I’ve arrived in Rome for the grand opening of the Roma Est (Rome, Italy) store on Saturday. While it’s cloudy and overcast, it’s fairly warm and dry. I visited the area of the mall, which is on top of a rolling hill in the community of Longhezza. The only access to the mall is from the high-speed highway that runs next to the complex. The macitynet.it Web site has posted the first photos of the mall, taken during the Friday press event. Also check the setteB.IT web site for coverage. The store features the now-standard V2.0 interior design, with a wide center aisle. Reports from locals indicate that mall management will not allow anyone on the property until 9 a.m., the time that the mall opens. So it’s not clear what type of waiting line will form for the Apple store opening. I have limited Internet access in Rome, and my usually good Sidekick access at the mall is non-existant.
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Thanks to the AppleBlog for discovering that the Concierge Genius Bar reservation system now allows guests to book appointments for the current day and the next two days. Previously, only paid ProCare customers could book future-day appointments. Correspondingly, ProCare members can now book appointments out to 14 days, extended from the previous seven days. The change gives customers more flexibility, and also will help to even out the number of service appointments at the Genius Bars.
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The new Apple TV product has arrived as some Apple retail stores, occupying the front-most bay on the right side of the store, and the right-side front display window. The Apple TV demo area consists of two or three Sony televisions and Apple TV devices, sometimes with a lone Apple TV between them. Remote controls are at each TV position, fastened to a retractable metal security cord. The display window consists of a larger Sony TV and Apple TV on special wood stands, with a black decal attached to the window glass, or in some cases a foamcore cut-out. The decal/cut-out is the silhoutte of a family of four seemingly watching the TV, with the “father” holding the white remote control. The stores also have an easel stand either inside or outside the store promoting Apple TV. Also check flickr photos of Regent Street, San Francisco, and Ginza (Tokyo).
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Apple will bump up its United Kingdom chain of retail stores with the addition of two new sites: Touchwood mall in Solihull south of Birmingham, and Churchill Square in the south coast town of Brighton. It’s the first UK activity since the Glasgow and Edinburgh locations were first confirmed earlier this year. The future Touchwood store is just 8 miles from the existing Bull Ring store, while the future Churchill Square store is about 65 east of the existing Southampton store. They will be stores #10 and #11 for England.
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A sharp-eye Web investigator seems to have confirmed that Apple is/was interested in the new high-rise development at 108 State Street in downtown Chicago, about a mile from the existing North Michigan Avenue store. The site was first ID’d in December 2005, but there’s been no news until Brian spotted some Apple designs within the architect’s rendering of the site. Check the drawings and make your own conclusions.
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An Apple press release says the company’s new Apple TV product will be in Apple retail stores “this week,” and other sources say Best Buy stores will stock the devices starting next Tuesday. Acknowledging the need for extra sales explanations for Apple TV, the press release also said the stores will offer, “hands on workshops and demonstrations of Apple TV’s features.”
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Construction is finally underway at the long-identified future store at the Woodland Hills (Tulsa, Okla.) mall. The mall was first identified as a future store site back in October, 2004. A construction barricade has now appeared [thanks Harold!] in space #168, and hammering/sawing can be heard from inside [since painted all black?]. The space is about 45 feet wide on the lower level of the mall. It will be the state’s second store and could open by July.
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Apple has formally announced the grand opening of the Roma Est (Rome, Italy) store for Saturday, March 31st at 9 a.m., coinciding with the grand opening of the mall itself. It will be the first store in continental Europe, the first of several stores expected to open in France, Switzerland, Germany and other countries. The grand opening will feature the usual 1,000 commemorative T-shirts, give-aways of ProCare, and a MacBook laptop sweepstakes. The opening was first reported by the setteB.IT Web site.
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It may look like a baseball score, but instead it’s the count of cities whose suburbs will have yet additional Apple retail stores. First, Apple will plant a new store at the Natick Collection Mall in the western suburbs of Boston (Mass.). The mall recently bulked up by 500,000 square-feet, creating a two-level super-regional destination that is just 12 miles west of the existing Chestnut Hill store. It will be the eighth store in the region. Next, Apple will locate a store at the Deer Park Town Center northwest of Chicago, a relatively small, open-air lifestyle center. The town of Deer Park boasts one of the highest average household incomes among Apple stores, at over $110,000 a year. It will be the seventh store in the Chicago region. Both stores should open by the 2007 holiday shopping season.
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Apple has offered five of its retail stores to Adobe Systems Inc. to promote the software developer’s very important Creative Suite 3 upgrade that runs native on Intel processors. Each of the stores will hold a 90-minute presentation at 6:30 p.m. on March 28th, the day after Adobe holds a New York press event to introduce the upgraded software, which will be streamed live on the Internet. Some analysts say that Mac desktop computer sales have lagged significantly since the Intel transition was announced in June 2005, as high-end users such as graphics professionals delayed new purchases in anticipation of this upgrade. Here’s a list of the stores and presentation times.
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A story in the San Luis Obispo (Calif.) New Times weekly magazine wraps up all the issues of the future downtown Apple store in that city: competition with a local reseller, negative architectural feedback from a city commission, an under-the-radar city council appeal, and store construction. The story explains how the building owner took Apple’s name off the design documents after the initial turn-down in order to have the architectural plans approved, and it posts a photo of the building under construction.
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A giant, 30-foot square advertisement for the upcoming iPhone appeared for a few hours on Monday on the side of the Fifth Avenue store glass entrance cube. The ad was composed of 18 panels of see-through type material, showing the now-familiar hand holding the iPhone. The ad wasn’t really that visible, since the panels weren’t completely opaque on the glass cube. Perhaps that’s why the ad was taken down later in the day.
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Thanks to Terry for a short video and photos of the Waterside (Fla.) store grand opening that shows the standard V2.0 layout in a narrow store, and the Genius Bar. Also check these photos by silvermeteror on flickr, and this video by eddie that includes a long speech by the store’s general manager.
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The store manager had to use a megaphone to address the grand opening crowd at The Domain (Tex.) store this morning, because the line was so long and raucous. Watch the video of the event.
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Thanks to additional photos from Terry, we can now view one of the most low-key stores in Apple’s chain–Waterside (Fla.). The store is shoe-horned into a very small space, both vertically and horizontally. The space limitations prevented the usual stainless steel and backlit Apple logo above the display windows, and forcing the architects to present a huge stainless steel wall. Recheck the photo page for some overall views of the store.
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