A unique new 10th anniversary poster has surfaced from Apple retail, describing in typical Apple grammar and philosophy what the company has learned from operating a retail chain. The poster “We’ve learned a lot” provides insights into the essential elements of the retail initiative, but also provides a peek into how Apple views the chain’s successes and failures. In 1,814 words and 125 sentences, the company admits its mistakes (ministores), celebrates its customers, reveals trivia (500,000 mosaic tiles at the Opéra store), recalls international lessons learned (Japanese superheroes don’t wear capes), and concludes that its employees are at “the center of all.” The poster recalls the first retail lesson—within 30 minutes of the Tysons Corner opening, the stainless steel needed polishing. When locating and designing store, Apple says, “We’ve learned it’s better to adapt to the neighborhood rather than expecting the neighborhood to adapt to us.”
The Genius Bar isn’t just a place to fix computers, the poster notes. “It can also restore a customer’s relationship with Apple,” the company says. In a sentence that recalls the recent iPad 2 debut, Apple frankly concludes, “When it comes to product launches, we’ve learned we have to work hard to ensure supply meets demand. If not on the first day, then soon thereafter.”
The poster recalls a recent change to color-coded employee T-shirts. “We’ve found that when we wear black T-shirts, we blend in. And when we wear too many colors it’s confusing. But blue shirts are just right.”
At the bottom of the poster, the subject turns to employees, described as, “people who match, and often exceed, the excitement of our customers on days we release new products.”
In a philosophical passage, the poster explains why it’s so hard to get hired at an Apple store, and why the company is so selective. “Because our people are the soul of the Apple Stores. And together, our team is the strongest ever seen in retail. As beautiful and iconic as our stores may be, the people who create and staff those stores are what matters most.”
Read the words of the poster, formatted in long lines like the original poster, or download (pdf) a recreation of the poster (view in Acrobat Reader, not Safari or Preview) to see its unusual design. A smaller poster was issued on May 19th, and also celebrated the 10th anniversary, asking, “What’s so special about yesterday?”
This 24"x36" poster appears in the back-of-house of Apple's retail stores, celebrating the chain's 10th anniversary.
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Lots of typos in the poster’s text- is that because I just clicked in your item using Safari? (Don’t know how to get to it in Acrobat Reader!)
Whew! I read that text about six times over two hours, catching typos, etc. each time. I think I’ve finally corrected all the errors. You have to Control-click to on the PDF poster link and then select “Save linked file…” to download the file, then open it in Acrobat Reader (Preview and Safari don’t seem to render it very well.).
Fourth line from the bottom: “So on this 3,652nd day we say think you to every single one of you.”
“think”… oops.
Thank you…fixed.
One other one I found: “We’ve also learned that due to the exceptional quality of our applicants, it can be hard to get hired at the Apple store than in Cupertino.”
I think that should read “harder” instead of hard.
Fixed! Those gremlins!
“…typical Apple grammar….”
Such as?
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