Apple’s on-going upgrade and renovation of older stores continues, with the Glendale Galleria, The Falls (Miami, Fla.), Valley Fair (Santa Clara, N. Calif.) stores the latest to be scheduled. The stores are #2, #20 and #33 in the chain respectively, and all sport their original 2001 interiors: wood floor, black shelving, front POS counter, Corian display tables and sidewall Genius Bar. The stores will re-open in a smaller format while the extensive renovation is completed behind construction walls. In Massachusetts, the Derby Street Shoppes south of Boston will close July 16th to 20th for a floor plan change only. And lastly, the Westfarms (Conn.) retail store will close in September, and be converted to a small-store operation for two months while an extensive renovation is performed. The store is #13 in the chain, so it will receive a floor change, update to wood display tables and other upgrades. The store will re-open before Thanksgiving.
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The Glendale, CA Apple Store just told me that they have limited Genius Bar time because they are going through a store renovation as well. They are the first Apple Store, and therefore could use the most renovation. I think they also spoke about temporary relocation during the renovation.
Is there that much wear and tear already? Or is it more of a reformating process? They are making some really good money on those stores, so I guess its worth it!
Who gets the old stuff that’s taken out? fixtures? glass interior partitions, etc.? Does it just get trashed?
Oh yes!!!! There is more than a fair bit of wear and tear on the wood floors. The Grove which is a street level store, had its floor take quite the beating. Grit from the street black-top gets tracked in on the bottoms of people’s shoes. If you really want to see an example of how bad it can be, go to the Restoration Hardware across the street from the Apple Store 3rd Street Promenade location. The entry looks like a cheese grater has be repeatedly run across it. In all fairness the mall locations fair much better because there is no asphalt right outside the entry.
I just visited the Glendale Galleria and the mini-store is very small, yet very polished and functional (and busy!), although the air-conditioning wasn’t working yet. When I asked how long the renovation would take, they said longer than usual because they were removing the pillars and had to add reinforcements in other ways. Making structural changes to the mall is quite a remodel.