Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, today announced that it will be closing all of its brick-and-mortar stores to concentrate on online merchandising.
The computer software and electronic device giant has a store in The Westchester mall in White Plains and five other locations in New York state. It also has two stores in Connecticut, at the Danbury Fair Mall in Danbury and the Westfarms Mall in Farmington.
The company said that employees on its retail team will continue to serve customers from Microsoft corporate facilities and will remotely provide sales, training and support. Microsoft said it will reimagine the spaces it operates as Microsoft Experience Centers in New York City, London, Sydney and Redmond, Washington.
“Our sales have grown online as our product portfolio has evolved to largely digital offerings, and our talented team has proven success serving customers beyond any physical location,” Microsoft Corporate Vice President David Porter said. “We are grateful to our Microsoft Store customers and we look forward to continuing to serve them online and with our retail sales team at Microsoft corporate locations.”
Microsoft noted that its stores closed in late March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It said that much of the in-store activity switched to online and helped customers with support calls. The company said that it hosted more than 14,000 online workshops and summer camps and more than 3,000 virtual graduations.
The company said that it was planning to take a pre-tax writeoff of approximately $450 million that will be charged in the current quarter ending June 30. The charge includes primarily asset write-offs and impairments.
“We deliberately built teams with unique backgrounds and skills that could serve customers from anywhere. The evolution of our workforce ensured we could continue to serve customers of all sizes when they needed us most, working remotely these last months,” Porter said. “Speaking over 120 languages, their diversity reflects the many communities we serve. Our commitment to growing and developing careers from this talent pool is stronger than ever.”
Microsoft said it will invest in digital innovation across software and hardware. New services include 1:1 video chat support, online tutorial videos, and virtual workshops with more digital solutions to come.
“It is a new day for how Microsoft Store team members will serve all customers,” said Porter. “We are energized about the opportunity to innovate in how we engage with all customers, maximize our talent for greatest impact, and most importantly help our valued customers achieve more.”
The comany’s announcement did not say whether all of the stores would be closed at once or whether different locations would be shuttered on different dates.
