Are the Stores Actually Crowded?

Anecdotally, my local Apple Store has gotten worse and worse. Sometimes you can’t even get to any product at all because there are so many people shopping. They are right above a Sony store, which never has any customers.

I recently visited Kansas City and had an iPod problem, so I visited the Country Club store. I arrived a half hour before the store was to open and nobody was outside, by the time it opened there were over 30 people waiting to get in. I commented to somebody about how fast the line grew and he said it was actually quite sparse compared to many days.

Again, no overall facts, just anecdotes from my experiences.

Well, visited Apple’s Santa Monica (CA) store last week on 3 separate days and it was pretty packed with people, with long queues at the cashiers. Definitely could feel the buzz of excitement and actual sales being done.

Seems like a good idea to buy more Apple stock, since I would predict sales projections to beat its forecast (just my two cents worth–and no I don’t personally owe any Apple stock at present).

Try visiting the Rosedale Center (MN) store on the weekends. It’s shoulder to shoulder crowded, and so loud from people talking you’d think you were in a nightclub. To top that off one Saturday I counted 5 one-to-one lessons being held (with no Studio, so they sit along the walls that have demo computers) and the Genius Bar three deep with the next available appointment 4 -hours- out, and every available salesperson occupied, and the line to the cash registers 8 people long. In a store the size of Rosedale that means people were lined up to buy things and the line stretched nearly halfway through the store.

Last month was worse, it was like that every day of the week. I could hardly hear my trainer when I came to have my lessons. At least now the kids are back in school so the weekdays are a little more civilized. At least until Thanksgiving I guess.

It would be useful to know how Apple’s retail square footage has changed. Are the stores all the same size? No, we know that. So, how has the mix of large and small stores changed over time, that would give us a little more context on whether the stores are more crowded. I mean, if the same number of people per store are shopping, but the average store is smaller, then they’re more crowded, right?

Visited the Tampa (Florida) Apple store at Sunday midday last weekend — I was shocked at how crowded it was. At times you had to actually _wait_ to grab some time with one of the new iMacs or iPhones, which were plentiful. On a SUNDAY in the SOUTH. Warms the heart of this longtime Mac developer.

The much larger Sony Style store on the first floor? Five customers, including myself and my little girl. Some nice TV’s, but I found myself wondering if the new iMac wouldn’t do just as well for a television…

I work at Apple store XXX, and it is just a zoo. We were all talking about how Apple will definitly set new retail records for THE ENTIRE RETAIL INDUSTRY this holiday season. The daily crowds are already like last years holiday season, it’s unreal.
It’s not even October, and it already feels like working there any day is like running in a marathon.

As someone who has worked in retail more than 20 years I will warn you all not to confuse crowding with sales. The data released by Apple most likely represent the # of transactions that occur in the store..i.e. register rings. Given the Apple’s stores penchant for drawing gawkers, schmiers and tire kickers the qusntity of customers in the store is likely very high compared to the buyers. The trick in retail is to convert traffic into buyers and too much traffic makes it difficult for th sales staff to ID the buyers and service them. Apple does a great job driving traffic, how good it is at converting triers into buyers is unknown.

Has anyone been in Regent Street lately? Its packed with people buying… Let the good times roll

London (Regent Street) was utterly packed when I was there yesterday. I was attempting to buy an iPod touch, but they were sold out and they told me to come back tomorrow (and to come early). The tables with the iPod touches and the new nanos were crowded, too. I think it is pretty obvious that Apple has major hits with both those produces, and there are clearly going to have an absolutely huge Christmas.

Just as the most significant indicator of retail success is same store sales growth, the same is true of whether stores are crowded. Same store traffic stats comparing different dates is the only true indicator.

The New York City stores are always crowded.

Outside of major cities, I’ve visited many malls in which during the daytime on a weekday you could throw a bowling ball down the mall and no one would be hit. I’m amazed that some of these malls can survive.

Since Apple wants to be so hip, I’m actually surprised they’ve gone with malls instead of finding either stand-alone locations or Main Street in some locales.

The Honolulu Ala Moana is always crowded. Frequently packed.
The Kahala Mall store is usually not crowded, sometimes slow. So to John, the Roseville store probably will not relieve the crowds at Arden Fair.
Kahala - web.mac.com/marktrek/iWeb/Site%202/Kahala%20Mall.html

Went to the valley fair mall in San Jose, CA last friday evening, about an hour before the mall closed.

The Apple store there is undergoing renovations, so it is 1/2 the normal size.

It was so packed that I could barely walk around the kiosks. People of all ages walking out with products ranging from macbooks, macbook pros to a mac pro tower. Lots of sales activity.

The mall in general was pretty busy, but apple’s store had way more traffic than any other store I saw at the mall.

Their biggest problem is probably servicing customers quickly enough.