Palm Shutters Retail Stores

In a bid to to streamline its operation, Palm Inc., is closing down its retail stores, but swears the move won't impact corportate customers.

Palm Inc. has announced it is closing down its retail stores in a bid to streamline its operations and focus its business strategy, although the company will still continue offer direct consumer sales through its Web site and through retail partners. Palm also believes the move will have little to now impact on its enterprise customers, who did not rely on the company’s retail stores for service or support.

Palm operates about three dozen retail outlets, which is began operating in 2002, along with 26 locations within Airport Wireless stores in airports throughout the United States. The company will leave one retail store open at its Sunnyvale, California, headquarters.

“We continue to focus our company around core business initiatives and are consolidating more resources behind fewer programs in order to compete most effectively and build world-class, category-defining mobile solutions,” the company said in a statement. “We have therefore made the decision to close our retail stores.”

In addition to announcing the store closing, Palm has also settled a class-action lawsuit related to repairs of its Treo 600-series smartphones: anyone who purchased a Treo 600 after September 2005 is eligible for a $75 rebate, while Treo 650 owners can apply for a $50 rebate. Details are available on the Palza Settlement Web site.