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Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

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Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#261

Post by AzzieElbab »

AlphaWeaver wrote: post #21

This is a real shame. We have (had?) a Microsoft Store in the Triangle (Raleigh-Durham), and my visits to that store were always really enjoyable. I made several warranty claims in-store, and they went above and beyond to help me out, even when my grounds for a claim were kinda shaky. Microsoft did a really good job of hiring diverse talent, and every store-clerk I ever interacted with was smart, nice, and seemed to…

Ms stores were a really sad sight at the malls when not positioned far enough from Apple stores. Maybe they should try Xbox store or something else that does not remind ppl of work

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#262

Post by spaetzleesser »

dustinmoris wrote: post #159
ptero wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree on "this is a real shame" feeling. I am not, in general, a heavy Microsoft user: my workstations both at home and in the office run Linux. But a few years ago, when I saw a Microsoft Surface tablet when I walked by the Microsoft store as I was waiting for my wife at the mall I was wowed by its ergonomics. Within three months I bought one as a personal travel laptop and another one for work as my main laptop. An…

Interestingly for me it was almost the opposite experience. I got really excited about the Surface Book and was really close to buy one, then a couple days later I walked past the Microsoft Store on Oxford Street and saw one in real life and was extremely shocked/disappointed how huge, heavy and really really thick it is. It made me realise how unportable this portable device is and I never thought again of buying a…

The hinge first looks neat but it makes the folded Book quite think. Really not a good design. In general I am having lots of problems with my work Surface Book 2. It constantly runs out of USB resources even with the dock and multi screen setup are quite finicky. Sometimes one screen doesn’t wake up until I reboot the whole setup. For its premium price I am quite disappointed.

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#263

Post by scarface74 »

dangus wrote: post #60
Octoth0rpe wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their reasons for existing were the same as the ones you listed for Apple stores: Brand, hands on, direct sale. I'd also add that they serve as a place where buyers believe that they can get support on product, thus increasing their trust in the product. That's an incredibly valuable thing IMO.

I don't agree with this. The Microsoft Store was basically a bad version of Best Buy that happened to sell Microsoft's hardware products front and center. Why would a customer go to a Microsoft Store instead of a Best Buy? It has less selection, fewer locations, and likely worse prices, while selling essentially the same product categories. The Apple Store, in contrast, is arguably mostly possible because it's a mass…

Because you could buy a Windows PC at the Microsoft store and not have to spend hours removing all of the third party crapware from the OEM and even more crapware from Best Buy.

Either that, or you have to go directly to the vendors website and buy one of the business laptops.

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#264

Post by scarface74 »

fortran77 wrote: post #37
DJBunnies wrote: post #4

These stores always seemed like a desperate attempt to copy apple. Which would be fine if they had product lines that were interesting. But they don't.

The Surface, Hololens, and XBox aren't "interesting"? Stop it.

The XBox might be “interesting” but it isn’t a high volume, high margin item. It’s sold at a lost and has sold less than 50 million in its entire lifetime. Apple sells that many iPhones in a bad quarter, it sells about that many iPads in a year.

https://www.vgchartz.com/

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#265

Post by ptero »

dustinmoris wrote: post #159
ptero wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree on "this is a real shame" feeling. I am not, in general, a heavy Microsoft user: my workstations both at home and in the office run Linux. But a few years ago, when I saw a Microsoft Surface tablet when I walked by the Microsoft store as I was waiting for my wife at the mall I was wowed by its ergonomics. Within three months I bought one as a personal travel laptop and another one for work as my main laptop. An…

Interestingly for me it was almost the opposite experience. I got really excited about the Surface Book and was really close to buy one, then a couple days later I walked past the Microsoft Store on Oxford Street and saw one in real life and was extremely shocked/disappointed how huge, heavy and really really thick it is. It made me realise how unportable this portable device is and I never thought again of buying a…

I see it as a good thing for both you and the Microsoft. The fact that you had a chance to play with it before buying it (and hated it) means that Microsoft avoided either really pissing off a customer or handling an expensive return; and possibly both.

For me, I wanted a surface pro (not book) with the largest screen available, so I ended up with the Surface Pro 4 and the keyboard -- I use it as a travel laptop, not an on-the-go device, and really love being able to have a decent keyboard and display when I am in a hotel without having to put a 4 lb monster into my backpack when I fly.

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#266

Post by Marsymars »

WorldMaker wrote: post #182
simonh wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But is it actually serving a purpose if not enough people are actually going into the stores, at the demos and playing with the toys? I don't think this is abandoning consumer tech. Their ~90% domination is still a thing. They gained it without stores, and the stores weren't helping them maintain it. There seems to be this cognitive lag where it seems like the stores should be a big deal, should be significant, givin…

I think that an interesting part of that lag is directly Windows Phone related. Phones seem to be the one consumer hardware product that customers "demand" a store to exist. Look at the retail landscape, other than big box electronics stores and office stores and Wal-Mart/Target, who is selling consumer electronics physically? There's a lot of strip malls packed with phone stores. People that want PC laptops/desktops…

In Canada, retail phone stores are kind of an artificial construct. There are only three large national carriers, but they all have multiple flanker brands and subsidiaries, so a mall will frequently have seven or eight phone stores by the same three companies in order to carpet bomb consumer consciousness. This isn't useful for consumers in any way - they're effectively just paying for redundant staff and infrastructure via inflated monthly plan prices.

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#267

Post by Animats »

omaranto wrote: post #246
AlphaWeaver wrote: post #21

This is a real shame. We have (had?) a Microsoft Store in the Triangle (Raleigh-Durham), and my visits to that store were always really enjoyable. I made several warranty claims in-store, and they went above and beyond to help me out, even when my grounds for a claim were kinda shaky. Microsoft did a really good job of hiring diverse talent, and every store-clerk I ever interacted with was smart, nice, and seemed to…

I have funny story of being helped in a Microsoft store. I once bought a BLU Windows Phone in a Microsoft store. I really liked having a Windows Phone mostly because no one I ever met had seen one before and both Apple and Android users were shocked when they saw it. :) After a few years my phone's battery indicator started failing, or at least that's what I think the problem was. The phone would suddenly say it was…

but lost his balance and brought his foot down hard, right on my phone!

That shouldn't be a problem.[1]

[1] https://youtu.be/mVPku-xItv8

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#268

Post by josuepeq »

josephpmay wrote: post #16

I think one point people are missing: Apple stores, even if they exist mainly to promote the brand, are MASSIVELY profitable. In fact, they are one of the most profitable store chains in the world. By contract, I believe that Microsoft was always running most of their stores at a loss. Even for a massive company like Microsoft, continuously running an unprofitable division is hard to maintain.

Revenue per square foot is high. Profit, not so much.

The “family room” employees now make up most of the Apple Store staff. One can buy an iPhone anywhere, but same-day service to fix that iPhone is more limited. I mean, where would you go?

The cost of payroll for Geniuses, Technical Specialists, Genius Admins, and Trainers, is quite a bit higher than for sales staff - higher pay and the larger headcount of the department. Because of this, any profit from the sales side is absorbed by the tremendous cost of operating their service business.

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#269

Post by ridiculous_fish »

bredren wrote: post #29
josephpmay wrote: post #16

I think one point people are missing: Apple stores, even if they exist mainly to promote the brand, are MASSIVELY profitable. In fact, they are one of the most profitable store chains in the world. By contract, I believe that Microsoft was always running most of their stores at a loss. Even for a massive company like Microsoft, continuously running an unprofitable division is hard to maintain.

I saw Ron Johnson speak around 2012 in San Mateo. He oversaw the initial rise of the Apple Store. I remember him saying Jobs told him there was basically an unlimited budget to make the stores a success. The difference is it only took Apple three years to reach $1B in annual sales.

> opened stores that my parents could go to and talk to someone if they had a problem

Yes, the Genius Bars are just fantastic! You make an appointment and then you get help from someone knowledgeable, in person, for free. And that person is authorized to accept repairs, etc.

The Big Idea of the Genius Bar is that it's there to help. It's not there to upsell like Geek Squad. It's not hoping you'll go away like typical CS reps. Its mandate really does seem to be "make Apple customers happy."

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#270

Post by plussed_reader »

kccqzy wrote: post #248
simonh wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't really see the connection. If the only traffic to the stores was a handful of people, how can this have any significant effect on customer good will? They can't be both empty and influential. It seems like the stores were a missed opportunity, but they always had the odds stacked against them. Whatever you can get in an MS store, you could get a much cheaper alternative running the same software at another el…

It's about presence and exposure. For people (like me) who use mostly Apple products and block ads on the internet, the Microsoft products aren't really on my mind. Having a store close by that I can visit certainly increases exposure to these products. It's surprising how my own attitude changes depending on if it's online: if I see an ad for Microsoft or other brands on the Internet, I'd feel irate and start to won…

You have a hard time escaping the advertising online; you can just leave the store.
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