Security Grating Barely Blocks Interior View

Apple is continuing to secure its storefronts from night-time burglars by installing security gratings, using a design that is barely visible and doesn’t detract from the stores’ carefully-crafted design. The Legacy Village (Ohio) store is closed now for construction to retrofit the storefront with a security grating. The store is located within a shopping mall whose storefronts face the outside parking lots, and is near the mall’s main entrance leading to a thoroughfare. Several other stores have received similar security retrofits over the past eight months since a series of burglaries the began last year. A proposal to add a security grating at the Greenwich (Conn.) retail store has been criticized by owners of some nearby businesses, who claim the grating will create the impression the downtown is a crime zone. In fact, Apple’s selected grating design is nearly invisible, according to the new 4th Street (N. Calif.) retail store. The steel grating at that store is constructed of narrow horizontal rods and thin vertical strips that have a minimal cross-section. When the grating is raised, it’s stored entirely within the ceiling behind a thin access slot. When the grating is lowered, it slides down through narrow slots in the side wall. About 140 stores have some some type of outdoor exposure, either at a mall or along a public street.

View more photos of the security grating.

This photo taken from across the street at the new 4th Street (N. Calif.) retail store demonstrates that Apple's security grating design is barely visible. Click the photo for a larger photo that is even more convincing that the grating is not intrusive to the store's design.