86 Microsoft Stores in 2 - 3 Years

Provided that Microsoft manages to deliver on its promise of opening a range of new retail outlets, the company will have no less than 86 Microsoft Stores in the next two to three years.

The announcement was made at the Worldwide Partner Conference 2011, by Kevin Turner, Chief Operating Officer.

Essentially, the number of Microsoft stores is going to explode, growing by approximately eight times what it is today.

At the time of this article, the Redmond company was just one Microsoft Store short of a dozen, but it looks like that milestone is more than in reach for the software giant.

Aiming to open another 75 new Microsoft Stores in the next few years, Microsoft is indicating that it considers the retail venues an important part of its sales strategy, for a range of products, including Windows, Windows Phone, Xbox, etc.

“And certainly I talked to you about the stores, we've now got 11 stores open,” Turner said.

“The biggest single thing, ladies and gentlemen, we've learned from the stores is it's helping us to transition from thinking about our customers to thinking like our customers. And giving us that direct customer feedback is what we're learning and getting from our stores, providing great choice, value, and service.

“And when you think about the commitment that we have from the company, we're going to open up to 75 more stores over the next two to three years, and continue to bring our stores outside the U.S. as well.

“So, we've got a huge opportunity to get the Microsoft story out there, and we're going to keep driving that, and I encourage you to check it out.”

When it started opening its first Microsoft Stores, the software giant stressed that the outlets were designed with the purpose of harvesting feedback directly from consumers, and not as a disruption of the retail channel pushing its products.

Sure, this is true for 11 stores, but what about for 86? Or 100? Or 300?