Inside an Apple Mini-Store

In early Feb. 2004 I learned that Apple would be opening a series of mini-stores across the country. Since then, the concept seems to have changed from locations on university campuses, to stores close to existing Apple stores. At the same time, the architecture and design of the stores, described as being 1,500 square feet or less, has been a mystery--until now!

Here is a photo of the interior of a mini-store, taken from outside the store, from a public place.

First, you can see that the pre-dominant decor is laser-cut, bead-blasted stainless steel panels, both on the walls and near the ceiling. The materials reportedly come from Japan and Finland. In the second photo, you can see a detail of a panel near the ceiling on the right side of this store, and it appears to have the same "G5" design used in the flagship store designs--thousands of tiny holes in the metal.

Second, the furniture consists of a wooden rear counter, and wooden counters on both sides of the store, all apparently from the Fetzer's Inc. collection. The side counters are obviously for product displays such as laptops and desktops, and the rear counter must be for "cashwrap" and any Genius Bar-type activities.

Next, along both walls are tens of vertically-mounted fluorescent lamps, indicating some type of translucent, back-lit coverings for the walls.

Next, you can see that there is some storage or other space behind the back wall, with two doors on either side of the counter. The structure behind the left door appears to be some type of shelving frame.

In this photo, you cannot see the floor material, but it reportedly includes sections of both carpet and wood. It's not clear how those materials will be used: carpet over wood, or one section of the store in wood, and the other in carpet.

There are many horizontally-mounted fluorescent lamps in the ceiling, indicating some type of translucent ceiling, most likely the membrane-type ceilings installed by Newmat Stretch Ceiling Systems (NY), which are used in many other Apple stores.

There is an opening in the center of the back wall, which workers have used to place a fan for ventilation. Presumably this cut-out will be the location of the back-lit Apple logo.

There is special paper covering over the left and right far walls. It's not clear what construction material the paper is covering, or what sections of the store are located there. Most likely it's the software and accessories section, however.

Lastly, it's pretty clear this store is very narrow, and not very deep. Using the door width, I calculate the retail floor space to be 15-feet wide, and about 24 feet deep, or about 432 square feet. Even if this calculation is somewhat off, it's still a small store! It makes you wonder how many employees and visitors could fit in this store at once, or what a grand opening event might look like! updated

[more info]

Interior view of an Apple mini-store showing the stainless steel wall material, fluorescent lights along the wall, and wood counter and shelving.

Detail of the mini-store wall, showing the stainless steel wall covering, in the same "G5" design as flagship stores--thousands of tiny holes in the metal. The fluorescent lights will presumably illuminate a translucent covering. In the upper left you can see the reflection in the ceiling material of horizontally-placed fluorescent bulbs which, again, will presumably be covered with a translucent material.