“Four years ago, I took my kids to Amsterdam. After a long day of touring museums and canals, they started to whine. Then I hit upon the perfect bribe: look, there’s the Apple store,” Brooke Masters reports for The Financial Times. “After half an hour of playing with iPads, iMacs and iPhones, they were all smiles as we walked back to the hotel.”
“Their enthusiasm helps illustrate why Apple stores are generally considered the world’s most successful,” Masters reports. “Their glass walls and wooden tables full of gadgets generate far more sales per square foot than any big retail competitor.”
“This brings us to Thursday’s launch of Angela Ahrendts’ new vision for the company’s retail outlets,” Masters reports. “The former Burberry chief executive, who was given a stock grant worth up to $68m on her arrival at the tech group, has spent the past two years rethinking its offering as its product range changes. The result, unveiled in San Francisco on the 15th anniversary of the first Apple store opening, will be rolled out across many of the group’s 400 stores in 18 countries.”
“Mostly, her vision seems to involve even bigger glass doors and lots of plants. Every flagship store will have outdoor space — in San Francisco, the greenery-lined square will feature free WiFi and acoustic musicians on weekends. The Genius Bar, where customers go for help with technical issues, has been replaced by a Genius Grove stocked with trees and more space for people to sit while they wait,” Masters reports. “The jargon is a bit sickening, but this probably reflects a sensible effort by the company to broaden its offerings with revenue from iPhones falling.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Revenue from iPhone is not falling, save for one “tough compare” quarter pitting a non-must-have iPhone 6s (the way-past-its-prime idea of off-year “S” models must die) vs. the blockbuster record sales of iPhone 6.
As for the redesigned retail stores and their stolen-from-80s-mall-concourses potted trees: Meh.
“Genius Grove?” Seriously? (“Hey, how ’bout ‘Genius Grotto?’ Nah, too Playboy. ‘Genius Oasis?’ Nope, too, uh, bandish. Alright, let’s go with ‘grove’ because ‘genius’ also starts with a ‘g’ and because, you know: Trees.”) We’d hate to see Apple’s full list of rejected naming ideas.
SEE ALSO:
Apple’s new San Francisco retail store showcases Jony Ive’s design vision – May 20, 2016
Angela Ahrendts brings luxury to Apple’s flagship stores – May 19, 2016
Apple’s new Union Square store highlights new retail elements, including ‘Genius Grove,’ ‘The Forum,’ and more – May 19, 2016