Microsoft To Permanently Close All Retail Stores -- June 29, 2020

It was a surprise when Apple, Inc., opened retail stores many, many years ago.

Sometime later, Microsoft followed.

If Apple and Microsoft each had stores in the same mall, they were usually located near each other. Apple had stand-alone retail stores, but I don't believe Microsoft had (m)any stand-alone retail stores.

It was my experience that on any given day, Apple retail stores inside malls were always "packed," whereas, Microsoft stores were embarrassingly empty. It was not uncommon to see more Microsoft employees in their retail stores than customers.

This past week it was reported that Microsoft will permanently close all its retail stores. Four stores will be converted into "experience centers" where no products will be sold, locations in NYC, London, Sydney (Australia), and Redmond (Washington state).

With the closure of its retail stores, there appears to be no reason to continue marketing its Surface devices, and, indeed, there are now analysts who expect Microsoft to eventually scuttle the Surface.

After a huge sell-off on Friday due to an announcement that Apple, Inc., will be temporarily re-closing some stores due to a surge in Covid-19 cases, AAPL futures are up very, very slightly, overnight, early Monday morning.

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How surprising is this announcement by Microsoft?

Glad you asked. Actually, the bigger question is, "Why did it take so long?"

Covid-19 was the last nail in the coffin, of course, but it (closure) was bound to happen sooner or later. Having said that, it was a huge surprise. Why? The London Microsoft store had just opened about one year ago. Link at The Verge.

The big decision partially explains why Microsoft had yet to reopen a single store after they were all closed in light of the pandemic.

Last week, Microsoft told The Verge that its “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.” At the time, the company declined to offer an update on when any stores might open again.