Just four years after moving into an iconic building and spectacular retail space on Boston’s (Mass.) tony Newbury Street, Virgin Records and the building’s management announced that the Megastore at 360 Newbury Street will close by June 2007 so that an unidentified “upscale retailer” can move in. The 40,000 square-foot, ground-floor space is just two blocks from Apple’s proposed high-profile store on Boylston Street, whose design was roundly criticized recently by city planning officials. It appears the landmark Newbury St. location would require only slight renovation to convert it to an Apple store, thereby eliminating any opposition city officials might have had to Apple’s entré into the city’s downtown. read more…
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The future West Town Mall (Tenn.) retail store now has a construction barricade in front with a conspicuous Apple logo. The space is next to Williams Sonoma and across from the mall information desk, according to David, and also next to the busy hallway leading to the food court.
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The Suburban Square (Penn.) store is obviously up against a construction deadline, since workers have been spotted inside at all hours of the day and night, and are even working Sundays to complete the store.
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Perhaps in concert with this week’s TV commercial campaign, the retail stores will debut a 12-page fold-out brochure that highlights the international reach of the stores, the helpful personnel, and the variety of creative applications that Apple offers. The brochure will be accompanied by new, dark-green employee T-shirts imprinted with a new set of slogans. read more…
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Apple stores in Japan are celebrating Golden Week starting today, with daily in-store events and free workshops for children 8-12 years-old, who are out of school. Golden Week encompasses four different holidays and is one of the busiest holiday seasons after New Years and Obon.
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The financial analysts at Forrester Research Inc. have issued a case study of Apple’s retail initiative, noting the company has, “defied conventional wisdom to create a powerful retail presence that contributes 17% of its revenue.” The 6-page report, which costs $349 to download, also notes that Apple sales per square-foot is two and a half times higher than Best Buy’s. The national average for U.S. non-anchor mall stores was $366 as of June 2005, about the time Apple was approaching $4,000 per square-foot in annual sales. Check these old comparative statistics.
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The Eaton Centre (Canada) retail store will hold its grand opening May 6th, with 1,000 commemorative T-shirts and a sweepstakes with prizes worth about $2,000.
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Apple has apparently given up an opportunity to open an official retail store at the Bondi Junction mall in suburban Sydney (Australia), now that it has given its approval to local reseller Ben Morgan for a three-story store at the mall. Morgan operates an Apple Centre at Taylor Square, and has been attempting to obtain approval since last year, but Apple denied his request, reportedly over credit concerns. The store will have a glass and steel atrium, two floors of retail space, and one floor devoted to service and training. There has been on-going speculation on where Apple might open a store in Sydney, including downtown or at a suburban location.
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While I await final word on Fifth Avenue, I can say that Flatiron Crossing (Colo.) will hold its grand opening on May 6th, and the Simi Valley Town Center (S. Calif.) store will open May 13th.
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If you have any doubt about Apple’s ability to either blend in or stand out when it comes to store architecture, look no further than Regent Street (London) and Summit Sierra (Nev.). At the former, Apple carefully inserted a standard store into an 1898 building, while at the latter they installed a stainless steel façade among the surrounding stone and stucco stores. Check this panoramic photo of Summitt Sierra and guess which one is the Apple store. [large version of photo]
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Apple announced that it has hosted its five millionth customer at the SoHo (NYC) store on April 25th at 11:30 a.m. Similar to a two-millionth customer celebration the store held in August 2004, Apple says it “showered” the as-yet unnamed customer with “lots of goodies.”
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I’m receiving mixed messages about the grand opening of the Fifth Avenue (NYC) store…some say May 6th, but others are saying May 20th. Since employees hit the store next week for the first time, it seems likely that the opening with be May 20th. In any event, the black plywood is mostly removed from the glass-cube entrance, replaced with semi-transparent black netting.
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Following the introduction of smaller iLife, iWork, JamPack and .Mac product boxes in January, Apple is now stocking downsized retail boxes for OS X. The boxes are barely larger than a CD, and are much thinner than the traditional-sized software boxes (8″x2″x9-1/2″), which means they take up less shelf space. Check the photo.
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The Apple stores will hold a first-ever joint promotion for a new music album on May 2nd. All the stores will be playing the “Stadium Arcadium” album by the Red Hot Chili Peppers during the day, and starting at 6:30 p.m. will begin handing out a limited number of iTunes Music Store cards that allow a free download the first single from the album, “Dani California.”
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Construction and employee training will wrap up at the Ridgedale Mall (Minn.) store, it will be stocked with merchandise, and the doors will open for the first time on June 10th for the grand opening.
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