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Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

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Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#271

Post by josuepeq »

MivLives wrote: post #68
sushshshsh wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always remembered walking along the Charles, really far west of the Mass Ave bridge and asking myself "why is there a Microcenter here?"

It is right next to Harvard and pretty close to MIT. There's a bunch of other larger stores in the area. Beats the one closest to Philly, which was a decent drive out of town.

Sigh. With this news, I wish (the other) Bay Area had a Micro Center. The closest one is in SoCal .

Fry’s is either always going out of business (Palo Alto) or always out of stock of whatever I need.

Now with Microsoft gone, that leaves us Best Buy, Central Computer, Fry’s, the internet, and Apple.

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#273

Post by WWLink »

MisterBiggs wrote: post #249

I've always had great experiences at the Microsoft store especially with purchases and replacements. Right after the pandemic caused Microsoft to close all their physical locations my Surface Pro 7 started getting green spots on the screen that I've been waiting for the stores to reopen to get replaced. Hearing the news today that the store wasn't going to be open I decided to try the online support and it is a total…

I had a surface pro 1, and when it decided to randomly completely fail, I called and was met with the same kinda customer service treatment you explained. They offered to replace my week old tablet with a refurb if I shipped mine to them and waited a couple weeks.

I found out there was a MS store right by where my internship was, so I stopped by, explained my problem and showed it to them, and they handed me a new replacement on the spot.

So yeah, same experience here lol. I wasn't going to mention it because I figured they had gotten better by now. I'm sad to hear they haven't! That.. means I probably won't be buying any surface hardware again lol.

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#274

Post by WWLink »

AgloeDreams wrote: post #71
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.

Totally agree for Microsoft product owners. One of the hard things for MS I think is that the Apple store was successful because you couldn't get a Mac in the past anywhere else and it was a good experience that really set the tone of the Mac. Then the iPhone and iPod happened, that blew up the Store market for Apple. Microsoft doesn't have an iPhone, didn't have a successful consumer market beyond the Xbox and most…

"One of the hard things for MS I think is that the Apple store was successful because you couldn't get a Mac in the past anywhere else and it was a good experience that really set the tone of the Mac."

CompUSA and Best Buy sold them, so did a lot of independent resellers. I guess it was kinda like buying a thinkpad back then.

Indie computer shops used to really be a thing in large cities.

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#275

Post by gketuma »

thordenmark wrote: post #214

Sad to hear, but unsurprising. The MS store near us looked nice yet was always a ghost town. They're just not as sexy as an Apple store, though they've done a great job with the latest versions of Windows and the XBox is fairly popular.

So you mean Steve Jobs was right when he said: "They just have no taste."

https://www.computerworld.com/article/2471632/steve-jobs-on-...

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#276

Post by kumarharsh »

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…

That's sad but hilarious! I think that young man was Microsoft personified!

(I'm not a hater - owned 2 Windows Phones myself, but MS's strategy always seemed self-defeating in the Phone space)

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#277

Post by TwoNineFive »

WWLink wrote: post #148
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is purely anecdotal. Take it with a grain of salt. We have a "high-end" Simon mall, in a town near where I live. It's quite "upscale," with Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdales, etc. It has an Apple Store near the South entrance, and a Microsoft Store, near the center. The Apple Store is always packed. I haven't been there in a few months, so I have no idea what's going on with it at the moment, but it has always be…

The Microsoft stores seemed to be a "ME TOO!" thing. I doubt MS ever opened a store in a mall that didn't have an apple store (or wasn't expected to have one). Like I'm sure that's what the point was. Someone would go try some Macs out at the Apple store and walk past the Microsoft store on the way to their car. They'd go in, check out the goods (as a matter of comparison shopping), and possibly buy a PC instead. In…

Great observation on the "mee too!" thing. Microsoft is basically a Me Too company. Look at all their products and history.

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#278

Post by TwoNineFive »

MisterBiggs wrote: post #249

I've always had great experiences at the Microsoft store especially with purchases and replacements. Right after the pandemic caused Microsoft to close all their physical locations my Surface Pro 7 started getting green spots on the screen that I've been waiting for the stores to reopen to get replaced. Hearing the news today that the store wasn't going to be open I decided to try the online support and it is a total…

> All in all I feel like all my Microsoft hardware products just massively depreciated in value.

Great observation. Top comment in this thread.

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#279

Post by jodrellblank »

WorldMaker wrote: post #205
blntechie wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They were almost in every major US city or their suburbs I think. In suburbs, they were predominantly in malls.

Pretty much every US city with an Apple Store had at least the mall kiosk version of the Microsoft Store, almost always within earshot or horizon distance from the Apple Store "coincidentally".

Why “coincidentally” in scare quotes?

If one company is going to open an electronics store, they will put it where it is accessible to the most possible customers. If another company wants to open one they can either put it in the same place for the same reason - and now there are customers who go to that region to buy that kind of goods making it more desirable - or they can put it somewhere else where it is accessible to fewer customers, and that’s a silly decision.

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