It appears that the proposed retail store at Grand Place in St. Paul (Minn.) has been placed on the inactive list. Job listings were posted last August for the location, inside a quarter-block development fronting two streets east of downtown. However, a review of current job listings shows an odd coding error that seems to indicate the store opening has been postponed. In the listing, the name of the store is prefixed by the tag, “_inactive_”. No other job listings on Apple’s Web site have this status notation. Had the project been on-schedule, the location would have opened some time during March or April 2009. read more…
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The economy may be uncertain, but Apple isn’t hesitant to open another New York retail store where the average household income is three times the national average. This fall a store will open at the Americana Manhasset mall, in the town of the same name whose small size (pop. 8,300) belies its average household income of $125,240 a year. The mall was originally built in 1956 as a row of street-level retail shops, but has evolved over time into what the developer now calls an “open-air, luxury lifestyle center.” The neighbors for Apple’s future store are amazing: Prada, Giorgio Armani, Fendi, Escada, Hermes, Chane, Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Ralph Lauren and Donna Karan. The exact location of the store in the complex isn’t know, but it could open by mid-October.
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The Apple retail stores are now selling iPhones without a contract that requires a two-year commitment, a change recently spotted at AT&T’s retail stores, and which observers believe is linked to an inventory clear-out in advance of a new iPhone handset introduction within the next few months. According to those who have recently shopped at the stores, the no-contract deal is not being advertised or otherwise displayed within the stores. In addition, the store sales staff is not offering the no-contract deal unless the customer’s circumstance specifically meet certain buying criteria, including that the iPhone is being purchased as a gift (in which case the gift receiver might not want to be locked into two years of monthly payments). To be clear, the no-contract purchase still requires that the customer sign up for AT&T service before leaving the store. However , for $599 or $699 they can now terminate their cellular service at any time.
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In response to a report that Apple stores no longer issue shopping bags to customers, a chemical industry lobbying group has issued a statement applauding the company for discouraging use of plastic bags, but supporting “customer preference” when multiple products are purchased. The American Chemical Council (ACC) said in a statement that they support a shopper’s right “to refuse a bag they don’t need,” and to bring their own reusable bags. The group said that plastic bags are “an environmentally responsible choice,” mainly through recycling and re-use of bags. Plastic bags require 70 percent less energy, the ACC said, generate 50 percent less greenhouse gas emissions and create 80 percent less waste than paper alternatives. The group claimed that an “overwhelming majority of states, cities and retailers” have concluded that recycling is the best solution for reducing waste. Earlier this month the AppleInsider Web site reported that the no-bag policy is part of the company’s on-going environmental effort, but the change hasn’t been officially confirmed. Read the ACC’s entire press release.
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An eBay auction of nine Apple store grand opening commemorative T-shirts has created a puzzle: Who am I? According to the auction page, the seller goes by the username of “mlforrest,” and is offering new, unwashed T-shirts from four high-profile stores: Regent Street (London), Ginza (Tokyo), Fifth Avenue (NYC) and North Michigan Avenue (Chicago). The person is also auctioning T-shirts from five smaller stores, all with a total starting bid of $100. In an e-mail to IFO, the seller provided some tantilizing clues: the seller lives in Oswego (Ill.), has a tan shag carpet, personally obtained each T-shirt, did not attend the grand openings as a customer, and is currently under an non-disclosure agreement. In the past, there were periods when bidders sent the eBay auction price for grand opening T-shirts up to $500 each. However, bidding has slowed over the past three years and prices have dropped to $50 or less. Currently there are 43 Apple T-shirts up for auction on eBay, mostly those worn by employees, and only two from grand openings (both around $20). The current T-shirt auction closes on March 31st. Update: Even ordinary Apple store visitors quickly identified the seller as former Apple regional director Michael Forrest, who left the company’s employ last January. The collection eventually sold for $155 with 10 bids. read more…
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If you’re a mall developer trying to sell a new project, there is nothing more attractive than an Apple logo on your architectural renderings. Many times the appearance of the logo is entirely speculative, but other times the logo or other details indicate that an Apple store will eventually appear at the new mall. The latest mystery is the redevelopment of the huge and historic Myer Emporium store in downtown Melbourne (Australia). The Myer Pty. Ltd. company wants to demolish, redesign, build and re-build a set of buildings dating back to the late 1800s. The construction will leave some façades intact and renovated, but will replace other buildings with new and contemporary architectural designs. Among the new buildings is an angled, all-glass structure at the southwest corner of Caledonian Lane and Lonsdale Street. A close look at the rendering for this corner shows an Apple logo in its usual second-level location. However, in this case a notation states the log is “indicative only,” which means the architect included the logo only as a sample of what might appear at the site. If the redevelopment is approved by city officials, it could be completed by 2012. Check the renderings after the break. read more…
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This morning workers are removing the black wooden construction barricade in front of the new Bethesda Row (Md.) retail store, revealing a street-level glass storefront, and a large stainless steel upper level with a back-lit Apple logo. The single-level store is inside a new building that Apple built across the street from the existing mini-store that opened in 2005. The new facility will offer at nearly 10 times the square-footage of the current site. Apple will close the mini-store on March 31st to prepare for the move, and the new store will open April 4th. View a photo after the break. read more…
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The tiny size and streamlined design of the new iPod shuffle has allowed Apple’s retail team to design an acrylic stand that is more streamlined and informative, and which is less obtrusive for visitors who want to try out the device. Previous shuffles, and even iPod minis, featured connections on both the top and bottom to dock and connect to earphones. The dual connections meant that iPod minis had to dock with an odd metal stand, and forced visitors to carefully re-dock both devices before moving on. The new design is completely dock-free, with all connections coming from the top. The acrylic block doubles as an information center for the shuffles. See photos after the break.
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During what must be the quietest sales period of the year, Apple has scheduled renovations for at least six stores from Colorado, to Texas, to New Jersey. The stores’ busiest periods are between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the post-holiday period, the end of summer that signals back-to-school, and the summer itself, filled with students and Apple Camp participants. The renovations are variously scheduled during March 16rd through April 3rd, and seem to be focused on two changes: updating the stores that still have black-paneled furniture, theaters, and wood floors, and those stores with a check-out counter at the back. The stores are: Chandler Fashion Center (Ariz., store #14), Cherry Creek (Denver, #50), Tice’s Corner (NJ, #22), Crabtree Valley Mall (NC, #152), Willow Bend (Tex., #3), and Clarendon (Virg., #23). read more…
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Apple will add two additional stores to its Canada line-up this year: a second store in Vancouver, and the first-ever store in Winnipeg (Manitoba). First, Apple will open its first-ever mid-Canada store by opening in the Polo Park mall in Winnipeg, not far from city center. The city has a population of 700,000, about one-half the entire population of the province, making it a major travel destination. Next, Vancouver’s second store will be inside Oakridge Centre, the city’s largest mall, and just four miles south of the existing Pacific Centre store. Both stores could open by this October.
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The existence and location of Apple’s retail store in Frankfurt (Germany) has been confirmed by city planning officials, in city center near Opera Plaza. The two-level store at #30 Große Bockenheimer Straße will look out over a tree-spotted pedestrian mall that includes a fountain. Frankfurt has a metro population of 2.1 million in central Germany, and is a major travel hub for the country and incoming air flights from other countries. A rendering indicates the current building will require extensive reconstruction, although it’s not clear if demolition is part of the plan. The store could open in early 2010. read more…
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When clothing retailer Lululemon USA Inc. was told Apple was locating at the future 108 State Street development in downtown Chicago (Ill.), they jumped at the chance to locate next-door, and even made Apple’s presence a requirement on their lease signing. When last December Lululemon executives learned Apple had cancelled their plans to open a 6,000 square-foot store on the State Street side of the complex, Lululemon moved to terminate their 10-year lease. The developer, 108 N. State Retail LLC, denied the termination notice, and now Lululemon has filed a federal lawsuit alleging fraudulent inducement and violation of Illinois’ consumer fraud act. Neither the developer or Apple will confirm that Apple originally planned to open a store in the complex. However, tipsters first indicated this location to IFO back in early 2006, and floorplans submitted by the plaintiff in this lawsuit clearly show “Apple” assigned to a space. Apple posted job openings for the location in September 2008. read more…
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Several unnamed employees of the Kenwood Towne Centre (Ohio) Apple store have been named as co-defendants in a defective product lawsuit filed by the parents of a child who was allegedly burned when his iPod touch “caught on fire” and burned his leg. The employees, named only as “John Does (1-10)” in the lawsuit, are accused of negligently failing to inform the plaintiffs that the iPod touch “would need to be inspected for defects” after its purchase. The employees also failed to inspect the device themselves, and failed to provide any instruction sheets or warning. The youth, identified only as “A.V.” in the lawsuit and the son of Lynette Antrobus, suffered second-degree burns to his leg, “and was otherwise caused pain and suffering,” the lawsuit states. The lawsuit say the boy continues to suffer “pain, mental distress, emotional distress, and otherwise for the rest of his life.” He lost the value of his clothing, the lawsuit states, and the value of the “Apple iTouch (sic).” The family asks for $75,000 in compensatory damages, and at least $75,000 in punitive damages, plus court and attorney’s fees, and another $75,000 in “special damages.” read more…
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The storefront for the new, enlarged Bethesda Row (Md.) retail store will be stainless steel, according to photos snapped behind the plywood construction barricade. The photos show a two-level storefront, and steel that wraps around the masonry building to give a total “metal experience” to passersby. The full-size store opens April 4th, replacing the mini-store across the street that opened in 2004. Photos after the break. read more…
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One of two disabled women who recently settled an accessibility lawsuit with Apple Inc. was posting Internet forum messages in the months before the pair filed the lawsuit, asking for help to move to her dream home in Las Vegas. In postings from early to mid-2007, Jana Overbo explained she was suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, and that her “last big dream is to buy a house with a swimming pool in Las Vegas,” where the climate makes her condition more tolerable. The postings stopped in July 2007, one month before the women filed their federal lawsuit that asked for store modifications and damages. After negotiations, mediation and more negotiations, the lawsuit was settled February 17, 2009. Apple denied any liability but agreed to a three-page list of changes to the San Francisco store to improve access for visitors in wheelchairs. The company and the women’s attorneys also agreed to damages, attorney and other fees, but the amount of money wasn’t disclosed. read more…
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