Stuffed into a tiny space on the upper level of the Barton Creek Square (Tex.) shopping center, the Apple store has felt particularly cramped since it opened in June 2004. But now there are plans to expand the store and improve its visibility by moving it to a ground-floor space within the mall. According to sources, the 3,655 square-foot store will move out of its 30-foot storefront and into the former Pottery Barn space, which has a 90-foot storefront and 9,685 square-feet. The timeline for the move into the expanded space isn’t known, but it should occur before this Thanksgiving. mall plan
A third off-season grand opening will be held next week in France, to celebrate the new La Confluence (Lyon) Apple retail store in the southeast part of the country. The store is located within a retail building that is one part of a huge, 350-acre redevelopment where the Saône and Rhône Rivers converge. No photos of the future store have yet been posted, since the area around the store has been closed during construction. The existing Part Dieu Apple store is about three miles away. The grand opening will be slightly unusual—it will occur on a Wednesday (the 4th) and at 7 p.m., to coincide with the grand opening of the retail building itself.
Almost 10 years ago when I started this Web site, every morsel of news I received was posted—big or small. Over the years my reporting has become much more layered, and has expanded to follow Apple, its retail stores, other retailers, technology and other related areas. As a result, this Web site is not the only way to keep track of what’s occurring. Here’s how I work and how you can stay informed. First, each day I sift through email (could be five messages, could be 40), Twitter feeds (more than hundreds) and Web post headlines (Google Reader, >1,000). From all that information, I digest and edit information to pass along via three methods. I will post a full story on this Web site for major information I can confirm. I will Tweet information that’s not as important, can’t be confirmed, or is merely amusing (I also Tweet when I’m on the road for grand openings). I will reTweet information that’s related to Apple retail and particularly interesting, both positive or negative (Always looking for unique experiences!). I post my opinions, perspectives and observations about technology, Apple and general retail on Google+. To receive the full, layered perspective about Apple retail, you should check in with all three of these conduits.
Italy will not be left off the list of 2012 Apple retail store grand openings, as a job listing indicates a future store in the city of Brescia, in the country’s most-northern province. The location joins seven other future stores discovered in four countries over just the past three days, emphasizing Apple’s on-going focus on store locations outside the United States. As first spotted by setteB.IT, the job listing provided no specific location for the future store. Speculation centers around one of the city’s main shopping districts or possibly the Freccia Rossa shopping center southwest of city center. There are already three Apple stores in the northern Italy region and rumors of another three locations. Like the other recently-revealed future stores, the Brescia location could open by this October.
Within days of spotting future Apple’s stores in Australia, Germany and France, store watchers now report a store will come to Valladolid (Spain) in the northwest region of the country. A job listing appeared for the city of 320,000 residents, but without a specific location. Speculation centers on Calle de Santiago, the city’s main shopping street or one of the city’s smaller shopping centers. The store would be about two hours north of the two existing stores in Madrid, and could open by October 2012.
The Apple retail team continues to prepare for the usual late-year debut of new stores, and now three more locations have been confirmed in Germany. There is always lots of planning and construction activity in the early months of each year, since over one-half of grand openings occur in the last four months. First, early construction has begun on a former clothing store building in Hanover at Bahnhofstraße 5, along the city main, pedestrian shopping street. As reported by ifun.de Web site, the windows were just blacked out with plastic, a sure sign that construction has started. Ironically, the four-level building already has a winding staircase, but it’s elliptical in shape, instead of Apple’s trademark spiral configuration. Next, fun.de reports that job listings have appeared for two cities, confirming previous rumors of new stores. No specific location was given for Stuttgart, in the south of the country. However, it’s possible it will be located somewhere along Königstraße, the city’s main shopping street. The job listing for Cologne also didn’t mention a specific site, but again the city’s main shopping street Hohe Straße is a good possibility. The Hanover store could open by year’s end or early 2013, while the Stuttgart and Cologne locations could open by October 2012. A Berlin store has been under construction along Kurfürstendamm for several months. These four new stores would supplement the eight existing Apple stores in Germany.
An 83 year-old visitor to the Genius Bar at the Manhasset (NY) retail store has filed a lawsuit claiming she suffered injuries when she walked head-long into the glass front doors, which she claims were not sufficiently marked to warn of the hazards of clear glass. As first reported by the New York Post, Evelyn Paswall filed her lawsuit in Federal District Court this week, saying she broke her nose on December 13, 2011 when she tried to enter the store. She is asking for damages over $75,000 to cover her medical costs, both past and future. The Manhasset store is one of four stores with a similar design: the others are Scottsdale Quarter (Ariz.), Lincoln Park (Chicago) and the just-opened Highland Village (Tex.). The stores have huge windows at either end, composed of several panels of low-iron glass that are formulated to be very clear. It’s not clear if New York state building codes require warning stockers on retail store windows. However, Apple began installing rectangular warning stickers on store front windows some time before January 2011. A photo of the Manhasset store taken in October 2011 shows stickers in place on the front windows and doors, and all other U.S. stores now reportedly also have the stickers. Famously, a passerby at the Lincoln Park (Chicago) retail store walked into the window glass at the south end of the building the night before the store’s grand opening, in full view of the overnight waiting line. A fire department ambulance crew arrived to treat the woman’s bleeding nose, but she declined a trip to the hospital. Download Paswall’s lawsuit for more details of her incident. storefront
The capitol city of Australia is one of two Apple retail stores that will open later this year, according to newly-posted job listings. The country already has 13 Apple stores from coast-to-coast, and two additional stores are now under construction in Sydney and Perth. The location of the future store in Canberra isn’t known, but it would be about three hours south of the nearest Apple store in Sydney. There are two potential malls in the region operated by Westfield, one of Apple’s favorite developers—Woden southwest of city center, and Belconnen, northwest. The second job listing likely confirms a two year-old tip about a store at Westfield Carindale, southeast of city-center Brisbane on the east-central coast. Like the Canberra listing, a specific location isn’t mentioned, but in 2010 tipsters said a large tenant was moving out to make space for Apple, and the mall was undergoing a renovation. Construction on both stores could be finished for October 2012 grand openings.
The initiative to build more retail stores in France is continuing with a future location in the city of Dijon, considered the capital of the Burgandy wine region. It is one of two known future stores in France, and will augment the country’s nine existing stores. As first spotted by MacGeneration, a job listing just appeared for this city in east-central France, but without a specific location. However, tipsters in the city of 105,000 residents point to the Toison D’or shopping mall on the city’s north side as the likely location. Based on construction schedules, the store could open this October. mall plan
For a second time, city of Portland (Ore.) officials are grappling with the design of an Apple retail store, weighing their aesthetic concerns against the possibility of bringing a ground-breaking glass storefront and public plaza to the downtown area. And based on the first feedback from the city’s Design Commission during a meeting last week, not everyone is convinced the current store would be a good idea. In 2005 Apple proposed a store project about a mile away, but after negative feedback from city officials, a peeved Apple cancelled the project. Now Apple is trying again, this time with a more spectacular design at almost the exact location of the existing Pioneer Place store. During last week’s Design Commission meeting, an audience of about 25 listened as architect Karl Backus of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson (BCJ) described renderings of the project and answered questions. The store would span 165 feet, the width of a city block on Yamhill Street that is now the unremarkable rear of the Pioneer Place mall. The entire structure would have glass walls, topped by a thin membrane roof edged with metal. Behind the store, a 30-foot tall stone wall would provide separation from the existing building. The store would be set back 12-foot from the sidewalk, creating a plaza that Apple would share with the public, accessible by stone steps leading up from the sidewalk level. At the meeting, each of the seven commissioners had objections to the design, including the lack of a green roof and the arrangement of the stone steps. Their criticism provided insights into the sometimes long process of obtaining final approval for new buildings from skeptical city agencies. read more…
The annual Valencia (Spain) celebration of Fallas includes two weeks of noisy fireworks displays, parades, neighborhood bands, costumes and other events, and now it also includes a visit to the city’s Apple retail store, which opened last December. In line with tradition, each neighborhood of the city spends an entire year planning and organizing their celebration, which centers on the construction of oversized figures in the local square, which are then set afire on the last night of Fallas. Last Saturday, one neighborhood band and costumed women visited the Callé Colon Apple store for the first time, where they danced and played music. The store is in a vintage building downtown, not far from the central plaza where daytime, ground-level fireworks rocks the city. videos
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted a design patent to Apple Inc. for the design of the glass cylinder entrance to the Pudong (Shanghai) retail store, which the patent examiner has not-so-coincidentally likened to a money-grab machine. The patent is a follow-up to a China patent granted in May 2011, with the “inventors” including the late Steve Jobs, former Sr. VP Retail Ron Johnson, architect Karl Backus of the firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, and structural engineer James O’Callaghan. In the patent grant, USPTO examiner T. Chase Nelson cited several previous design patents that are dependent, including one granted in 2009 to a Mississippi man for, “The ornamental design for a money grab machine.” The device consists of a glass cylinder in which a person stands, and attempts to grab money swirled about by fans. Nelson also cited several other designs, including a perfume tower, outdoor telephone booth, greenhouse and a spiral-shaped building. Apple itself did not make any references to previous design, according to the grant. The Pudong store opened in July 2010 and is now among the city’s many architectural icons, and a stand-out retail design world-wide. The cylinder consists of 41-foot tall panels of glass covering a spiral glass staircase, which leads downward to the underground retail store. Download (pdf) the design patent to view the Apple’s drawings of the glass cylinder. look-alikes
The design of the iPad information displays at Apple stores in China has been officially registered with the Intellectual Property Department of Hong Kong, offering protection for the unique appearance of the device. The so-called Smart Signs were introduced in May 2011 at U.S. stores to improve product information and provide more interactivity. As first noticed by PatentlyApple.com, the China registration covers the acrylic blocks with a slanted top, into which an iPad is seemingly embedded, and which are used adjacent to each display product to provide information. In the registration application, the device is only described by Apple as, “Stand as well as a combination of a stand and electronic device.” However, in fact the iPads are more complex10.6* in use, displaying product specifications, comparing similar products models, and allowing visitors to summon help from a Specialist by pressing an on-screen button. The trademark registration covers 11 different configurations of the same basic model, accounting for versions next to large products (portables) or those attached to the acrylic itself (iPods). Download (pdf) the drawings that Apple submitted to the IP Department. trademark drawing
In the world of bloggers, there is no end to the articles that try to list, summarize and explain Apple’s retail store business secrets, especially related to customer service, and how they can be mastered by other companies. But in reality, all of Apple’s so-called secrets are well-known principles of business. Instead, the challenge at mastering Apple-like customer service is combining and coordinating the retail principles through a unified company and personnel culture. Now a new book provides the best explanation yet of this retail culture and how other companies can take advantage of it to improve their own results. The Apple Experience: Secrets to Building Insanely Great Customer Loyalty (McGraw-Hill) by Carmine Gallo starts from the beginnings of the Apple retail chain, and marches through the process of hiring employees, building customer trust, developing a customer feedback loop and more. read more…
In the aftermath of the new iPad debut, reports are popping up on the success of the day, both for Apple’s retail stores and the notable neighbor of a new Texas store. According to sources quoted on TheVerge.com, the Fifth Avenue (NYC) retail store sold 13,000 iPads during the first 12 hours, or about 18 iPads per minute. The store received the largest U.S. supply of iPads, the sources said, and the day’s revenue topped $11.8 million. On the west coast, visitors to the Palo Alto (N. Calif.) retail store report the staff began cheering wildly at one point last Friday, proud that the store had been the first in the chain to reach $1 million in iPad sales for the day. Today Apple issued a press release to say they sold a record 3 million iPads worldwide during the first three days of sale. Apple never released early sales figures for the iPad 2, but are generally believed to be about 1 million over three days. And lastly, the grand opening of the Highland Village (Tex.) retail store has contributed to a 50 percent increase in sales for the Sprinkles Cupcakes store next-door. A story in Houston Business Journal says the store suffered “significant” negative impact during nearly two years of construction on the Apple store, but chain co-founder Charles Nelson is now optimistic about the future.
