Microsoft Store (retail)

For Microsoft Store on Windows and Xbox, see Microsoft Store.
Microsoft Store
Company typeSubsidiary
Industry
FoundedOctober 22, 2009; 15 years ago (2009-10-22)
DefunctJune 26, 2020 (2020-06-26)
FateClosed by parent
Number of locations
World: 116 stores in 4 countries and 1 territory[1]
(107 US/10 overseas)
  • United States: 106
  • Canada: 8
  • Australia: 1
  • United Kingdom: 1
  • Puerto Rico: 1
Key people
Products
ParentMicrosoft
Websitewww.microsoftstore.com
A Microsoft Store bearing the 2009–2012 logo
Microsoft Store in Yorkdale, Toronto, the first store located outside the U.S.
Microsoft Store in Sydney

Microsoft Store was a chain of retail stores and is an online shopping site, owned and operated by Microsoft and dealing in computers, computer software, and consumer electronics.

The Microsoft Store offered Signature PCs and tablets like the Microsoft Surface, and offerings from third parties such as Acer, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and VAIO without demos nor trialware (pre-installed free trials of certain third-party software that expire after a limited time). It also offered Windows (most retail versions), Microsoft Office, and Xbox One game consoles, games, and services including on-site Xbox diagnostics. The Answers Desk helped to answer questions related to Office, Windows, and other Microsoft products; the stores also offered class sessions as well as individual appointments.

The first two Microsoft Stores opened within a week of the Windows 7 launch, in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Mission Viejo, California.[2] Additional stores opened in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Texas, Virginia, and Washington. At the 2011 Professional Developers Conference, Microsoft announced that they intended to open 75 new stores in the next three years.[3]

The first store outside the U.S. (and the first of eight stores in Canada) opened in Toronto on November 16, 2012,[4] while the first store outside North America (and first store in Asia-Pacific and second flagship store[5]) opened in Sydney, Australia, on November 12, 2015.[6] In September 2017, the company announced a store on Regent Street in London, England.[7]

On June 26, 2020, Microsoft announced that it would close all of its physical stores once COVID-19 pandemic restrictions are lifted, and transition to a digital-only model. Four stores in New York City, Sydney, London, and Redmond would be renovated into Microsoft Experience Centers.[8]

  1. ^ "Store List - Microsoft Store". Microsoft. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  2. ^ Microsoft News (2009-08-07). "Behind these walls in Scottsdale & Mission Viejo, the first Microsoft retail stores". Twitter. Retrieved 2010-11-28.
  3. ^ "Microsoft will open 75 new stores within 3 years". CNET News.
  4. ^ Kopun, Francine (15 November 2012). "Microsoft's first Canadian retail store to open at Yorkdale: Sneak peek". Toronto Star. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  5. ^ "Microsoft's Sydney Flagship Store: The Massive New Focus on Service" (Press release). Techly. 2015-11-12. Retrieved 2015-11-14.
  6. ^ "All eyes on Australia: First Microsoft flagship store in Asia Pacific lands in Sydney" (Press release). Microsoft. 2015-04-21. Retrieved 2015-04-21.
  7. ^ Brown, Matt (21 September 2017). "Microsoft to open its first UK retail store in London [Updated]". Windows Central. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  8. ^ Liao, Shannon (June 26, 2020). "Microsoft is closing all of its stores". CNN Business. Retrieved June 26, 2020.