Microsoft to open more retail stores this year
The folks in Redmond now plan to launch five more stores this summer in addition to the six announced last month.
Consumers in Honolulu, Portland, Ore., and a few other major cities should find a Microsoft Store in their area come this summer.
The company said today that it plans to kick off five new retail stores by summer. The stores will find homes around the U.S. in the following spots:
- Natick Mall, Natick, Mass.
- Ala Moana Center, Honolulu, Hawaii
- Pioneer Place, Portland, Ore.
- The Somerset Collection, Troy, Mich.
- Woodfield Mall, Schaumburg, Ill.
Microsoft expects to reveal details on the grand openings at each of the stores in the coming weeks. The five stores announced today are in addition to the six mentioned last month, adding up to 11 scheduled so far for 2013.
Described in a Microsoft blog in December, the other stores slated to open this year will be at the following locations:
- The Shops at La Cantera, San Antonio, Texas
- Dadeland Mall, Miami, Fla.
- Beachwood Place, Beachwood, Ohio
- Westfield San Francisco Centre, San Francisco
- City Creek Center, Salt Lake City
- St. Louis Galleria, St. Louis
Microsoft currently has 29 stores in the United States, as well as one in Canada and another in Puerto Rico. The company also runs a series of specialty kiosks around the U.S., which feature a sample of the "best" Microsoft products.
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.
The store openings scheduled for 2013 will certainly help. But Microsoft needs to ramp up more stores throughout the country if it wants to lure in customers to check out its latest products.