Microsoft Stores To Open Nationwide

By: Rob Adams
Staff Writer
Published: Feb 15, 2009

The new retail stores will offer PC brand computers, software, and Windows Mobile related products. The company has appointed David Porter as Corporate Vice President of Retail Stores.

Microsoft Corp announced that it will open its own retail stores to offer PC brand computers, software, and Windows Mobile related products. The software giant hopes to improve the company's innovation and value through straightforward demonstration. The company has appointed David Porter as Corporate Vice President of Retail Stores.

"This is an exciting time with our strong lineup of upcoming product releases including Windows 7 and new releases of Windows Live and Windows Mobile," Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner said in a statement.

Microsoft stores will focus on transforming the PC and buying experience at the retail level. David Porter, who will run the new store chain, is a retail veteran who spent 27 years at Wal-Mart Stores.

"David's unique and diverse background, coupled with his deep retail roots and distribution understanding, will be an invaluable asset in this long-term effort," Turner said.

Microsoft stores might be a bad idea during a global economic crises.

However, most analysts are skeptical about the decision to open new Microsoft stores since the economy is at weaker conditions. They argue that now is not the time to expand and spend, but a time to save and reduce costsduring the current economic crises. The technology sector is getting hit the hardest by slow consumer spending.

"There are tremendous opportunities ahead for Microsoft to create a world- class shopping experience for our customers," Porter said.

David Porter spent 27 years at Wal-Mart stores and was vice-president of its electronics division.

Porter wants to help consumers make informal decisions about their Microsoft related purchases. The plan is also to showcase demonstrations and learning through its existing retail and OEM partners. It is possible that the company wants to educate PC owners regarding hardware requirements for Vista before Windows 7 is released.

While Windows 7 is not Vista, there are some similarities in requirements. The Windows 7 beta did show a lot of improvements with easier navigation menus and faster performance. The new Windows 7 boots approximately 30 seconds faster than Vista but it is still too soon to fully evaluate the finished product until it is officially released.

Windows 7 is scheduled to be released in late 2009 or early 2010.