Microsoft to give up retail stores. Today The Company announced to close all its retails stores in United States and all around the world, except four locations that will no longer sell products but will be reimagined as experience centers.
Flagship stores are New York City (Fifth Ave), London (Oxford Circus), Sydney (Westfield Sydney) and The Redmond campus location. All other Microsoft Stores across the globe will be closed and the company will concentrate on digital retail moving forward. Microsoft says Microsoft.com, the Xbox and Windows storefronts reach “up to 1.2 billion monthly customers in 190 markets”.
Microsoft also mentioned that no layoffs will result from today’s decision. “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.
This plan was originally in place for next year, but was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Microsoft’s Xbox Series X is launching this holiday, so it makes sense that the company had at least initially planned for the stores to make it that far. The dual-screen Surface Neo device that was also going to ship during the holidays has been delayed, though the Surface Duo is apparently still on track for this year. Still, if you were hoping your local Microsoft Store would be a surefire bet for a new Xbox, you’ll have to look elsewhere.
In April, Microsoft outlined in a blog post how many retail store associates had shifted to remote work after their everyday jobs were sidelined. The company has continued to provide regular pay for team members through the pandemic. “Our retail team members will continue to serve customers working from Microsoft corporate facilities or remotely and we will continue to develop our diverse team in support of the overall company mission and objectives,” the company said in today’s update.
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