the plan of the company was to continue to sell through its physical stores till such time. According to reports, the company has been forced to delay the shipment of the dual-screen Surface Neo device, which was planned to be shipped during the holidays. However shipments of the company’s Surface Duo device will be done on schedule - which is this year.
Contrary to what other tech giants had been doing, Microsoft had not opened a single physical store after they were all closed all across the world because of restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the pandemic. Analysts now see that to be a deliberate decision by the company when its latest decision is considered.
Microsoft’s “approach for re-opening Microsoft Store locations is measured and cautious, guided by monitoring global data, listening to public health and safety experts, and tracking local government restrictions”, the company said in a statement to the media last week. The company also did not provide an update on when any stores might open again when it had made the statement last week.
The continued closure of Microsoft stores has not stood out to be unusual because many of its stores are in shopping centers and malls. And many of the shopping malls in many countries are still closed or only partially opened as the pandemic still rages havoc in many countries and governments still trying to avoid a resurgence of the novel coronavirus. A number of countries, including some states the United States, have reported a spike in Covid-19 cases as they reopened economic activities which have forced some tech companies such as Apple Inc to close down its some of its stores the affected regions once again
(Source:www.theverge.com)
Homepage
Send to a friend
Printable version
Share
