Carlsbad…Still Pinpointing the Space

Today - Sun 30 Mar 08 - the consensus of opinion among staff at the Forum was that “Yes” indeed the former ‘Bombay/Bombay Kids’ would be the new Apple Store. (”My dad knows a manager who said …” yadda yadda)

The earlier mentioned site #152 is clearly marked with a ‘Free People’ poster and a notice for “Help Wanted.” ‘Free People’ appears to be a women’s store selling a retro-hippie look, and is associated w/ the ‘Anthropologie’ chain in the same Mall.

There seems to be some major retrofitting of the new site, with a new set of steel girders in the roof now poking out from the front facade of the building by about two feet. Judging by this kind of construction, it may be a long wait.

Interestingly, a BestBuy just opened Friday less that ½ mile to the south (parking spot to parking spot) in another mall at the location of a former CompUSA. They are currently selling Apple Laptops and iMacs and have a good selection of Apple accessories (not to mention TVs, washers & dryers, and refrigerators.)

The next nearest Apple store is 15 miles south in the Westfield ‘University Town Center’ mall (UTC,) very close to UCSD which itself has an excellent collection of Apple products in the computer section of the campus Bookstore @ the Price Center.

We’ve been keeping pretty close tabs on the new Carlsbad, CA Apple Store.

New photos, commentary, etc. . . can be found here:

http://www.carlsbadistan.com/?s=apple+store

Behind that big, black plywood barrier things seem to be going on. There are really no large cracks in the facade but one can get the barest squint through the crack between the double doors, and by the door jam on the right side.

It seems that the signature glass doors have been installed along with most of the interior walls and a lot of the electrical wiring. There are no tables or benches yet, nor is the suspended ceiling installed. I saw a large black metal
structure (shelves?) resting on two saw horses.

Originally I thought that the Apple store would include both the former ‘Bombay’ & ‘Bombay Kids’ venues but that apparently is not the case. AFAICT, the inner ‘Bombay Kids module and about half (?) the Bombay module as seen in the picture above will be the Apple Store. The outer half or end cap (?) of the Bombay module will be another store that I’ve never heard of:

“lululemon athletica makes technical clothing for yoga, dancing, running, and most other sweaty pursuits”

So I suppose you can surf the web while doing your yoga.

Honestly, I did think of grabbing my hard hat, 1.25″ hole saw bit and cordless electric drill and heading over to the Forum this Sunday morning to cut a very neat peephole into that black quarter-inch plywood wall. It wouldn’t take more than about 30 seconds and I’m pretty sure no one would notice — for a while. Any one got a camera? I dare ya. ;^)

Yesterday Evening, Thurs 7 Aug 08: behind the Great Wall of Secrecy, the walls and ceilings were done, the lights were on, the ‘Genius Bar’ screens were up and running, the tables were in with the electrical connections, and a guy was cleaning the floor with an electric floor polisher.