“On November 12, 2010, the Trademarks and Designs Registration Office of the European Union published Apple’s latest trademark application for ‘Premium Reseller’ under application 009512385,” Jack Purcher reports for Patently Apple.
“Apple has filed their trademark under seven extraordinarily detailed International Classes covering all manner of electronics including computers, smartphones, software, electronic games, downloadable content, telecommunications, printed materials, advertizing, education and technical services – but to mention a few,” Purcher reports. “Yet perhaps the bigger news is that this program appears to have been in the works for some time in the UK. Now that Apple is applying for the official ‘Premium Reseller’ trademark, it may be signaling that this program is about to go Global.”
Purcher reports, “Local resellers signing up for the program will have distinctive retail stores that reflect Apple’s own standards and services. A few classic examples of an Apple Premium Reseller include England’s ATcomputer and Solutions Inc. – as well as macstudio out of Kuala Lumpur.”
Read more in the full article here.
Macstudio in Kuala Lumpur is a beautiful piece of work. Boo yah!
Apple has two stores in my area and the old local guys are struggling. I don’t know if Apple just sets guidelines or works with local Apple stores eg. loans to them to spruce up their stores. I hope that the plan is fair because the local guys need the boost for sticking with Apple in the lean years.
My store in Chester is fookin’ brill. That’s Chester UK btw
The biggest and fanciest Premium Reseller in Europe and the Middle East is ‘iDigital’ in Israel. They even have their own ‘genius bar’ which I’m part of…
I smell a rat. This is setting up the Apple Stores to be sold off, sometime down the road. Apple has the sales without the headaches of retail.
I’ve seen iPads on display in Wal-Mart. Wonder if they have a parallel program going on there, maybe sub-Premium Reseller, or Very Average Reseller?
To be fair, I overheard a WM employee explaining the different choices among mp3 players, including iPods, and he did a pretty good job, without expressing whatever his personal biases might have been. Slamming WM is just a game. But I still can’t imagine their Genius Bar.
Australia has had “Premium Resellers” for quite a few years, a replacement for the “AppleCentre” program which stopped after Apple started opening their own stores.
We have had Premium Reseller’s for years. It is already global. Apple just wan’ts to make sure that everything is covered.
Since the topic of Walmart and iPods arose, I’ll share my experiences.
My local Walmart pushes non-iPod mp3 players. The employees have been trained to sell them by the spec sheet, not by user experience. “This mp3 player has just as many gigglebites as the iPod and is twenty dollars cheaper!” or “This model as double the ‘GB’s for the same price!”. Many of their “marks” are clueless parents, easily bamboozled by the “numbers” game. They leave out the fact that you’ll have a wretched experience with the off-brand, knock-off management software.
Let’s face it … iPods are cool. Polaroid MP3 players are not. All the kids know it’s a cheap facsimile of the “real” thing. I try to give these parents my biased opinion. A 2GB iPod is a MUCH better gift than a 4GB craptastic MP3 player. Besides, isn’t Polaroid famous for those devices that do cave paintings???
Let’s face it … WalMart employees sell based on price. They sell the cheapest product. quality be damned.