The annual tradition of fun at Apple’s Japan stores will continue this New Year, with sales of Lucky Bags, childrens’ events, a greeting card competition and Personal Shopping sessions. First, on January 2nd the country’s stores will be selling a limited number of Lucky Bags for $380, a version of the country’s annual New Year tradition to receive mystery gifts. The Apple stores will also be offering workshops for children eight to 12 years-old, focusing on photography, video-making and presentations—all using Apple applications. The stores will also hold an in-store, one-day contest for Mac-created greeting cards with a New Year’s theme, with all participants receiving a small gift. Lastly, Apple is promoting its Personal Shopping service during the January 2-3 holiday, for those wanting more information about its products. View photos of the waiting line and the Lucky Bag from the Shinsaibashi (Osaka0 store.
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Apple is racing down the stretch to complete its second retail store in Kentucky, with a summer grand opening in the Fayette Mall in Lexington, considered the “Horse Capital of the World.” The mall is located on the city’s southwest side, just two miles from the University of Kentucky campus, and close to offices for several international corporations. The developer recently completed a 140,000 square-foot expansion, although the exact location of the future store isn’t known. The closest other Apple store is 78 miles away in Louisville (Ken.).
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Under financial pressure from lenders, the developer who owns the property under the future Lincoln Park (Chicago) retail store has put the parcel up for sale. M Development LLC headed by Mark Hunt could receive up to $10 million for triangular-shaped property at Halsted Street and North Avenue on the city’s north side. Hunt just settled a $30.7 million foreclosure lawsuit by handing back an abandoned hospital to another development firm that purchased the loan. Real estate sources say his firm faces other foreclosure lawsuits totaling $50 million, and the company’s president resigned earlier this year. Hunt and partner Fred Lasko are also involved in a disputed loan for an Aspen (Colo.) hotel. As reported by Chicago Real Estate Daily, Apple holds a 10-year lease to occupy the property, with an option to extend for 20 years. Apple is paying $750,000 a year during the first 10 years, sources say. Construction is now underway for a 9,000 square-foot, rectangular store that will open in summer 2010.
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Apple has just added the position of Expert to its on-line job listings, opening up the new position to entry-level applicants for the first time. As first reported here last October, the Expert position is part of a complete job title realignment to improve customer service and handle the increasing number of people visiting Apple’s retail stores. Originally, the position was open only by promotion of current store employees. According to tipsters, an internal candidate for Expert should have “exceptional product knowledge, be top performers in creating owners, and should be known in their stores for their leadership in the Red Zone (sales floor).” The new entry-level job listing describes applicants: “You’ve gotten a taste of the retail life and you’re hooked—so much so that you want to take your game to the next level. Your friends call you an expert, a savvy confident professional who has turned a passion for sales into a career.” Tipsters said there would be at least three Experts at each store, with more staffed at the larger stores. Currently, the job listings page seems to have open Expert positions at every store.
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Apple’s promise to move quickly to build retail stores in France seems to be a reality, as a tipster says the company will open a store at the Parly 2 shopping mall west of Paris. As reported by MacGeneration, the future store in the suburb of Le Chesnay would be just minutes away from Versailles, a major tourist attraction. The mall first opened in 1969, and has been renovated to now include 200 shops and restaurants over three levels. The tipster does not say when the Apple store might open. Apple opened its first France store last November 7th in Paris.
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The fifth largest city in Canada will host a second Apple retail store next summer when the Southgate Centre store opens in Edmonton (Canada) during June 2010. The 1970-era mall south of downtown has been expanded several times over the years, including a 150,000 square-foot addition that opened last August. Now the mall has about 165 shops and restaurants serving the 1 million residents in the metro region. The future store will be about seven miles southeast of the existing West Edmonton Mall Apple store, which opened in July 2008.
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The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has awarded its annual Gold Medal to Peter Bohlin, the architect responsible for designing Apple’s unique and distinctive retail stores around the world. The group honored Bohlin, 72, for a “significant body of work (that) has had a lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture.” The award has been given to just 66 professionals since 1907, and is the AIA’s highest individual award. Previous recipients include Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Louis Skidmore, I.M. Pei, Frank Gehry and Santiago Calatrava. Besides Apple’s stores, Bohlin has also designed homes, offices and specialized buildings over a long career. Bohlin is a principle at Bohlin Cywinski Jackson (BCJ), a 200-person firm with offices in Pittsburgh (Penn.), Seattle (Wash.) and San Francisco (Calif.). Bohlin will receive the award during the AIA’s annual conference next June in Miami (Fla.), and his name will be chiseled into a granite wall at AIA’s headquarters in New York City. Download (pdf) the AIA’s award presentation that reviews Bohlin’s work and the award. read more…
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A group of alert Apple enthusiasts in Perth (Australia) have tracked down the probable location for a future retail store in that city: 790-794 Hay Street in city center. As first posted on the MacTalk forum, on November 19th an application was filed with the city planning agency for partial demolition at the rear of the distinctive three-story building, which dates to 1910. Then on December 1st an application was filed for, “Refurbishment of Existing Building — Apple Inc.” The 8,700 square-foot parcel fronts onto a one-way street, and its neighbors include a hotel, offices, parking structure and various retailers. The former tenants—a restaurant and pastry shop—have already moved out. The brick building is considered historic, and approvals for any demolition or renovation could take many months to obtain. A store in Perth would be the first in the western portion of the country. read more…
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The relocated and expanded Roosevelt Field (NY) retail store re-opened on Thursday, giving the location a more central position within the mall and nearly doubling the available square-footage for customers. The store opened in July 2002, but was tucked away in a tiny, end-of-hall space on the second level. The new location formerly housed Restoration Hardware, is located on the ground level, and is deeper and wider than the original location. The original store remained opened during months-long construction of the new store, then closed for the last time on Wednesday. The new store opened at 6 p.m. on Thursday, with 500 commemorative T-shirts handed to the first visitors. The mall is located in central Long Island, making it a popular shopping destination.
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Apple will double-up its store coverage in Bristol (UK) this Saturday with the grand opening of the Cribbs Causeway store at 10 a.m. The large center has 135 stores, backed by 7,000 parking spaces. The city already has a store at the city center Cabot Circus shopping mall. The new location is 10 miles north of the existing store, along the busy M5 motorway. With the grand opening, the cities of London, Manchester, Birmingham and now Bristol have more than a one store in their region.
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In a rare move, Apple has delayed the grand opening of the Große Bockenheimer Straße (Frankfurt) retail store, which had been originally been scheduled for this Saturday. As first reported by the iFun.de Web site, the opening has been pushed back to some date in January 2010, most likely because the store wasn’t finished to Apple’s rigorous standards. The street-level store was installed in an existing building, but it was heavily remodeled to include Apple’s standard architecture. Early this morning the store’s Web page was changed to say the store would open “soon.” It only explained, “We’re putting the finishing touches on the final touches.”
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Just weeks after rolling out a ground-breaking iPod touch point-of-sale system (POS), Apple may be preparing to commercialize the system and generate some revenue from its creation. Coincidentally, the move comes on the same day that the founder of Twitter announced a possible competitor to the iPod POS, which will allow small businesses to easily and quickly accept credit card payments using a mobile device. According to insiders, Apple has been deluged with inquiries about the POS system, which is comprised of a sleek, custom-designed and manufactured shell that surrounds the iPod touch, and also incorporates a barcode scanner and magnetic stripe reader. The hardware links to custom-programmed software that streamlines the process of taking cash, credit or debit card payments for merchandise. read more…
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