From the monthly archives:
Apple has posted the position of Retail Human Resources Manager, which demands, "an uncommon balance of creativity and analytics along with interpersonal savvy and drive." One of the position’s duties is, "analysis of customer feedback to drive recruiting process and product improvements." Read the entire job listing on Apple’s Web page.
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An IFO reader managed to bypass some Mac enthusiasts milling around the service entrance, and then make it first-in-line at the Danbury Fair Mall (Conn.) store at 6:11 a.m. this morning.
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Thanks to Scott for his album of photos from the Victoria Gardens (S. Calif.) store grand opening, showing the nearby snowy mountains and Main Street-style mall section where the Apple store is located.
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Keep your eye on eBay item #5134292841… the T-shirt collectors are after an Oakridge (N. Calif.) mini-store grand opening T-shirt.
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Apple announced several more grand openings: Alderwood (Wash.) on Nov. 4th, Jordan Creek on Nov. 6th and the mini-store late-comer Carousel (NY) on Nov. 6th. Along with Regent Street (London), that would make 99 stores, one short of Apple’s promised 100 stores by the end of 2004.
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Thanks to Brian for his enthusiastic report on the grand opening of the Victoria Gardens (S. Calif.) retail store this morning. With snow on the nearby mountains and the sun shining, there was a big waiting line, even for 10 a.m. on a Thursday.
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Gateway Computer posted slightly improved financial results after closing all 188 of its retail stores and laying off the staff. The company’s loss for the first fiscal quarter narrowed to $59.3 million, about half the loss it reported for the same quarter of 2003. The company took a $63 million restructuring charge during the quarter, otherwise it would have posted a $4 million profit. The company reported total revenues of $915 million–Apple’s retail operation reported sales of $1.185 billion for the entire fiscal year, and also reported a $39 million profit.
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The AppleInsider Web site reports more definitive news on Apple’s retail store plans in Canada, including the long-rumored Yorkdale Shopping Center in Toronto, and the new Vaughan Mills Mall outside Toronto. AppleInsider reports that, "Nearly one-quarter of Canada’s population lives within 60 miles of the shopping location and area has a population of more than 4 million."
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By the way, Apple has posted an Acrobat (pdf) version of the fold-out, printed calendar [link expired] it traditionally issues to new flagship stores, in this case for the Regent Street (London) store opening Nov. 20th. The calendar has a ton of information about store events, but provides no better look at the store itself.
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At yesterday’s iTunes event in San Jose (Calif.), Steve Jobs began his presentation by giving an update on the Retail segment, including announcing the Nov. 20th grand opening of the Regent Street (London) store, and then reviewing the new mini-stores and the segment’s financial performance. Jobs said the retail stores hosted 24 million visitors for the fiscal year, and generated $1.2 billion in revenues, and added, "We’re really thrilled with this."
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But, Jobs said, "We have to keep on innovating." He said the Mini Cooper automobile sparked Apple last year to ask if a store could be cool because it’s small. He noted that the Mini Cooper isn’t amazing because it’s a smaller version of a bigger car. Rather, it was designed from the ground up to be both small and cool. "It was a little jewel," Jobs enthused. Apple’s mini-stores were the result, featuring one-half iPods and one-half Macs, and "lots" of accessories. He noted that six stores opened about 10 days ago, and that, "Our first week was really positive."
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Apple has posted an intriguing administrative job listing for its Retail Segment: a Development Manager based at the company’s headquarters. Two of the requirements include, "Keen ability to identify unique, break-through solutions for simple as well as complicated situations and conditions," and, "Leader: bring groups of design, construction, and municipal individuals together to bring the vision of Apple stores to reality in the most expeditious and highest quality manner." The job requires, "History and experience on very complex and high-profile interior and exterior developments including retail, high-end interior, and unique exterior developments," and the candidate must have "degrees" (plural) in either architecture, engineering, construction management, or related areas. The job description coincides with Steve Jobs’ remarks on "innovating" at yesterday’s iTunes event (see above).
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So far, Apple has posted nothing about its upcoming Regent Street (London) store on the U.S. version of the Web site–except for listing it among its international stores at the very bottom of the Retail Web page (no fewer than 23 bus lines run near the store!). And taking a look at London weather historically on the grand opening day of Nov. 20th, the observations have been: light drizzle, overcast, mostly cloudy or light rain. Temperatures have been in the 40s and 50s for the period.
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Apple officially announced the Nov. 20th grand opening of the Regent Street (London) store! It features a 46-foot long Genius Bar (reportedly the longest among the stores), a 64-seat theater, a "Studio," classrooms, and a multi-lingual staff. The official store address is 235 Regent Street.
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Apple’s attention to detail is mythic–there is nothing about the brand they leave unquestioned. Each aspect of the stores has been conceived, studied, revised, refined and executed very thoughtfully. Which brings us to ground zero on the employee T-shirt–the Apple logo. It’s among the Top 10 most-recognized logos in the world, and it’s not appropriate to have it obscured by ID cards, business card holders or even Vocera badges. So…I recommend that Apple change the location of the logo on employee T-shirts. The sleeve might be a better place to display such an important brand element.
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