In a brief press release, Dell announced that it will close all 140 of its kiosk retail locations in the United States, and instead adopt, “a retail strategy that enables Dell to connect with customers it has not necessarily reached in the past.” The company said it would focus on “where customers can purchase laptop and desktop computers in more than 10,000 retail outlets worldwide.” The statement mention specific retailers, but the company has reseller agreements with Best Buy and Wal-Mart in the United States, and Carrefour, Tesco, Bic Camera, Courts and DSG International in other countries. At least 56 Dell kiosks were located within malls where Apple had a retail store. The company briefly tested a full retail store strategy, but shut it down after opening just one store in Texas.
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If you need to know anything about the future Apple store at the West Edmonton Mall (Canada) mall, just ask mall president Don Ghermezian. He has told the Edmonton Journal newspaper that the store will open on July 1st, and that it will cover 6,000 square-feet. Even more revealing, Ghermezian told the reporter that the store has “projected annual sales of $30 million.” Ghermezian was a little hazy on his statement that Apple, “just recently expanded into Canada,” but was perhaps more correct that, “They’ve been a smashing success in Toronto.” Apple just began advertising for jobs at the new store, making Ghermezian’s July 1st opening date prediction a good possibility. Read the original story here.
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Building an Apple store isn’t that difficult…just assemble the pieces that are listed at the Oobject.com Web site, which has painstakingly documented all of the design elements and their suppliers. Most of the supplier information has been documented previously, but this Web site lists it nicely with photos and links. Oh, it’s not easy to make an Apple store. They are “more than a store.”
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Despite political instability, economic turmoil and low per capita income, El Salvador has a chain of Apple resellers, including one that looks just like a U.S. mini-store. The Mac Store store at the Galerias shopping mall in the capital city of San Salvador features a glass and stainless steel storefront, blond wood furniture, back-lit wall graphics and stainless steel interior walls. The store even copies the shining, back-lit Apple logo on the store front, set in silver metal above the door. The store and mall cater to a small group of the population who earn more than the average $2,450 annual income–which wouldn’t buy you a Mac Pro there. Check this photo for a view of the Mac Store. read more…
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Two women who sued Apple last year for violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) will head to mediation after the two sides were unable to reach any agreement on what changes were necessary at the San Francisco store to accommodate disabled persons. Jana Overbo and Nicole Brown-Booker filed the lawsuit last September, alleging the store was unfriendly to those in wheelchairs. They cited elevator buttons and products out-of-reach, no wheelchair spaces in the theater, and a Genius Bar counter that was too high for their access. Attorneys for both sides visited the San Francisco store on November 12, 2007 and inspected the premise for accessibility. However, the attorneys could not reach an agreement within the standard 45-day period, and so mediation is the next step. read more…
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Work has begun to construct an Apple store at the Bridge Street Town Centre in Huntsville (Ala.). The city has issued a building permit to Shawmut Construction with alterations valued at $1.9 million, and some preliminary cement work has been performed at space #S23 in the southern section of the development along Interstate 565. Thanks to Adam for the photo showing the pastel-colored plywood barricade next to The Walking Company. The store will fill in a 31,000 square-mile zone surrounded by Birmingham, Memphis, Atlanta and Nashville that has been without a store.
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Apple’s retail stores set new sales and visitor records during the last three months of 2007, helping to contribute to the company’s record $9.6 billion in sales and $1.58 billion in profit. The company also announced that it would expend its relationship with Best Buy to sell computers at their electronics stores. The stores generated $1.7 billion in revenue for the first fiscal quarter of 2008, up 52 percent compared to $1.11 billion for the same quarter of 2007. The stores tallied $405 million is what Apple calls “segment margin,” or profit, compared to $89 million reported for the same quarter of 2007 (reported using different rules). Mac unit sales at the stores jumped 63 percent during the holiday shopping quarter, from 308,000 in Q1 2007 to 508,000 in the current quarter. The number of visitors increased dramatically, from 28 million in 2007 to 38.4 million during the last quarter, up 37 percent. read more…
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Circuit City offered the easiest product return, according to a survey of five electronics retailers performed by the Wall Street Journal. Apple scored in the middle of the group, although the reporter who visited two Apple stores had some gripes about the lines and employees. The newspaper also tested Best Buy, Target and Wal-Mart, returning HDMI cables or earphones at the outlets. At the SoHo (NYC) Apple store, the reporters said, “Our clerk gabbed with colleagues while handling the return,” and had to be interrupted for questions. At the Fifth Avenue (NYC) store there were 30+ persons in line, “with purchasers and returners lumped together.” But the line moved quickly, and the reporter was eventually pulled from the line by an employee with a portable computer. “The entire process took 10 stress-free minutes.” Target scored lowest, because the reporter encountered a 20+ line that wasn’t moving, then came back the next day and was initially denied a refund . [Story not on-line.]
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Information about the future Paris (France) retail store is still very difficult to come by, but the MacGeneration.com Web site has pried loose a confirmation that it will be located underground at the Carousel de Louvre, adjacent to the world-famous museum. Phone calls to several of the existing retailers revealed that none was closing or moving, but that there are two empty spaces that Apple might occupy. The store could open by year’s end, and does not rule out larger, street-level stores at another location in Paris.
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The 2008 retail store machine has cranked up into high gear, insuring Apple will open another 40 stores this year, most by the Thanksgiving start of the holiday shopping season. The stores are scattered around the country, filling in existing U.S. regions and adding one new store in Canada. The “Big 3″ states will receive even more stores: Texas will receive two new stores, while Florida and California will each open one additional store. America’s top tourist destination will also receive an additional store–Las Vegas. All of the stores are scheduled for a June-August grand opening. read more…
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The construction barricade in front of the future Ste-Catherine W. (Montreal) retail store is finished, although it’s a dark gray color rather than the usual dramatic black that broadcasts “Apple store arriving soon.” Through a street-level opening you can see one of the infamous parking meters that Apple wanted to remove so it wouldn’t interfere with the storefront’s esthetics. Thanks to Raymond for these updated photos, and this snowy flickr set.
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A long-standing lease dispute between Benetton and the owner of Bahnhofsstrasse 77 in Zurich (Switzerland) has been resolved, clearing the way for Apple to turn the space into the next store in continental Europe. Benetton was set to move out in 2005, but has avoided leaving through several legal challenges that resulted in an undisclosed agreement between the two parties. Now Applel will lease the 3,200 square-foot space in city center for as much as $1.9 million a year, according to an on-line Tages-Anzeiger story. The store could open by July, the Web site claims.
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The Orlando (Fla.) region attracts over 50 million visitors each year, who combine with almost 2 million residents to create a retailer’s dream: $30 billion a year in spending. Now Apple intends to increase the odds of capturing some of that revenue with a third retail store 10 miles north at the Altamonte Mall. The mall alongside Interstate 4 is considered a super-regional, drawing from a wide swath of central Florida. The new store could open by this August.
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Texas already has 12 stores to supply Apple fans, but the company is planning to add another one to the north Dallas suburbs, this time at the Stonebriar Shopping Centre in the town of Frisco (pop. 6,000). The huge, 1.5 million square-foot center hosts 165 retailers and draws upscale shoppers from a huge region. The mall is about 17 driving miles from the existing Willow Bend store in Plano, and will open by year’s end, tipsters say.
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Apple’s long-time plans to locate in Santa Barbara (Calif.) are apparently closer to becoming a reality. A story in the News-Press reports the company is negotiating for space at 928 State Street, which is being vacated by Pier 1. Apple has been looking at various properties in the picturesque, up-scale beach town since early 2005. According to a November, 2007 leasing brochure, the 54-foot wide space along the city’s main drag includes 9,421 square-feet on the ground floor, and another 9,322 square-feet on a mezzanine. The property will become available February 1st, the brochure notes, and advertises a lease rate of $3.25 per square-foot. At 18,743 square-feet, the current interior configuration would make the store one of Apple’s largest. More likely, Apple would renovate the interior to reduce the retail floor space and create storage and office areas. Depending upon how much construction is performed, the store could be finished by year’s end.
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