The company already has outlets in Arizona (1), Colorado (1), California (3), Illinois (1), Minnesota (1) and Washington (1). Add to that list Georgia, with a big store opening in Atlanta, and Texas, with a location in Houston. (ZDNet's always-thorough Mary Jo Foley offers a complete breakdown of cities here, along with a link to a job listing for an upcoming Los Angeles location.)
Microsoft has been dipping its toe very cautiously into the retail waters. Back in late 2009, after the company opened its first store in Scottsdale, Ariz. and a second in Mission Viejo, Calif., a spokesperson told me: "We will open these first two stores, listen to and learn from consumers, evolve the model, and open additional stores as quickly as it makes business sense."
That represented something of a toning-down of Microsoft's previous rhetoric. At the Worldwide Partner Conference in summer 2009, Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner told an audience that the company was "on the offensive" against Apple, and willing "to take some of these hard market-share opportunities head-on." Presumably, that meant a battle on the retail level, where Apple enjoys a significant presence.
Microsoft even went so far as to hire George Blankenship, a former Gap executive who helped launch Apple's retail efforts in 2001. But as time passed, only a handful of stores opened--and until Atlanta and Houston, Microsoft seemed more interested in smaller cities as potential locations.
"Microsoft will open a ninth store this year in Seattle," read an April 26 posting on WinRumors. "Microsoft is also rumored to be launching stores in New York, Houston and Orlando later this year too."
That suggests those initial stores performed well, right? I mean, it's not like Microsoft's ever poured millions of dollars into a concept that didn't work out.
Whether they prove a loss leader, Microsoft's stores do serve one vital purpose: helping reaffirm Microsoft as a consumer brand unto itself. Manufacturing partners such as Hewlett-Packard (with its webOS, soon to appear on tablets, smartphones and PCs) and Dell (with its Android-based tablets) have shown a terrifying lack of fidelity to the Redmond mother-ship of late, and retail partners like Best Buy aren't exactly in the business of exclusively promoting Microsoft's products.
In light of that, and no matter what the condition of their balance sheets, Microsoft's stores serve to generate a sort of brand equity. It's certainly worked for Apple, whose stores served as an effective brand ambassador since long before the release of the iPhone or iPad.
In reality, though, the launch of a successful product line (like, hey, a tablet that runs a lightweight OS!) would probably do more for the Microsoft name than a few stores that sell Xbox 360s and Windows 7 PCs mercifully free of bloatware. The retail locations might give Microsoft a little boost, but ultimately they remain a minor component (or, if you want to be unkind, a sideshow) within the much larger endeavor of selling Microsoft's products in a rapidly changing and aggressive marketplace.
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