“I love my Apples but I hate going to Apple stores,” Mark Sunshine writes for Forbes. “The store near me is overcrowded, noisy and delivers crummy customer service. The problem with Apple is that it sells a lot of iPhones, iPads and computers but didn’t build enough retail infrastructure for acceptable customer and warranty service.”
“In Boca Raton, Fla., where I live, the Apple store is located in the mall. When I first moved to Florida, it was one of the first retail stores I visited. No, it wasn’t because I was going to purchase anything. It was just that back in the good old days of 2005, I thought it was kind of fun to go to the Apple store. It wasn’t overcrowded and there were cool new gadgets to play with. The Apple store was the place to be,” Sunshine writes. “Today, things are different. What was an excellent store seven years ago is woefully inadequate today. In 2005 the store had a positive buzz, now it has negative karma. It is just too small and too crowded. The store is just a noisy and stuffy unpleasant space.”
Sunshine writes, “Between October 2011 and October 2012, Apple posted aggregate sales of $156 billion. That represents more than 10 times the amount of sales compared to 2005. However, Apple only has three times the number of stores it operated in 2005. Ten times the amount of sales being serviced by three times the number of stores. Should anyone be surprised that this formula does not work? …Customer loyalty is hard to come by but easy to squander. It took 5 years before I gave the iPhone a try and only two days of problems before I started thinking about buying another brand.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple Retail Stores need to delight customers or the golden goose is – ahem – Cooked. Apple’s next retail chief has a very, very important job. The retail stores are the public face of Apple. Spend lavishly, Apple. Don’t be cheapskate Browettizers.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “JayinDC” for the heads up.]
Went to my local Apple store in the mall and found that in two weeks since my last visit it was closed. I went and read the sign and found it moved to a new location in the same mall with more that twice the size and staff. It’s located near Tiffany.
We have nothing to complain about in Baltimore.
Now if they would do that for the Annapolis store…
That place is so loud and crowded I avoid it.
I live in Manchester UK. The city centre Apple Store (Arndale) was old and far too small to cope with customer demand, but it moved to a temporary store and has just reopened having more than doubled in size. Apple chooses to place their stores in prime locations where cost and demand for space are high. I’m sure they are expanding them as quickly as they can, but in city centre locations it’s not just about cost, you need the space to become available too.
I don’t mind a busy store, I just abhor an extremely noisy, crowded store. Every visit to the Apple Store at the Annapolis mall is painful, it is so crowded and loud. Most I feel are there to play with rather than purchase (no problem with that, just noticing). I always make an appointment online, do my business, then get the hell out. The employees are quite helpful and friendly despite the crowd, though.
Rubbish! Any Apple store I go to is perfectly fine and everyone I take to an Apple store at any time has a great experience with excellent, prompt, pleasant service.
I agree that it has become much popular then it has since 2005. The customer service is actually really great because you need to book an appointment to get help with your product. Unless you are planning to buy something then you have to wait in line. Due that Apple has grown so much people should expect stores to be crowded. It takes time to plan to build another store to make another less crowded. There are so many steps that it takes years to plan about building a store to the point it is open to the public. I think that because it is so popular i dont expect it to be not busy or overcrowded and i will definitely not go to another brand.
The beleaguered United States is also in dire need for competent leadership.
Heil Obama, the anointed Muslim man-child.
The beleaguered Ubermac is in dire need of therapy and new material.
Heil Ubermac, the newly appointed MDN chief political troll.
(what happened, F10T12 pass you the baton after 8 years of failed predictions?)
Yes. Yogi Berra once said about a restaurant “Nobody ever goes there. It’s too crowded.”
The Boca Raton Apple store in mentioned in this article is being replaced TODAY by a store over twice the size of the existing one. It opens at 10am Saturday 11/10. It is directly across the corridor from current location. I walk by this store everyday and agree that it became grossly inadequate to handle the volume of customers. Obviously Apple was aware of, and addressed it. Can’t wait to see the new store!