“Goodbye” green energy and “Hello” Apple store. The unusual red-brick façade of the Knox Street (Dallas) retail store will more than double in width in the near future when the store expands into the space vacated by Current Energy, a company that markets green energy solutions and products. Real estate sources say Apple has not yet applied for construction permits, but does plan to move into the space vacated in November 2009, along with renovating the existing space. The expansion is part of an on-going project to increase the square-footage of existing stores and build new stores that are larger. In this case, the Knox Street store opened in January 2003, in a 3,753 square-foot space that is narrow and deep. Some time next year the store will expand into the adjacent 3,283 square-foot space, nearly doubling its size to 7,036 square-feet. The very first Apple stores were in the area of 6,000 square-feet, but the size of stores has trended downward to about 3,000 square-feet for mall-based locations. Several early stores have already been expanded or have moved to larges spaces within the same mall.
The narrow Knox Street store (space to right) will expand into the space (left) previously occupied by Current Energy, creating a wider façade and more room for visitors.
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Now if they could only expand the parking! (It’s way beyond terrible)
Having visited Dallas recently and doing a tour of the local Apple stores, this one is unique. I have not seen the beige brick on any other Apple location. The floor is showing some wear and tear. I’m sure that the store is doing fine as it is the closest location to downtown, just off the freeway and near a very upscale neighbor. But the city is doing no maintenance. Sidewalks are in bad repair. The traffic lights are falling apart. The pole next to the Apple store has exposed wiring. The one across the street had graffiti and trash, and all hadn’t been painted in a LONG time. And parking is a joke. Even if you find a place, try backing out from between two SUVs on to busy Knox street where it is impossible to see oncoming traffic. If Apple can commit $4 million in Chicago to a transit station, maybe they can work with landlords or other tenants to build a parking structure.
@Marktrek, As bad as it sounds, Apple didn’t renovate the CTA station for it’s customers, their motives were entirely self-centered. Apple doesn’t like run down and dirty buildings bring down the appearance of their brand-new high profile stores. They renovated the station more out of necessity than anything else. A parking structure for Knox Street would serve them absolutely nothing, hence Apple wouldn’t even help construct one.
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