Store Re-Design = More Products

Bloomberg News reports on an interview with Sr. V-P Retail Ron Johnson, who said the retail store redesign to be revealed this weekend will include larger tables to allow twice as many products to be displayed. Besides Apple’s gear, the design will also allow 50 percent more third-party products to be displayed, Johnson said. The Mall in Columbia (Md.) and Providence Mall (RI) stores are the first to feature the new lay-out which, like the original store prototype, was tested out in a warehouse near Apple’s Cupertino campus, Johnson told Bloomberg. He confirmed that iPod and Studio bars will now be standard in future stores. Johnson dropped another factoid: about 70 percent of Genius Bar visitors use the on-line Concierge reservation system to make appointments. However, he didn’t note if those appointments are made from home/office or on one of the store’s computers. Check the full story.