Microsoft permanently closing its brick-and-mortar stores

[marcuscnelson]

A real shame. I really loved going to the one at SJTC. The staff there were so nice, stuff like the Xbox and VR were cool.

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/microsoft-permanently-closing-its-brick-and-mortar-stores

[Adam White]

A real shame. I really loved going to the one at SJTC. The staff there were so nice, stuff like the Xbox and VR were cool.

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/microsoft-permanently-closing-its-brick-and-mortar-stores

It always seemed as if their limited range of hardware - combined with the fact that their products are widely sold by other retailers - made the idea of a Microsoft store kind of pointless (and possibly not very profitable). For example, I don't think anyone I know who has a microsoft product  (mainly Xbox) purchased it from a Microsoft store (in contrast to most people who buy Apple computers and iPads from either the Apple store or from the Apple webstore).

Not saying it's not a shame that they're closing the shops or that they won't be missed, of course!

[Charles Hunter]

They were very helpful when I had dropped my Surface Pro and spider-webbed the screen.  They worked with me to get a good deal on the new model of the Surface Pro. Like marcusnelson said, they were very friendly and patient with Boomer tech questions.

[Steve]

It does make sense to me from a business perspective. Apple as a company caters to consumers first - thus the advantage for them having stores. Microsoft on the other hand balances the books on commercial and enterprise sales, then parlays that into employees using Microsoft tools (software and hardware) in their personal lives. The only real exception to this is XBox.

Every time I went in there the people were great and it's a shame for the people (it's unclear if they're staying on in another fashion or being let go), but from a company perspective I completely get it.