Osaka store job openings are posted on the Japanese version of Apple’s Web site, and they include assistant store manager, MacSpecialist, salesperson, theater presenter, customer service agent, cashier, repair technician, inventory management, shipping agent, and interpreter. The page says that Apple is soliciting resumés and scheduling interviews for the positions. I anticipate that, like the Ginza (Tokyo) store, the Osaka store will initially have a manager drawn from the ranks of the U.S. stores.
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Based on Gateway’s announcement today, there’s no doubt in my mind that Apple decided to press down on the retail accelerator around last December, when they foresaw Gateway’s retail demise. Apple sped up the mall space acquisition process, and those locations are now starting to materialize. It explains why Apple bumped up their previous retail store forecast from 80 to 88, and why there are so many more locations in the pipeline than usual.
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Lots of job openings at future stores were posted this morning, including for the Christiana, Alderwood and Stoneridge stores.
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The city of Santa Monica (S. Calif.) reports receiving $24 million in sales tax revenue last year, a likely record. City treasurer Dave Carr told a newspaper reporter that downtown revenue has increased. "I think the Apple store has a lot to do with it," he said.
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Yikes! Apple has posted two more retail store locations on its "Jobs" Web site, Christiana (Wilmington, Del.) and Alderwood (Lynnwood, Wash.). That makes 28 future stores I know about, and 12 announced in the past 3 weeks. Many of these stores could take many months to open, including well into 2005.
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I should reiterate that it’s always challenging for Apple to identify a mall that meets its strict standards (high-end, destination location), and then to find an open space that meets their needs (30-40 feet wide, high-traffic). The most common constraint on new retail stores is simply finding a open space in an existing mall. Many mall tenants have signed long-term leases in these malls, which unintentionally keep newer retailers like Apple from moving in. Apple no doubt has a long list of metro areas where it has decided to open future stores, but is forced to wait for the right place and space. For example, they waited over two years to obtain the San Francisco store location, and have waited over a year to get into the Providence Place (RI) mall.
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It’s becoming clearer which retail neighbors are common to Apple stores in malls, and might be a predictor of potential future sites: J. Jill, Abercrombie, Crate and Barrel, The Gap, J. Crew, and Pottery Barn. The preferred developers for Apple-located malls seem to be The Rouse Company, The Simon Group and The Westfield Group.
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A Canadian forum has some interesting discussion about this site and Steve Jobs.
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Thanks to Roland for information about the Sandton City Mall near Johannesburg (S. Africa), where last January he found the authorized Apple reseller Little Apple Buddy operating in a space that looks very much like Apple’s official stateside stores– the same color scheme, white plastic logo on black background, furniture and layout, but in a more compact form. The store doesn’t have a Genius Bar or active Airport network, but he says the staff was friendly and willing to help. The mall is the country’s largest, with 290 retail stores on three levels and, interestingly, has an open Wi-Fi network in the food court. The store is one of just a few Apple Centres operating in the country.
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Apple has posted still more retail store sites on its "Jobs" Web page: Stoneridge Mall in Pleasanton (N. Calif.) and Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga (S. Calif.). There are now a record 26 unannounced Apple retail store locations, of which perhaps 12-14 might be open by year’s end. And of the 26, 10 have been revealed in just the past 3 weeks.
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"PC World" magazine senior editor Rebecca Freed writes about her experience with the San Francisco store, saying she was initially skeptical of Apple’s retailing philosophy. But after several visits, Freed now says, "My cynic gave it a rest."
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The Bethesda (Md.) store will hold its grand opening on May 8th.
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I don’t really review Apple stores, but in the case of Cambridgeside, I just can’t withhold comments. The store suffers: there are giant cracks in three of the wooden products tables, the floor has huge gaps between the boards, the front window iPod Mini display isn’t working, the digital still cameras had no power, there were no headphones hooked up to the iPod Minis on the table, two iPods were on the fritz, a Powerbook was not working, and the lens was gone on the Canon Digital Rebel. The store is missing lots of Apple’s usual attention to detail.
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I’ve updated the page describing the Genius Bar reservation system to include a view of an actual status screen, and information on a link to display the waiting time for a specific store.
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I’ve updated the page describing how to iChatAV with stores, adding that computers are now identified with their location (Pro Wall, Home table, etc.) as well as store ID.
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