Microsoft to Open 5 More Retail Stores

Microsoft has announced that it plans to open five more retail locations by this summer. It also hinted that it plans to open even more stores later this year.

PCMag’s Stephanie Mlot reported, “Microsoft is on a retail roll, announcing today that it will open another five brick-and-mortar stores by this summer. New locations will be scattered across the country, in the Natick Mall in Natick, Mass.; the Ala Moana Center in Honolulu, Hawaii; Pioneer Place in Portland, Ore.; The Somerset Collection in Troy, Mich.; and the Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Ill. More details on the grand opening celebrations of the five locations will become available soon.”

SlashGear’s Craig Lloyd noted, “2012 was a big year for Microsoft Stores. The company opened 51 new full-line and specialty stores during those past 12 months alone, including their first international stores in several locations in Canada. It’s rumored that Microsoft could be opening up their first European stores in 2013, which seems very likely at this point.”

CNET’s Lance Whitney observed, “Microsoft has been on a push to open additional retail stores. With the launch of Surface and other Windows 8 devices, that push may be needed now more than ever. Third-party retailers such as Best Buy do carry Surface and other Windows 8 tablets and PCs. But those can get lost in the mix of all the other products. And even Surface was initially available in the flesh only at Microsoft stores.”

TechCrunch’s Jordan Crook commented, “Microsoft is clearly making a big push in the retail segment, but in terms of the competition, they’ll have a ways to go before the[y] have the same retail presence as Apple. In fact, Apple has retail stores in every one of the five new locations.”