Microsoft will no longer operate its own stores in the future. The company wants to close all its physical stores, as opposed to “Reuters“Confirmed. The company offers all employees working in the store the opportunity to continue working for Microsoft in other positions.

In total, this means the end for 82 Microsoft stores. 72 of them are in the United States, Canada, Great Britain and Australia, such as “Watson“Writes. Microsoft opened its first physical stores in the US in 2009.” According to Reuters “, the company plans to operate the so-called” Microsoft Experience Center “instead of products from London, New York, Sydney and Redmond. Advice, but buy nothing.

Switzerland as a test laboratory for pop-up projects

Microsoft did not have a regular store in Switzerland, as spokesman Tobias Steiger confirmed on request. In this country, the company tried some pop-up concepts. In December 2017, the Surface device and Xbox One can be tested at the “Rudolf’s Holy Moly” bar in the Seyfeld district of Zurich.

A year later, the group opened a pop-up house on Poststrates in Zurich. There too, visitors can try out ground equipment, attend workshops and purchase equipment.

No retreat from retail

Steiger makes it clear that Microsoft will not back out of the retail sector. There are also Microsoft products to purchase in their online shop. In addition, the group maintains a network of retail partners that offer products.

Microsoft opened a new location in Zurich last October. In the Mixed Reality and AI Lab, projects are taken forward in collaboration with ETH Zurich in the areas of augmented reality and artificial intelligence.