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, [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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Along the same lines, expect Apple to come up with a holiday season tagline for its stores, a holiday color for the T-shirts, and to post special holiday shopping hours for the store. Last year Apple installed a special gift selection application on store computers, to help buyers more easily decide what to buy. Employees [...]

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Yes, Apple is definitely mining its Web databases–including your shopping cart activity! A tipster tells me that he logged on to Apple’s on-line store, and then configured a build-to-order iMac G5 to determine specific pricing, but did not make a purchase. Within days he was telephoned by someone representing Apple, asking if he had any [...]

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The ThinkSecret Web site says Apple is taking a more aggressive approach to mining potential customers from its registration database, including those who might already be customers of authorized resellers.

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The ifoAppleStore Forum has now on-line and available for registration and posting of all topics related to Apple’s retail stores. Check the announcement page for the Forum rules, and the join in the exchange of information and ideas!

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Thanks to Steven for the photos of the future Jordan Creek (Iowa) retail store, showing the exterior partially-covered storefront, and the nearly-finished interior.

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