Apple Computer, Inc. will introduce new design features at its retail stores later this month.
“‘It’s an upgrade,’ Ron Johnson, senior vice president of retail at Apple Computer Inc. told those attending ThinkEquity Partners’ investment conference Wednesday in San Francisco,” The San Francisco Business Times reports.
“The new design features will draw from Apple’s new Fifth Avenue store… The new elements will be unveiled Sept. 23 at new stores in Providence, R.I. and Columbia, Md.,” The San Francisco Business Times reports. “The Apple Store is the nation’s fastest growing retailer, opening a new store every nine days. The company expects to open 40 stores annually for the foreseeable future, Johnson said.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “jendensam” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Note: Apple has opened 161 stores since 2001. Complete list of Apple Retail Stores here.
Related article:
Apple retail chief Johnson to speak to analysts on September 12th – September 07, 2006
I hope one of those 40 stores will be near me.
What about the fisrt mafiasoft store? How is it going? Anybody?
kaekae, I’m with you, I hope one is near me, I’m still 200 miles + from the closest store, then again, the edge of the planet is only a few miles away.
At a steady rate of 40 stores a year, that bodes well for Apple stock. The stores should keep the revenue growth going at a very healthy rate.
DAMN IT!!! Why the hells it gotta be on a Saturday. I work in Columbia, MD and was all excited about it. I’m usually in DC for the weekends though. I would say I could get up and drive the 30min. in the morning for the opening, but weekend mornings aren’t so good for me.
How long does Apple need until they stop ignoring the huge amount of money waiting for them in Europe? Regent St. is great, but there are other places y’know. And what about the iTMS setup, what makes it so hard to launch these videos or TV shows in other countries? If there would be a slight delay of 4-8 weeks depending on country I could understand the issue but this delay starts to look more like either ignorance or incompetence.
Apple retail store sales people are generally great, but last night I saw retailing “crime” being committed at an Apple retail store.
An elderly lady, clearly without much knowledge of Apple or tech. but very pleasant and well-meaning, came in to the store and asked if the sales person could show her some accessories to purchase for her niece’s iPod. The sales person, in a terrible bored tone and with half-closed eyelids, waived her hand at the store wall and said: “Well, all we have is up there, and all we have is skins.” Then she said I’ll be back and walked away for a few minutes. The customer didn’t want to buy a skin and looked lost, so I pointed out (nicely) that the saleswoman was wrong and they did have some other accessories on the wall, including the earphones with the remote and FM tuner. I also mentioned that she could buy a song gift certificate on iTunes that her daughter would no doubt appreciate because she could buy whatever songs she liked. At this point, the saleswoman returned and the customer asked her about the song gift certificate. The saleswoman responded that iTunes songs were $1.99, which struck the customer as fairly expensive. I couldn’t restrain myself and pointed out that iTunes songs were only $.99. Then the idiot saleswoman adopted a nasty tone and insisted that I was wrong because on Tuesday, Apple had just introduced the “jukebox” and that my information was outdated. At that point, I just told the customer that iTunes songs were still, in fact, $.99 and walked away. If I hadn’t walked away, I would probably have just lost it.
Jake
P.S. This was at the Bethesda, MD, min-store.
(REPOSTED FROM A DIFFERENT, LESS RELEVANT, THREAD)
rosco:
PACT, the trade body that represents tv show producers only reached a deal to allow downloads late last month. Before then, it was a complete mess. This made the news and was picked up quite widely because it effectively paves the way for Apple and other retailers to provide shows for download in the UK. Maybe you missed that.
Oh, and there was a very low-key event yesterday where a certain Steve Jobs said that TV shows and movies would be on international stores early 2007, so we have a timetable Maybe you missed that too.
The rights have been sorted out, but the main issue now seems to be pricing. If waiting a little longer means that we get a cheaper deal to balance out the use of DRM, then I’m happy to wait a little longer.
And it’s the iTunes Store, not the iTunes Music Store (iTMS).
Apple isn’t ignoring you, although I wouldn’t blame them given your uninformed whining.
As I don’t like being completely negative, I must say that you are right about Regent Street being great.
Hey An Apple Retail Experience,
You should’ve reported the saleswoman to the store manager. Us shareholders don’t need no crappy salespeople with bad attitudes screwing up and costing Apple sales.
Europe does not make things easy for Apple as the EU, though ostensibly one big economic area, is really lots of little small areas with different regulations and contracts. Each country in Europe retains a lot more control than the states do in America. So given the return on investment, I can see Apple focusing on the US first with its limited resources.
France and the Nordic countries are also causing troubles for Apple, which serves to reduce the incentive to do anything there. When you’re thinking about leaving, why bother investing more?
I actually think Jobs going to San Francisco instead of Paris was a slap in the face to France. And the slowness of opening any retail space in Paris is along the same lines.
That said, Apple is expanding rapidly in the UK since the UK has greater independence legally and economically from the EU.
You’re right, Jones.
I was too stunned by her incompetence to think clearly. I should have thought about my own Apple stock!
Jake,
I too have seen this, but from the Fry’s. They have an Apple isle and the sales people there aren’t very attentive or clear in explaining things.
I’ve stepped up twice to help. I do it for their sake and a bit of Apple pride…and for the few shares I own… in that order.
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M.A.D.
Crapola salespeople need to be reported — fast — before rot sets in, otherwise Apple ends up like all the others.
Pleased to say my UK sales experiences have been pretty good, especially from the guys in the Birmingham store.
Alex, let me guess -you’re a teacher, right?