Microsoft Retail Locations: First Six Stores Of 2013 Announced

Microsoft retail stores will be opening en masse in 2013 and the company has announced the first six new locations for the year. Microsoft recently announced plans to open 75 Microsoft Stores over the next 36 months. Currently Microsoft operates 40 retail locations throughout the United States.

The new locations have been announced for the following cities:

“San Antonio, Texas; Miami, Florida; Beachwood, Ohio; San Francisco, California; Salt Lake City, Utah; and St Louis, Missouri.”

If some of those cities sound like currently hosted Microsoft storefronts that’s because San Antonio, San Francisco, Beechwood, and St Louis were featured via Microsoft holiday “pop-up” stores that were not permanent in nature. In several cases those temporary stores will be replaced with shiny new Microsoft retail locations.

Microsoft is currently partaking in international efforts to expand its brand. The tech giant recently opened new retail stores in Canada and Puerto Rico and it plans to expand offerings in the United Kingdom and then throughout the rest of Europe.

The Microsoft retail push has created some awkward competition between Apple and Microsoft as both companies have attempted to steal employees and store managers from one another. In some cases store employees have left mid-shift to work for higher wages at a competing store.

With Microsoft attempting to build and sell more of its own OEM products the push to create stores and showcase its wares is becoming increasingly more important.

Do you think Microsoft retail stores will stand the test of time amid increasing competition and fickle technology driven customers?