Apple is moving forward to expand the size of its retail stores, and the Market Mall (Calgary) retail store is next on the list, according to tipsters. The store is now shoe-horned into a 36-foot wide space along one corridor of the single-level mall, with just 5,448 square-feet of total space. According to the sources, within a year the store will move to the now-empty space #R028 at the south end of the mall. That space is adjacent to a major mall entrance, has a curved 77-foot wide storefront, and offers 7,287 square-feet of space, or about one-third larger than the current store. Apple’s first stores were in the range of 6,000 square-feet, but trended smaller over the next eight years. About two years ago then-Sr. VP Retail Ron Johnson declared the stores to be too small. Since then even ordinary shopping center stores have trended back to the 5,000 to 6,000 square-foot size. A timeline for the expansion construction and the move for the Market Mall store isn’t known.
The existing Apple store will move its 35-foot wide storefront to a 77-foot wide location in a more conspicuous location.
Thanks to Nick for these photos of the expansion store construction barricade on May 18th. Behind the barricade, there is an empty space.
A view from one entrance to the mall, with the future Apple store expansion straight ahead.
The black construction barricade sits behind a mall seating area.
The storefront is curved slightly, as indicated by the construction barricade.
E-mail this story
{ 0 comments… add one now }
{ 3 trackbacks }