Microsoft Will Close All Retail Stores

A trend that will stick around post-pandemic: Tech sales shift online.

On Friday, Microsoft said it will close 83 retail stores. Many of you just learned that Microsoft had any retail stores, so this news may be a lot to process. The company will repurpose its London, NYC, Sydney, and Redmond, WA, locations as "experience centers” that showcase Microsoft technology.

• Since temporarily shuttering stores in late March, Microsoft says its retail team has moved sales, consultations, and workshops online.

The software company should be just fine online

Microsoft says its digital storefronts reach 1.2 billion people every month. From cloud services to collaboration tools, Microsoft products are in high demand during the pandemic because they help employees work in a distributed and asynchronous fashion.

My take: Brick and mortar never felt like a good fit for tech companies, with the notable exception of Apple. Microsoft doesn’t need physical retail for branding or low-touch operations.