As Apple continues to install security barriers at several of its retail stores in response to a series of nighttime burglaries earlier this year, merchants near the Greenwich Avenue (Conn.) store say a roll-down security grating at that store would make the downtown look like “Beruit.” A story on the Greenwich Time Web site says there’s only one other store with a grating, in a downtown that’s a National Historic District. A town selectman who has seen proposed plans for the grating said, “To me, it would be very unappealing to the eye and, quite frankly, I find it ugly.” A nearby jewelry store owners has enlisted his architect daughter to devise some alternative designs for Apple. Only about 40 Apple stores have an outdoor entrance, but several of them have been burglarized over the past year, and in some cases more than once. The Greenwich Avenue store was hit last December by five burglars who smashed the left glass door of the store at 3 a.m. and took display products. They escaped by car and police have not reported making any arrests. Apple has temporarily closed several street-facing stores over the past four months while security grates were installed. The stores were originally designed without any security barriers, in keeping with Apple’s design goal of eliminating visual barriers between the inside and outside of the stores. Read more about store security features at the stores from an earlier article.
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I wonder if these overprivileged nimby folks have ever been robbed, and what they might propose as an alternative.
I find it hard to believe that Apple, of all companies, wouldn’t install the coolest looking security grating. One solution is to place the security grating in the store, behind the glass door entrance. Vandals could still break the glass, but they couldn’t get into the store.
Most security grating does look incredibly ugly and does devalue the areas where it’s installed, so I can understand the objections, if it is typical security grating. But it doesn’t have to look bad.
And while it would be a pain, one other thing Apple could do is to do what jewelry stores do: take away all the expensive merchandise when they close. Another approach would be to add hardware/software devices to all display models that renders them useless if removed from the store. Or, how about if someone breaks in, the store lights flash on and off and a million security cameras take photos and video from a million different angles. Or, if someone breaks in, only then does a security gate come down to lock the crooks in the store until the police arrive. Or, Apple could pay a security guard to sit in the store at night.
Security guards in the store just means that someone is more likely to get hurt or the robbers will wait until the guard goes to check the back door or take a piss and then rob the place. Or both
I actually hate defending Apple but this is the one time I will. The security grates are ugly but they are necessary. I don’t see what the big deal is, the grate doesn’t come down until the Apple store closes which, is usually the same time as ever other retailer.
@ZoetMB
-Can’t remove demo computers at night time, there are too many of them, even in small stores. In addition the security cables are a pain to remove and setup.
-Difficult to implement devices that would render a computer useless after its removed from the store. Demo iphones have their SIM card trays glued in so that nobody else can use it. However, none of this will stop a burglars. They know that there will be unsuspecting consumers that will unknowingly buy stolen merchandise without knowing the product is actually useless
-Trapping a potential burglar can also raise some serious legal issues
-Apple does pay security guards to sit at the store during at certain stores during certain times of the year. This is largely ineffective as the guards are powerless to do apprehend a burglar, they can only take notes and report it to the police. In addition, many of the guards are underpaid, and there have been instances where the guards themselves start stealing from the store or are involved in assisting people rob a store.
Okay fine Greenwich. You don’t want a nasty security grating. How about if Apple just shuts down the store and moves it to a less secure area that doesn’t have a stick up its butt about the idea that we should be allowed to protect our stores from being robbed.
Apple should invest in SR 5096 – ‘unbreakable’ glass. YouTube that and you’ll see exactly how good it is. If Steve Jobs wasn’t on medical leave, I’d think he’d be putting the screws to his minions and getting them to think outside the proverbial box. While I don’t buy the hyperbole of comparing steel grating to Beirut, Apple can should be just as innovative in security as they are in supply chains.
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