“Apple is finalising plans to build its first official retail stores in Australia, with at least one set for Sydney,” Asher Moses reports for The Age.
Moses reports, “Recent media reports have suggested the iPod maker is also planning to open a shopfront in Melbourne, but the company would not confirm or deny this.”
“‘We have submitted concepts for the store we’d like to build in Sydney and are working with the city to gain their approval,” Apple spokesman John Marx said,” Moses reports. “‘Our stores are a huge hit in the US, Canada, UK and Japan, and we look forward to bringing the unique Apple retail experience to customers in Australia.'”
Moses reports, “Apple has opened more than 170 retail stores worldwide, most of which are located in the US, although there are seven stores in Britain, four in Canada and seven in Japan.”
“It was not clear where Apple’s Sydney store would be located or if it would offer a similarly unique design, but a report in a Melbourne newspaper yesterday said Apple had leased space in a ‘multi-level retail centre being developed at a former Westpac site on the corner of George and King streets,'” Moses reports. “Apple products have been sold in Australia through the company’s own online store and through authorised resellers.”
Full article here.
Unionized no doubt.
Or in Oz -unionised.
Holy tiger toast, Batman!
Did anyone else get the Apple Developer announcement for WWDC? Did you notice the artwork was very reminiscent of time machine?
Just something to think about.
@ anaknipedro,
yeh I got that mail this morning, it made me chuckle, and it also made me think…
Leopard release at WWDC?
Seems no-one cares.
I got the WWDC announcement. Looks like a strong hint for a Leopard release the week of June 11th to me. That’s still spring.
Also, this photo on the developer’s page reminds me of a famous Super Bowl ad from the early mid-80s:
. . . and they are all thinking “wow”?
“He added that there are things traditional resellers can “do better” than an official Apple store, such as offer a more extensive range of third-party products.”
That is true. I’ve always seen other computer stores in the area which sell Apple products as complimentary (full disclosure – we only have an Apple “mini” store in our city). But even when visiting the full size stores, they tend not to carry the breadth of third party accessories. That’s the message I give to our local Circuit City employees ever time I visit the store. (Yeah I know it will be a corporate decision and they are currently evaluating whether or not to work with Apple. But I figure positive reinforcement from the customer couldn’t hurt.)
Peace.
For all of us suffering to coldest pat of winter, the mention of Australia brings visions of warm beaches filled with bikini clad beauties. In case you are considering an app to work at a future Apple Store down under, here is a link to a site of interest.
http://blogs.smh.com.au/lifestyle/samandthecity/archives/2006/12/too_much_skin_o.html
No wonder the Aussies aren’t responding on this thread.
They’re enjoying summer on Bondi Beach chasing beautiful women in thongs.
“Apple’s stores are known for their clever, unique designs and appear to exist primarily to reinforce the company’s brand cachet.”
NOTHING could be further from the truth!
Apple’s stores annual sales per square foot is $4,032.
Best Buy $930
Neiman Marcus $611
Tiffany & Co. $2,666
To reinforce brand cachet rather than sell? Err, I don’t think so.
@ron
unionised? sadly, the ironically named “Liberal Party” of Australia which has been in government for some 11 years or so has done much to undermine the working conditions of Australians and, largely because of this, is now lagging in the polls and potentially at risk of losing the next election.
Apple will employ their own personnel for their stores, and they will invest heavily in training. Staff retention will be important to them and they will, no doubt, treat their staff well. Under suh circumstances is it unlikely that many Apple employees will belong to a union (it is not compulsory).
By contrast, the recent changes in employment law by the Australian government has created an opportunity for one company (Tristar) to keep 35 of their longest standing employees on the books for 12 months at which time they will be able to fire them without paying them any of their entitlements.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/tristar-investigated-over-employee-treatment/2007/02/01/1169919438552.html
The same company was forced by public pressure to pay a dying employee his proper retirement benefit just 2 days before he died. He had worked for the company for 43 years.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/tristar-investigated-over-employee-treatment/2007/02/01/1169919438552.html
We are a very fair-minded society in Australia and we don’t like to see anyone taken advantage of. Unions are an essential part of the political landscape here – some are irresponsible, but then some employers are irresponsible. The Tristar situation illustrates what lengths to which some employers will go to avoid doing the right thing by their employees.
Are Apple store employees well treated by Apple in the USA? If so, then expect the same for the Australian stores.
@Sydney Stephen
That is hands down the best written piece of writing I have seen here in a long time. Pity Ron’s (and every other troglodyte who surfs here) eyes will most likely glaze over after the fourth word and he will learn nothing, and the next time he has a chance to contribute something about australia it’ll be like “oz-unionised lol” again.
as for an aus apple store, the word nonchalant comes to mind.
and yes i am in Sydney
It’s now about 8:20 a.m. in Sydney and Melbourne. Now can you all figure out why there hasn’t been much response yet from Aussies? Zzzzzzzz…..
Did anyone else get the Apple Developer announcement for WWDC? Did you notice the artwork was very reminiscent of time machine?
Not just reminiscent, it’s straight out of Time Machine! I’m actually wondering if that “curved metal” will be the system-wide theme
Well this is an interesting development. Wonder what’s going through the minds of certain Apple Resellers this morning as they sit down to tuck into their bowl of cereal…
Bet the first word is ‘Streuth!’ (or maybe on second thoughts, it is ‘Crikey!’)
its about bloody time too 😀
i’m sick of being treated like crap by the resellers.
i hope the one for melbourne comes through.
I’m in Tassie (the little island bit down the bottom of Australia). We have a Apple shop? It says Apple out the front and sells only Apple stuff (with the exception of printers and scanners and the like). How is this different ftom an ‘official’ Apple shop. It’s not quite a glass cube but it’s still a shop/store.
Garry, you Taswegians truly live sheltered lives if you don’t know the difference between an Apple reseller and an Apple-owned retail experience. Your education starts here!
Connor MacBook, are you even Australian? It’s Tasmanian not Taswegians!
Nobody really cares about Apple stores because there are already plenty of mac resellers and retailers such as nextbyte etc. So Apple bringing stores to Australia isn’t such a big deal, they’ll just look better.
Nextbyte is crap, theres one at Broadway in Sydney and theres only one guy there that is good enough to represent Apple in my opinion. The others are all up themselves and rude.
I cant wait until Apple brings there store to Sydney ill definitely be there when they first open the doors
macslash, I believe Taswegian is a cheeky slang term…
It can be
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”grin” style=”border:0;” />, maybe they should make their own country, he he he. And SydneyGuy, one store of NextByte’s ‘franchise’ does not account for the rest of the countries stores, here in Perth i’ve found the staff to be friendly and quite helpful. Then again, you do live in Sydney so no suprises really.