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Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

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Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#81

Post by AgloeDreams »

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 own products (due to fear of upsetting partners) that they sold 5+ competing brands that you could buy instead of a Surface. from there it devolved into a best-buy-like 'whichever computer you want!' instead of 'this MacBook Air is our right computer for you'. They lacked focus.

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#82

Post by chadcmulligan »

ogre_codes wrote: post #53
chadcmulligan wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I guess waiting for Genius appointments I'm convinced this is deliberate - the apple store is full of blue shirts and people waiting for their appointments / devices to be fixed. It makes the shops look like they're busy, most shops would not make people wait around like that for things to be fixed, but apple gets away with it somehow. It's all very clever - I call it apple theatre, and yes I participate myself. I'…

> people waiting for their appointments Most Apple stores are located in malls and adjacent to other retail outlets. If you have to wait for an appointment, they take your number and give you a five minute notification when your Genius is going to be ready. Every time I've done it, they've encouraged me to go shop the rest of the mall (not linger). > It makes the shops look like they're busy, most shops would not mak…

Yes, I'm not complaining, I find it interesting and educational seeing the issues raised and how they handle customers (they're my customers to). I'm sure if I raised it they would have me out quicker.

Though I would say I haven't experienced the five minute notification, every time was longer than that, again though, not complaining, I find the whole experience entertaining - the lights, the choreography, the cast of characters - best mall experience.

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#83

Post by spunker540 »

When I was in a high school busking band, we went to the local mall to make some money playing Christmas songs. We set up in front of the Apple store and within 10 minutes we’re kicked out by security. As we were leaving, someone from the fledgling Microsoft store told us they had a stage we could play on in front of their store the following day (our first “paid” gig, they gave us gift cards). The joke was on us though as it was an outdoor mall, and the temperature didn’t break 20 degrees. The guitarists fingers could barely play, but it was memorable nonetheless and presented a clear contrast in how the Apple store vs Microsoft store treated young buskers!

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#84

Post by georgeecollins »

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…

Agree! I used to walk through the store in Century City at lunch to see what was new in laptops, headsets, etc. They often had classes or lots of kids doing something on the computer. I made a few purchases there including a Surface tablet for my son that has been a great piece of hardware.

Maybe this is the opening for someone else to come up with an experiential computer store. I hope so.

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#85

Post by AgloeDreams »

chadcmulligan wrote: post #30
geerlingguy wrote: post #20

A lot of people mention that the MS stores were a 'brand image' or 'marketing' front, but if that's the case, I can see why they closed. The three or four I visited were very near an Apple Store, and while the Apple Store across the way was always bustling and had people standing around with their Apple devices even outside the store front (I guess waiting for Genius appointments)... the Microsoft stores were always…

> I guess waiting for Genius appointments I'm convinced this is deliberate - the apple store is full of blue shirts and people waiting for their appointments / devices to be fixed. It makes the shops look like they're busy, most shops would not make people wait around like that for things to be fixed, but apple gets away with it somehow. It's all very clever - I call it apple theatre, and yes I participate myself. I'…

Possibly because Apple sells ~250 iPhones and three iPads for each Surface sold.

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#86

Post by otterpro »

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 Apple store. The foot traffic alone would've given them some good will for MS, if that was their intent.

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#87

Post by lotsofpulp »

sambroner wrote: post #24

This is disappointing, although I'm not surprised. One of the best things about the Microsoft stores is that they provided an obvious way to get individual attention on software issues. My grandfather was a frequent visitor of the Microsoft stores to resolve his software issues with his SurfaceBook and his generic Dell Laptop. This type of one on one, in person attention was really useful to him and made the Microsof…

> Disappointing news for him and for me, although I can understand the business justification.

Understanding the business justification is why I don’t understand why people think Apple products are overpriced. Not a single other tech organization wants to provide customer service other than Apple, even one with as much cash as Microsoft. Why should I not reward Apple for putting their money where their mouth is?

Obviously, anything less expensive than Apple products makes it unfeasible to offer customer service in person and only merits waiting in a phone queue.

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#89

Post by sterwill »

xphilter wrote: post #40
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 agree, but I kinda feel like the relaxed and comfortable atmosphere was more of an indication that the stores weren’t doing so hot. Every time I went to one is was because it was quieter and lower key than other stores. And I never actually wanted to buy things. Maybe that’s good(ish) marketing but probably doesn’t make good business sense.

That may be the case. I rarely go inside my local mall (Southpoint, Durham NC), but on sunny weekends the Apple store was often jam-packed with people. So busy that customers had a hard time getting through the door. Sales people talking non-stop and processing orders as fast as possible. There was a Microsoft store inside the main mall building, just a few minutes away. I walked by it a few times, but it was usually empty.

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#90

Post by AgloeDreams »

dgellow wrote: post #6
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 product lines generates a lot of interest.

Apple sells 100s of phones and iPads for each surface sold. One can't just take their store model without their context and think it will be as successful. Plus you can get a surface at any store, no need to go to a Microsoft store that sells a random assortment of a computers (not just their own) where a new user might not realize a Surface is a Microsoft product.
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