Will morph one 'pop-up' into permanent outlet Microsoft today announced that it would open five new retail stores by summer, including one it’s transmuting from a “pop-up” outlet created last year to drive holiday sales.The new stores will be in Honolulu (Ala Moana Center); Natick, Mass. (Natick Mall); Portland, Ore. (Pioneer Place); Schaumburg, Ill. (Woodfield Mall); and Troy, Mich. (The Somerset Collection).The Natick store is currently one of the three-dozen pop-ups that Microsoft launched last October as a way to temporarily expand its retail footprint. The others will be new locations, although some — such as the store in Portland’s Pioneer Place — are additions to existing pop-ups or permanent stores elsewhere in a metropolitan area. Today’s announcement follows one in late December, when Microsoft said it would open six new retail stores in early 2013, including four transformed from the holiday specialty store list. None of the half-dozen are yet open, however. Also in December, Microsoft said it would extend the lifespan of most of its pop-ups well into 2013 — originally, they were to close after the holidays — and turn some of those into 12-month stores. So far, it’s announced that five of the original list of 34 pop-ups will become full-time outlets.The new stores — and the retention of the pop-ups — will help Microsoft sell the Surface Pro, the more expensive of the two tablets it unveiled in mid-2012, and the only one that runs Windows 8 Pro. The Surface Pro will sell for $899 and $999 in 64GB and 128GB configurations, with the Touch Cover and Type Cover keyboards offered separately for $120 and $130. They are to go on sale this Saturday, Feb. 9.Microsoft did not specify opening dates for the five new stores, and the almost-up-to-date list on its website simply stated “Coming Soon” for three of the five.That list shows 70 stores — both permanent and pop-up — in the U.S. and Canada, but has omitted two of the five stores slated for summer opening. By comparison, Apple’s retail chain had 401 stores worldwide as of last month, with 251 of them in the U.S. alone. Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer, on Google+ or subscribe to Gregg’s RSS feed . His email address is gkeizer@computerworld.com.See more by Gregg Keizer on Computerworld.com. Related content news analysis Apple earnings: About that iPhone 'slump' in China Based on information from Thursday's earnings report, it seems that data pointing to an iPhone slump in China were over-baked. By Jonny Evans May 03, 2024 9 mins iMac iPhone Apple news Microsoft begins to phase out ‘classic’ Teams Microsoft is encouraging Teams customers to move to the new, faster version of the collaboration app; the older version will be switched off next year. By Matthew Finnegan May 03, 2024 3 mins Microsoft Teams Collaboration Software Productivity Software news analysis Apple confirms it will open up the iPad in Europe this fall The latest efforts to comply with Europe’s Digital Markets Act mean developers can offer to side load apps to both iPhones and iPads in the EU. Apple has also taken steps to improve what it offers to smaller and non-commercial developers in the By Jonny Evans May 02, 2024 6 mins iPad Apple Mobile Apps news Udacity offers laid-off US workers free access to its courses for 30 days Sign-ups will be available over the next 30 days By Lucas Mearian May 02, 2024 4 mins Technology Industry IT Jobs IT Skills Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe