Microsoft Moves to Permanently Close Physical Shops

[FreedomEclipse]

They did of course, and they were just as much high-pressure sales BS that Apple stores offer. They literally had a policy that sales team members could let no one exit the store until they had bought something.

Surely that violates some laws to do with kidnapping? Having worked in areas that have a huge focus on tourism. Imagine my surprise when i found out not all tourists speak English or fluent English. Suddenly trying to talk them into buying a £300-1300 laptop/tablet seems like trying to scam them out of money.

Used to work not too far from there as well at point, when I was at the Register. There will still quite a few computer shops in that part of the city back then, but I guess that's 14 years ago... Time flies...
Some of them were pretty shit even back then I have to admit. Was convenient if I needed something quickly though.
Also, the Computer Exchange there gave me a fair chunk of cash for a really crappy Acer MP3 player with a hard drive in it that I got at a press event...

Same - I used to work in Debenhams a long time ago then moved to working in Holborn. Still within the same map grid but tucked out of the way. The best shops was GHS Tech & YoYo Tech. My first ever build was bought with parts from yoyotech & they were awesome people. A lot of my parts would come from them up until they eventually shut shop after their parent company (I think it was AnandTech at the time...) decided to throw them under a bus. Sold them to a company who were also going into the red financially. They almost went into administration until some other company bailed them out.

 

[timta2]

They did of course, and they were just as much high-pressure sales BS that Apple stores offer. They literally had a policy that sales team members could let no one exit the store until they had bought something.

In all of my trips to Apple stores I have never experienced "high-pressure sales BS" and have never seen it. It's usually "Hi, can I help you with anything?" and then they leave you alone if you don't. What you're saying here seems dishonest.

 

[1d10t]

Oh, the irony. Pretty much every MS-branded device I’ve owned has broken inside the warranty period, and it’s not a small sample size. Every Apple product I’ve owned has lasted years and years without issue. I just finally retired my Series0 watch. I beat the heck out of it. to the point that the face came unglued, but I glued it back on and it still worked. Contrast that with Band 2, which fell apart in 3 months, then the replacement broke in 2 months. MS can’t even make a watch strap well. Apple is by no means without issue, but they are a well known brand and any manufacturing mistake they make is headline news.

M$ was never hardware focused in first place, they just jumped into "one ecosystem" bandwagon just recently without any experience on it. They try to copied Apple business model, tapping into mobile phone first ( which is failed ) and then expanding to CE consumer electric using XBox as a foothold. As much as I dislike their hardware, but its already proven that OEM and ODM are miles better than M$.

 

[TechLurker]

I saw a few MS shops at the malls in Dallas and Houston while visiting relatives way before COVID hit. They each had a Kinect Xbox unit set up to a flatscreen that was back to back with another inside a display column outside the shop. One Xbox was always Dance Central, and the other was some sports game, both showing off the Kinects' and Xbox' capabilities. The Dance Central side was always popular; at least one MS representative was pulling off the pro level dance moves while facing off against another skilled customer every few hours, and the rest of the time it's random shoppers just wanting to have some fun, regardless of skill level (or dance coordination).

Unfortunately, the rest of the shop itself felt as sterile as the Apple store across the second floor. This applied to both locations.

 

[lexluthermiester]

In all of my trips to Apple stores I have never experienced "high-pressure sales BS" and have never seen it. It's usually "Hi, can I help you with anything?" and then they leave you alone if you don't. What you're saying here seems dishonest.

I've been to the Apple Store several times, NYC, LA, Potland, Salt Lake City and Seattle. Only in Salt Lake did I not encounter the high pressure sales crap.

 

[Fourstaff]

Microsoft retreating from their shop strategy, and consolidating to online like Google and their Nexus/Pixel strategy?

I've been to the Apple Store several times, NYC, LA, Potland, Salt Lake City and Seattle. Only in Salt Lake did I not encounter the high pressure sales crap.

I have been to Apple stores in UK, Singapore and Hong Kong among others (multiple times in each location) - no high pressure sales encountered. This is across a time frame of over a decade. They let me browse in peace. Maybe the sales staff in the States has a different set of training from their international shops, but its definitely not the norm in the shops I have been visiting.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I have been to Apple stores in UK, Singapore and Hong Kong among others (multiple times in each location) - no high pressure sales encountered. This is across a time frame of over a decade. They let me browse in peace. Maybe the sales staff in the States has a different set of training from their international shops, but its definitely not the norm in the shops I have been visiting.

Ok, I'll take your word for it. You're the third person who's said this.

 

[P4-630]

4 stores will remain open, which will be converted into 'Microsoft Experience Stores'. These will be branches in London, New York City, Sydney and Microsoft's own Redmond.

Microsoft permanently closes all of its retail stores

Microsoft's shutting down all of its retail stores to focus on the digital Xbox and Microsoft stores.

www.pcworld.com

 

[THE_EGG]

4 stores will remain open, which will be converted into 'Microsoft Experience Stores'. These will be branches in London, New York City, Sydney and Microsoft's own Redmond.

Microsoft permanently closes all of its retail stores

Microsoft's shutting down all of its retail stores to focus on the digital Xbox and Microsoft stores.

www.pcworld.com

Yep. I'm happy the Sydney one is staying open, their community events and workshops are sometimes pretty cool. Frankly I thought it was mostly run as an 'Experience Store' anyway.

 

[QUANTUMPHYSICS]

I don't want a future without stores to go to.

 

[blobster21]

I don't want a future without stores to go to.

I'm perfectly fine with the opposite. To each his own i guess.

 

[ARF]

I don't want a future without stores to go to.

I don't see what exactly Microsoft could sell via physical stores.
Their main products are software, so online/virtual shops is alright.

I guess not many visit Microsoft anyways.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I don't want a future without stores to go to.

Right there with you.

 

[kiriakost]

The profitability testing of Microsoft stores just failed.
We never see any of them in Europe.

 

[Totally]

Yeah that's another thing... its always so half assed. The MS Band for example... pretty useful little gadget, my dad had a 1 and 2.0 version of it. First one replaced in warranty with 2nd version... (since we mentioned warranty... that is a pretty sweet deal I think).

Windows Phone... same thing. Win RT... same. It all falls flat and every time you think 'if they just gave it a BIT more momentum...'

That's the going trend of a trend for MS everything thing they come-up with is either half-baked or product is ahead of it's time and MS gives up on it just before it catches on as a thing then someone come in right after and polishes the product/idea, and profits. Kinect for instance was really good as a biometric webcam and those are starting to go up in popularity, especially now that companies are warming to telecommuting since they're seeing benefits not just during a pandemic. With good 1080p webcams selling north of $200US, and 4k webcams $300+ they're missing out.

 

[1d10t]

I don't want a future without stores to go to.

Second to that.
On topic, seem M$ never actually put effort in their store and lost in many front, heck even Dell store are far more fascinating.

 

[stimpy88]

They have nothing to sell that people want to buy, and certainly not for a higher price than they can get it for online.

These brand owned stores should be the cheapest place to buy, as they have no middlemen to pay, yet they are often the most expensive.

 

[ARF]

They have nothing to sell that people want to buy, and certainly not for a higher price than they can get it for online.

These brand owned stores should be the cheapest place to buy, as they have no middlemen to pay, yet they are often the most expensive.

It depends on the logistics cost - it's normal that with one middleman the delivery cost is lower than if the producer sells directly to its customers.

 

[mbeeston]

I don't want a future without stores to go to.

completely, this is sad news ._.

 

[NastyHabits]

After being burned by fraudulent copies of windows 10 purchased at otherwise reputable online sellers, I only purchased copies of Windows 10 directly from Microsoft Stores. I'm sorry to see them go.

 

[GhostRyder]

I have been to the one in The Domain in Austin, TX. I enjoyed going to it to look around and made a few minor xbox purchases there (Controllers and stuff). However the problem was all they carried was the very high end stuff so it was all ridiculously expensive stuff (IE 300+ dollar gaming chairs, the top end gaming monitors, etc) at least at the one I went to. It was literally a copy paste of the Apple store but with Microsoft products.