Microsoft to Permanently Close all Physical Stores

Have you ever been inside a Microsoft Store? No? Well, me neither. That may, however, be something to do with the fact that in terms of numbers, there aren’t actually that many of them around. Well, unless you live in America in which case there’s a good chance your state might have at least one of them! For us humble folks in the UK, however, we only have the one in London and even then, I wouldn’t be able to give you any directions to it!

Following a report via TechPowerUp, however, it seems that if you were planning to make a trip, you might want to get moving. Why? Well, it’s being suggested that Microsoft is planning on closing all of its physical store locations!

Microsoft Stores To Permanently Close!

In the report, it has been suggested that after a little over 10 years of operating, Microsoft wants to close all of its physical store locations. In replacement of them, it is being suggested that Microsoft may expand their digital storefront that will allow the option for you to have a video call with one of their sales representatives who will help assist you in learning more (and purchasing) one of their products you may be interested in.

While not as ideal as being somewhere where you can physically both look and touch a product, such trifling matters clearly haven’t bothered or affected companies like Amazon.

What Do We Think?

The move to open physical store locations was initially driven by the launch of the Windows 7 operating system. Since then, however, the landscape for Microsoft has changed more than a little and, put simply, the closure of their store locations likely wouldn’t play any majorly significant impact upon their overall sales. It is, for the sake of balance, a matter of debate whether the stores actually run at any kind of profit.

The only mild matter of curiosity will be whether these closures will happen before the launch of the Xbox Series X. A product release you would presume Microsoft would absolutely jam their high-street locations full of in an attempt to boost sales. Pending confirmation, however, if they do decide to close their stores, you can’t honestly say it would be that surprising!

What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!