![]() ![]() It shines warmly at night a meditative beacon against the skyful of flashing lights. The first-of-its-kind glass-stone-composite comprises five layers of glass integrated with incredibly thin stone layers, which gives the building its distinctive stained glass-like materiality. Apple Cotai Central diverts through its use of a new form of ‘translucent stone’, which spans the facade. The material palette remains consistent with the now ingrained global Apple store aesthetic – think great swathes of glass, grey stone, concrete – while continuing Foster + Partners commitment to making each store unique, and specific to its locality. ‘The design creates two distinct spaces, one inside and one outside, imbued with a sense of authentic beauty arising from the innovative use of natural materials.’ And, at present, it’s getting an upgrade.‘We wanted to create something very simple and pure – a beautiful and elegant building that complements the sounds, sights and colours of Macau, while embodying a sense of clarity and quietude,’ explains Stefan Behling, head of studio, Foster + Partners. And, while I still make it to the Tysons Corner store occasionally, the closer Clarendon, Virginia Apple Store has become “my store.” I’ve waited in many launch lines there. I still have a Tysons Corner Apple t-shirt we were given on the shelf, tucked away in its plastic tube (and I’m wearing the other one I brought home in the photo below, taken in Sedona, AZ in Oct 2001). I am glad to have had the opportunity to be part of that opening day and it has been kind of amazing watching the company’s retail growth in the decade and a half that followed. Or watching Steve Ballmer utterly write off the iPhone as any sort of competition to Microsoft’s mobile efforts.Īs someone who covered Apple news back then and for years afterword, the opening of those retail stores was an exciting time. (There are presently six Apple Stores within 15 miles of my house.) Looking at such opinions on Apple’s bold move into retail is reminiscent of reading “ Thread 500,” spawned by my brief MacRumors post marking the launch of the iPod. Well, we’ve all seen how things turned out for Apple and its entry into retail. Maybe it’s time Steve Jobs stopped thinking quite so differently. “I give them two years before they’re turning out the lights on a very painful and expensive mistake,” says Goldstein. Then there’s the cost of construction, hiring experienced staff. Gateway does about $8 million annually at each of its Country Stores. Since PC retailing gross margins are normally 10% or less, Apple would have to sell $12 million a year per store to pay for the space. Goldstein, president of researcher Channel Marketing Corp. Given the decision to set up shop in high-rent districts in Manhattan, Boston, Chicago, and Jobs’s hometown of Palo Alto, Calif., the leases for Apple’s stores could cost $1.2 million a year each, says David A. Rather than unveil a Velveeta Mac, Jobs thinks he can do a better job than experienced retailers at moving the beluga. Gripes former Chief Financial Officer Joseph Graziano. ![]() “Apple’s problem is it still believes the way to grow is serving caviar in a world that seems pretty content with cheese and crackers.” ![]() And his perfectionist attention to aesthetics has resulted in beautiful but pricey products with limited appeal outside the faithful: Apple’s market share is a measly 2.8%. ![]() Jobs’s focus on selling just a few consumer Macs has helped boost profits, but it is keeping Apple from exploring potential new markets. But even if they attain a measure of success, few outsiders think new stores, no matter how well-conceived, will get Apple back on the hot-growth path. The way Jobs sees it, the stores look to be a sure thing. Within, various sources prognosticated failure and doom for Apple’s excursion into retail. Apple Stores are a huge success and contributed in no small part to moving Apple from “beleaguered” to “most valuable company on earth.” On the opening day, however, there were plenty of doubters.īloomberg ran a piece on May 21, 2001, entitled Commentary: Sorry, Steve: Here’s Why Apple Stores Won’t Work. By the end of 2001, Apple opened 25 more stores within the U.S., and here 15 years later, there are presently 478 retail stores worldwide, across 17 countries (268 of them are within the U.S.). ![]()
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