Apple Retail

Apple’s Senior Vice President of Retail Angela Ahrendts sat down for a 25-minute plus interview at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit last night and during the appearance shared some interesting upcoming retail news for the company.

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[Update: Additional details below the fold.]

I suggested last week that Apple’s apparent move to remove security tethers from demo devices in its retail stores likely wasn’t too risky thanks to a range of hidden security measures, and we’ve been hearing a little detail on how some of these work.

Apple has long had special OS images for demo devices. You can’t, for example, set a passcode on a iOS device and then lock it, and Macs revert to their original state after a reboot.

Apple regularly tweaks these images. For example, at one time you could go into Safari and change the homepage to any site you liked; there’s now a lock-out to prevent this.

One security feature on the current display models of both iOS devices and Macs is designed to instantly render them useless if someone removes them from the store …

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Update: Apple says its investigation has found no evidence of ‘inappropriate data transfers’ of photos from customer phones – via CNET.

An Apple Store in Australia is under fire for accusations of employees stealing personal images from the phones of customers, as well as taking images of female customers and female staff without their knowledge. The employees then used the images to “rank their bodies” from 1 to 10.

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Apple today officially opened its first retail store in Mexico. The store is located in Vía Santa Fe and marks the “first time customers in Mexico City can experience all of Apple’s products and services in one place.” Apple shared images from the grand opening experience this evening in a news release…

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The rivalry between Apple and Samsung may be about to intensify: the WSJ reports that the iPhone maker is considering opening up an Apple Store very close to Samsung’s HQ in Seoul, South Korea. Perhaps very close indeed!

Apple looked at sites across the street from the Samsung ’s longtime headquarters in Seoul, according to people familiar with the matter.

The move could be a very smart one for Apple …

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Apple is no stranger to flagship retail locations and according to a recent report, Washington D.C. is next on the docket to receive one. The Washington Post reports that Apple has proposed opening a flagship “store and events center” within the Carnegie Library in Mount Vernon Square.

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Updated with corrected & expanded hierarchies, and more detail on the Creative Pro role. Thanks to J for the additional info.

Apple is complementing its redesigned and renamed Apple Stores with changes to the staffing roles, according to sources. We first heard last week that the changes would be announced on Sunday, along with a new credo.

Hearing that there is a big deal Apple Retail Store meeting Sunday. Details coming soon to @9to5mac #credo

— Seth Weintraub (@llsethj) August 17, 2016

Three new positions are being introduced as of February 2017, while other roles are being renamed …

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Austrian newspaper derStandard is reporting that Apple is close to finalizing contracts to open its first Apple Store in the country, on the upmarket shopping street Kärntner Straße in Vienna. Kärntner Straße (shown below) is described as ‘a magnet for international brands,’ with most major retail chains having a presence there.

The company is said to be taking over the flagship premises occupied by fashion company Esprit …

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Image via Rich Brome/Twitter

The World Trade Center Apple Store opens tomorrow at noon in Santiago Calatrava‘s Oculus terminal.  But some are getting a sneak peak at the store this evening according to a couple of our tipsters who work in the area.

https://twitter.com/fcs132/status/765313492220076032

We first saw building permits 6 months ago on the site which was conceived 2 years ago.  The Oculus store was designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson which also was the design architect for close to 60 Apple Stores worldwide and the six other Apple Stores in Manhattan including SoHo (the first high profile store), Fourteenth Street (Meatpacking District), (iconic cube entrance) Fifth Avenue, Upper West Side, Upper East Side, and Williamsburg (Brooklyn).

Many more close up images from passersby follow:

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Apple has released a new version of its Apple Store app for iPhone and iPad with a new app icon included. Features include recommendations based on which Apple devices you own, better in-store alerts, and when favorited products are available in stores you’re visiting.

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I’ve always imagined that working in an Apple Store is one of those jobs where you see it all, and a Thrillist interview with three anonymous staff members confirms that – rather literally.

The stuff that would pop up on people’s computers when we would do a data migration… when the photos imported into iPhoto, it would flash each photo on the screen as it was importing. So. Many. ****. Pics. Some things just can’t be unseen.

Not all of the stories they tell sound quite as credible, but one of them did have a great tip if you’re looking to get a free replacement for a damaged product without AppleCare Plus …

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In a report by Bloomberg, Apple is said to be preparing an update to its iOS Apple Store app, where customers can buy Apple’s hardware and accessories online. The new update will feature recommendations for suggested purchases, in a new ‘For You’ tab (mirroring Apple Music).

The privacy implications of the move are unclear; Apple will use a customer’s purchase history to suggest additional relevant products for them to buy, a tactic already heralded by most other online stores like Amazon. For example, if a user buys a set of Philips Hue lightbulbs, the app may also suggest adding other smart lighting HomeKit products to their cart, from the same range as well as other brands like the Lutron light systems, for instance.

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The first Apple Store in Singapore looks set to open in November, according to a construction works plate on the site. The plate says that the anticipated completion date of the additions and alterations to the building is 31st October, suggesting that it is likely to open sometime the following month …

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Six New York residents were charged today after authorities discovered they were attempting to make fraudulent purchases at various Apple retail locations in the Chicago area. According to the Chicago Tribune, the six people were charged in “an organized criminal enterprise.”

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Earlier this week 9to5Mac reader Matthew shared that the scaffolding has come down around the anticipated location of the first Brooklyn Apple Store, and today Apple has updated its website with official grand opening details. The Williamsburg Apple Store opens next Saturday on July 30th at 10am local time. The latest New York City location can be found at 247 Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn.

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We’ve been hearing conflicting reports on whether or not Apple will be allowed to open retail stores in India ever since Tim Cook met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi last September. A new Bloomberg report suggests that Modi may be about to finally give the go-ahead.

While India is currently a very small market for Apple, Cook has repeatedly described the country as the next China. The huge population and growing middle-class means that India has enormous future potential for Apple, but a law has so far prevented the company from opening official Apple Stores there …

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