A few days back I talked about China’s fast entry into the computer age, and how that might encourage Apple’s retail plans. A column in The Wall Street Journal noted: China is the second-largest consumer of PCs behind the U.S., is #2 in Internet users (although a distant second to the U.S.), has 15 million broadband subscribers and 250 million cellular phone subscribers, and has an over 90% TV penetration rate in households. The column also points out that the technology adoption rate in China is occurring very rapidly, faster than it did in other Asian countries.
Almost all the Apple stores are open until midnight on Thursday the 23rd for hard-core shoppers, but they’ll all close at 6 p.m. on the 24th. Check the individual holiday hours Web page.
The ThinkSecret Web site has an article on Apple’s retail loss prevention program, and claims the stores are vulnerable to several different types of thefts.
Thanks to Mike for photos of today’s St. Louis Galleria (Mo.) store opening.
The future Bullring (UK) store space has now sprouted a "Coming Soon" sign, adjacent to The Gap and Debenhams stores in Birmingham, England.
The aging, 28 year-old Kidd’s Hill Plaza in Raleigh (NC) will be renovated and renamed The Galleria of Crabtree Valley. The developer will add more retail space and even 680 apartments to the outdoor mall. But that’s really not the big news. They’ll also install a huge people-mover to link The Galleria with the Crabtree Valley Mall, just down the hill. The link up would make Crabtree Valley the perfect upscale location for an Apple store, and apparently Apple thinks so, too! It will be the third store in the state when it opens some time in 2005.
A Macworld article notes the one-year anniversary of the Ginza retail store, and reports on its success.
omy has re-configured his Keynote slide presentation of Apple’s historical financial performance, including the Retail Segment.
img src=”http://www.ifoapplestore.com/photos/hot.gif” width=”24″ height=”10″ border=”0″ align=”bottom”> Apple’s job listings page has confirmed Salt Lake City as a new store location, along with the first look at four other cities: San Antonio (Tex.), Grand Rapids (Mich.), Nashville (Tenn.) and Houston (Tex.). The official store numbers now top out at 132, with 16 store numbers as yet unrevealed.
Now that Apple has retail stores in three countries, I’ve seen lots of questions about their product pricing. So I’ve taken my whack at the subject, trying to make sense of the currency markets, shipping cost differences, and other variables. [I've also posted feedback received from people who have since read the rant.]
Apple has rolled out new check-out counter configurations at some stores, constructed of black-faced wood, and incorporating several new features, including new thermal-printed, tape-like receipts rather than the full-page, watermarked paper receipts that were laser printed. The new counters also feature "in between" positions using Powerbooks, which presumably could come in handy during the busy holiday season. The telephones, barcode scanners and receipt printer are now are faceless drawers that can, and can either be accessed directly, or pulled out.
The Wysz has posted an amazing video of the overnight wait for the Bethesda Row (Md.) mini-store grand opening, including the store alarm that sounded all night, the early morning door repair, and an interview with the president of nearby reseller MacUpgrades!
Yesterday marked China’s accession to the World Trade Organization, which drastically lowers the requirements for foreign retail investment. Almost every Chinese city is now open, tariffs are reduced, the minimum investment has been lowered, and partnerships with local businesses are no longer required. Retail sales in China have been increasing by at least 10% each year, with foreign retail revenues making up 3.5% of the total. But those foreign retailers report strong demand: France’s Carrefour department store chain is the largest outside retailer in China, and reported sales were up 25.7% in 2003, while Wal-Mart, the #2 outside retailer with 33 stores, reported sales of $707 million for 2003. Combined with a growing discretionary income, the light is now "green" for Apple’s expansion of retail stores into China.
he long-known Pioneer Place (Portland) retail store has now reappeared on Apple’s job listings Web page. The location (R077) was planned way back, but has been on hold for some reason.
Whoa! At midnight there were already three persons waiting in line on the sidewalk for the Bethesda Row (Md.) store grand opening at 10 a.m., under overcast skies and 50 F. temperatures. Wysz was first in line at 8:30 p.m. Friday night, and says it was a crazy overnight on the sidewalk. He’s posted a write-up, and will have photos and video later. Kris arrived with his son about 30 minutes later, and offered up these late-night photos direct from the store.