The United States will not be left out of this weekend’s series of grand openings, with debuts at the Anchorage 5th Avenue Mall (Alaska) and at Fashion Place in Murray (Utah). Stores are also opening in Australia and Italy on Saturday. The four openings are part of a strong push to open 30 new stores before September 30th, mentioned by CFO Peter Oppenheimer during a July 19th conference call with financial analysts. The Anchorage store is the state’s first, and given Apple’s focus on international locations, could be its only store for several years. The long official name of the store differentiates it from the existing Fifth Avenue high-profile store in New York City. The Murray store is located along a corridor of cities south of Salt Lake City, where the state’s only other store is located. The Apple store will be the first to open in a new “luxury” section of the mall, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. Both stores will open at 10 a.m. Based on Oppenheimer’s statements, 24 more stores will open after this weekend, including Hong Kong, Shanghai, Berkeley (N. Calif.), London (UK), Little Rock (Ark.), Glasgow (Scotland), Hamburg (Germany) and a temporary store in New York City. Trivia: Among this weekend’s grand openings, the 5th Avenue Mall store will be the chain’s most north store (61°N.), while the Southland (Australia) store will be the most south (38°S.)
Nothing can top the historic architecture of the Buchanan Street Apple store in city center Glasgow (Scotland), but Apple enthusiasts will nonetheless appreciate a second store inside the suburban Braehead Shopping Centre later this year. The mall is along the River Clyde about 15 minutes northwest of the city, with 110 shops, including an enormous Ikea store. The exact location within the mall isn’t know. However, space 162a has been vacant, with 2,620 square-feet of space and a unique storefront that faces both the parking garage and the mall interior. The store could open by mid-September.
Almost 100 years after it was constructed along tree-lined Kurfürstendamm avenue in Berlin (Germany), the historic UFA Film-Bühne Wien cinema will regain some of its original glory when Apple opens a retail store inside the building by year’s end. According to the Kurfuerstendamm.de Web site, Apple has leased the building at #26 and is awaiting permit approvals to begin construction. The store will finally bring Apple to the capitol city, four years after the first Germany store opened in Munich. Even though extensive renovations have erased most of the building’s historic features, it will still be a worthy addition to other high-profile stores that Apple’s retail team has carefully restored in Paris, London, Glasgow and New York City. The cinema building was constructed by Nentwich & Simon from 1912 to 1913, creating a ground-floor café and restaurant space, a second-level lobby, and an 850-seat theater on the third level under a domed, 26-foot ceiling. The first film was projected on October 3, 1913 as patrons sat in the elegance of green velvet curtains and seat cushions. Ornate fabric wall coverings lent a home-like atmosphere to the theater, while wrought-iron balcony railings and finely-detailed ceiling fixtures lent more opulence. building history
Apple is in “detailed” talks with Edinburgh (Scotland) planning officials over the architecture, design and construction of a future retail store on Princes Street in city center. The company’s real estate team has been scouting the city for several years, but apparently has been unable to locate the perfect location until recently. According to the Herald Scotland newspaper, final plans for the store, “could be as little as weeks away from being officially lodged with Edinburgh City Council.” Apple store enthusiasts have long speculated about a space next to Urban Outfitters along the city’s main shopping street, in the shadow of historic Edinburgh Castle. The newspaper speculates on additional spaces adjacent to the Debenhams store and next to the HMV store. Apple already has Scotland stores in Glasgow and Aberdeen.
The Covent Garden (London) retail store that opens Saturday makes a leap beyond the goal of previous projects to maintain the building’s original architecture but still give visitors the classic Apple look-and-feel. In fact, unlike Regent Street (London), Opera (Paris) or Buchanan Street (Glasgow), this latest store has the least amount of Apple branding ever, leaving it an elegantly-looking brick and stone building in the shadow of one of London’s busiest public venues. In competition with street performers, a centuries-old market hall, restaurants and shops, the thousands of visitors to Covent Garden may pass the low-key exterior without realizing what waits inside: a very subtle upgrade with no stainless steel. Only three, black-metal, cut-out, Apple logo signs attract visitors initially, and even they are set back back 15 feet from the street, under a shady arcade framed by eight arches. There are eight double-doors leading inside the store, which has been totally restored to its original multi-hued red brick walls. The very wide front of the store has a spiral glass staircase to the right, and a series of wood display tables. The typical stone floor rounds out the familiar Apple store features. But overhead, there are architectural surprises. read more…
Thousands of visitors from several countries visited the new Carrousel du Louvre (Paris) store on Saturday, including a hearty band of 22 who began the wait outside the famous Louvre Museum in 40-degree temperatures and rain. There were at least 500 in line at 10 a.m. to examine the country’s first Apple store, which also provided a surprise glimpse of the new iPod touch point-of-sale (POS) device. The long, L-shaped Genius Bar on the mezzanine level attracted many early visitors to the store, who brought their laptop or iPod and were hoping for a quick solution. The remainder of the crowd was mixed between those admiring the store and many interested in a specific Apple product. Beyond the obvious success of the Louvre store grand opening, the event kicks off the second year of increased international growth for the chain. The economic downturn and the large number of existing stores has slowed growth in the United States. Apple executives have said nearly 50 stores will open in fiscal 2010, with “the majority” being outside the United States. read more…
Apple will open its most northern retail store this Thursday, inside the new Union Square shopping center in Aberdeen (Scotland). At latitude 57º, the store will be further north than its closest cousins, including the Buchanan Street (Glasgow), Victoria Square (Belfast) and Arndale Center (Manchester) stores. Union Square is promoted as a “shopping and leisure destination,” with 60 shops, a 203-room hotel and 10-screen cinema, part of a redevelopment of the city-center. According to real estate sources, mall developer Hammerson has taken a $143 million loss on the project because of the economy, and was forced to offer tenants substantial incentives to move in. Rents in the mall were reduced to just $244,000 to $325,000, tenants received money for fit-out costs, and were offered up to two years rent-free. The Apple store will open at noon.
Structural construction work has begun for the future Covent Garden (London) retail store, which architectural plans indicate will be one of the chain’s most expensive to build, but will also be the most impressive to visit when it’s finished. The location less than a mile from the existing Regent Street store is shrouded in scaffolding and protective netting, even as thousands of summer visitors crowd the plaza, marketplace and surrounding retailers each day. New planning documents highlight the historic nature of the building, and also the balancing act that local officials are undertaking: objections to Apple’s architectural design that change the building’s historic nature, versus the desperate need to bring a high-profile retailer to Covent Garden. Last November the Westminster Council approved initial construction plans, but set out certain conditions on the finer points of design that Gensler, Apple’s architect, are still working to meet. But unless a major impasse is reached between Apple and city planners, the store will open in mid-2010 as the chain’s showcase. read more…
An odd pair of evacuations involving Apple stores in two countries yielded two empty stores and a store employee under arrest for theft. First, the Buchanan Street (Glasgow) store was evacuated on Monday when an apparent electrical problem hit the entire block, setting off the fire alarm. The 1 p.m. crows of customers were herded outside, even those in the midst of a purchase. A day earlier, someone called in a bomb threat to the Rockingham Park mall in Salem (NH), sending visitors outside and bringing police to search for anything suspicious–they found something. Police say they located a bag near an outside dumpster, and quickly determined it was harmless. But they also learned the bag contained a set of speakers that had been taken from the mall’s Apple store, allegedly by an employee. Police arrested employee Bryan Donovan, 20, for theft. They believe he took the speakers while working and intended to pick them up after work. He was released on his own recognizance.
Despite speculation of an Edinburgh (Scotland) retail store, Apple has hopscotched over that city and will locate its next store at the Union Square complex in Aberdeen. The city-center complex is still under construction, with a planned September grand opening. It will include retail shops, a cinema and 203-room hotel, all adjacent to the city’s bus station and impressive rail station. It would be the second store in the country, after to Buchanan Street in Glasgow.The location of the Apple store within the complex isn’t known, but it will likely open at the same time as the mall. View renderings after the break. read more…
By all outward appearance, Apple’s retail stores are a model for the Green Movement that encourages business to be considerate of ecological and environmental issues. But behind the stainless steel, glass and plastic, it’s difficult to tell if the stores’ natural materials really contribute to the preserving the planet. Part of the problem in evaluating Apple’s stores, or any retail operation, is that there are no clear industry standards for evaluating how Green the operation is. Even so, it’s possible to shed some light on two issues: where did the materials come from, and where are they going? read more…
A Glasgow (Scotland) writer and podcaster says he was asked to leave the Buchanan Street store in that city by a staffer who spotted him taking photos of the products on display. The employee, Paul, also noticed “Scottish podcaster” using a cellular phone and laptop. According to the account, the employee eventually told him, “I’m going to have to ask you not to take pictures in the store,” and then escorted him out of the store. Read the full account of his adventure here.
A large crowd showed up Saturday morning to celebrate the grand opening of the Buchanan Street (Glasgow, Scotland) retail store, offering plenty of excitement for the city’s shopping district and those who had waited up to 26 hours in line. Mike was first through the huge front doors of the store, followed by a queue of about 300 persons, to examine the interior of the two-level store whose exterior they’d been staring at for hours. The spiral glass staircase and tall, rough-hewn interior stone front wall were the most spectacular parts of the store, all best seen from the second level railing. Visitors seemed awed by the store and its assortment of products. The accessory and software sections were particularly packed and seemed to be generating the most sales. Read my full report for details on the overnight camp-out and the store itself. Watch my video of the grand opening.
The interior of the new Buchanan Street store features a compact design, interior stone walls, long Genius Bar and a mezzanine overlooking a spiral glass staircase lit by tall adjacent windows. The first photos show that the interior design takes elements from several other Apple stores, but has its own personality formed from the building’s shape, size, materials and configuration. It’s obvious that Apple’s architects once again proved their talents, even when restricted in how much renovation they could perform on the building. Check these photos of the store’s interior, and here for on-going coverage of the grand opening waiting line. The store opens at 9 a.m. Saturday.
At this moment I’m flying eastward to Glasgow (Scotland) for Saturday morning’s grand opening of the downtown Buchanan Street retail store. The weather forecast includes rain, but that hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm of Apple enthusiasts from Italy, Germany and the United States, who have confirmed their attendance to me by e-mail. We’ll be forming a waiting line in front of the impressive store to give it the proper grand opening. Follow my on-going reports at this special page. Thanks to Alex for the first photos showing the windows after the black plastic was removed early Thursday morning.
