Microsoft is threatening promising to have 44 retail stores by the middle 2013, more than double the 20 locations the company currently operates. COO Kevin Turner made the pronouncement at the company’s annual Worldwide Partner Conference in Toronto Tuesday.
Rumors that Microsoft was mulling opening its own retail stores began circulating in 2008, and the first location opened up in Scottsdale, AZ in October of 2009. It was also in 2009, that Microsoft let it be known that it would be positioning some of its stores next to Apple’s stores, a strategy we saw in practice when we toured the company’s store in Lone Tree, CO in 2010.
Microsoft Promises More of This
At the 2011 World Partner Conference, Microsoft said that it would open some 75 stores in the “next two or three years.” It’s not clear if that is still the goal through 2014, but if Microsoft is going to meet its new goal of 44 stores by June of 2013, it will have to open 2.2 stores per month for the next 11 months.
The company’s store list currently shows 20 locations that are open, with nine more listed as “Coming Soon.” ZDNet noted that the next two scheduled to open are in Orlando, FL, on August 18th and Boston, MA on August 23rd.