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Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

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Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#251

Post by OriginalPenguin »

chrisseaton wrote: post #247
reaperducer wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree with your premise, I think that the availability of a store is a form of goodwill. You are given more confidence in a product if you know there's a place where you can go when things go wrong, or if you want to see something for real, and not just rely on some rendered image on a screen. There's an Apple Store a few blocks from me. I've never been there. But I like knowing I have the option.

> There's an Apple Store a few blocks from me. I've never been there. But I like knowing I have the option. Right - I feel like almost any city I'm going to for a conference will have an Apple store I can pop into if I have a problem. What do you do if you have a ThinkPad or System76 and you get a problem while at a conference? I guess you're out of luck and on your own.

I have no idea for System 76, but for less than the cost of AppleCare, you can get next business day onsite service for your ThinkPad.

I find that more convenient than taking your laptop to the store.

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#252

Post by [deleted] »

OriginalPenguin wrote: post #251
chrisseaton wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There's an Apple Store a few blocks from me. I've never been there. But I like knowing I have the option. Right - I feel like almost any city I'm going to for a conference will have an Apple store I can pop into if I have a problem. What do you do if you have a ThinkPad or System76 and you get a problem while at a conference? I guess you're out of luck and on your own.

I have no idea for System 76, but for less than the cost of AppleCare, you can get next business day onsite service for your ThinkPad. I find that more convenient than taking your laptop to the store.

[deleted]

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#253

Post by noizejoy »

askafriend wrote: post #183
otterpro wrote: post #86

I've been to MS store only once last year to buy a laptop that was on sale. It was a good and pleasant buying experience and the staff was very friendly. However, I noticed that there weren't a lot of variety of hardware on sale. I wish they had more computer stuff, like GPU, mechanical keyboards, motherboards, etc.... Imagine if they were like mini Micro-center, I'd bet they would've been a lot more popular than App…

> Imagine if they were like mini Micro-center, Not to be rude, but this idea is out of touch. Basically no one would want this and the PC building market is impossibly tiny today. You'd get zero foot traffic. No one is building their own computers anymore and those that are, are serviced incredibly well by Amazon/Newegg/etc.

Interestingly here in Canada, we have a smallish, but still growing retail chain catering to the DIY pc builder market, called Memory Express.

They aren’t big box by any means, but I’ve been very happy to shop there. Better selection than Best Buy, better curation than Amazon.

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#255

Post by tracker1 »

WorldMaker wrote: post #244
tracker1 wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haven't really been a console person for a long while... That said, I pretty much favor big-box stores for a few different items namely game consoles, televisions and monitors. It's likely just my own anecdotal bias here, but I've had more of these die in the first month of use than any other electronics, and having a place I can go to "now" to get it replaced is usually a huge deal. When the first X-box came out, th…

Anecdotally I'm in a similar place. I believe that Amazon's electronics "department" is little better than eBay these days and the amount of digging just keeps increasing that you need to do to figure out who is actually selling the device, what their business model is, and if you can trust their listing. (Are they a warehouse arbitrage just moving stuff from Wal-Mart/Target/Costco/etc around, based on who has the hi…

I mostly only buy if Amazon is the seller... at least returns are pretty consistent that way, though still subject to mingling. Same goes for using newegg... was really sad when newegg added 3rd party sellers, it muddied the site.

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#256

Post by kcb »

askafriend wrote: post #183
otterpro wrote: post #86

I've been to MS store only once last year to buy a laptop that was on sale. It was a good and pleasant buying experience and the staff was very friendly. However, I noticed that there weren't a lot of variety of hardware on sale. I wish they had more computer stuff, like GPU, mechanical keyboards, motherboards, etc.... Imagine if they were like mini Micro-center, I'd bet they would've been a lot more popular than App…

> Imagine if they were like mini Micro-center, Not to be rude, but this idea is out of touch. Basically no one would want this and the PC building market is impossibly tiny today. You'd get zero foot traffic. No one is building their own computers anymore and those that are, are serviced incredibly well by Amazon/Newegg/etc.

I think you're underestimating the size of the PC gaming market. And most PC gamers are building their own computers. I think what has really helped PC gaming in recent years is Twitch streamers who are predominantly playing on PC. The kids see this and eventually make the switch to PC.

The PC building section at micro center is always packed with all sorts of people buying full parts for a gaming PC.

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#257

Post by city41 »

AgloeDreams wrote: post #81
softwaredoug wrote: post #5

Wow went to MS story on 5th avenue NYC in late Feb and was impressed. My son loved the video gaming floor, and the hololens demo. Gave us free t-shirts! I must say the experience is very impactful to your perception of the brand and a lot of fun

I had a like experience.. but uh..when do they close the sale? To me they seemed so try-hard that you couldn't actually think about 'buying something', you know what I mean? Like an apple store (for a non-owner) is purely a low-pressure sales experience. You walk in, you see products you might buy and you can use and see them in a great environment.. but the MS store? They didn't even have pure confidence in their ow…

I liked that they offered other brands. But what I really wanted was a curated collection of the best Windows laptops, not the rather random assortment they actually had.

With an Apple laptop you know what you're getting. But with a Dell, Sony, HP, Lenovo, etc, the quality is all over the map. I would have loved a single location where I could test out all the best laptops available, and I always wished the MS store had evolved into that.

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#260

Post by quyleanh »

skuthus wrote: post #222

I guess I can say this now. I worked for 5 years at the most revenue-generating microsoft store in the world. We were near the official Microsoft campus. The short answer is that things started to change internally around 2017, where stores changed their hiring requirements and excised a lot of their top talent in favor of lower-paid, less enthusiastic management and employees. This has been a steady downhill process…

It is disappointed. I love Microsoft and their services. I do expect Microsoft will take their real effort and focus to customer, the end user, but looks like it will never happen.
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