Apple Retail

Update: AllThingsD got its hands on some better images (above) and a statement from Apple on the new store (below):

“We’re thrilled to be working with the city of San Francisco on a new Apple retail store at Union Square…. Our store on Stockton Street has welcomed over 13 million customers since it opened nine years ago, and we look forward to serving them in an amazing new location when this project is complete.”

San Francisco Chronicle reports today that Apple has now submitted plans to open a new store in San Francisco’s Union Square. The new location would apparently replace Apple’s old retail location just a few streets away at Stockton and Ellis.

The new building is said to give Apple around 45% more space than its old San Fran retail location and will apparently occupy a building formerly home to Levi’s in Union Square at Stockton and Post Streets.

Apple thinks it will add about 50 jobs on top of the 350 it employees at its current Stockton street location:
Expand
Expanding
Close

The New York Post reports that the flagship Fifth Avenue Apple Store in Manhattan was flooded following heavy rain in the city this morning due to a leak in the retail store’s roof. The flood apparently began shortly after opening at approximately 8 a.m while around 15 customers were shopping in the store. According to reports from NY Post, employees blamed construction completed on the location last year for the leak:
Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple has announced that it’s opening a new store in Melbourne on Saturday, based in the Highpoint Shopping Centre in the western suburbs. While the company already has five stores in the State of Victoria, this is the first in Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city …
Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple has updated its official China website homepage to offer its respect and sympathy following the disastrous earthquake that has affected the country over the past few days.

The acknowledgement present on Apple’s site reads as follows:

Our deepest condolences to those who were taken away by the Sichuan Yaan earthquake, and respect to all the rescuers. May those who have passed away rest in peace, and may the survivors stay strong.

The company has also offered a statement that pledges cash donations and new Apple devices to help schools that have been affected:

In this difficult time our hearts are with the Sichuan earthquake victims. In addition to cash donations to help the victims ride out the storm, we will also commit to donating brand new Apple equipment to some of the schools in the affected region, and the local Apple staff will be on standby to provide support.

A render by Foster + Partners of Apple’s soon to be constructed Spaceship campus

Following a report earlier this month that Apple’s Spaceship campus project had increased to nearly $5B as lead architect Foster + Partners attempted to trim around a billion from the budget, a new report today claims Apple is now working with the architecture company on other projects. Marketingmagazine claims “sources close to the project” say Foster will soon be assisting Apple with the design of its retail stores:
Expand
Expanding
Close

Photo: Josh Lowensohn/CNET

Cory Moll, an Apple retail employee who founded an unofficial union for Apple Store staff, is leaving the company tomorrow, having apparently resigned.

Moll founded the ‘Apple Workers Union’ as a Facebook page and now-defunct website, describing it as “a movement of empowerment to bring change and improvement of working conditions to Apple’s retail stores” in response to what some employees felt to be low pay and limited opportunity for advancement.

Moll tweeted earlier today  that tomorrow would be his final day. In an email to 9to5Mac and others, he said:
Expand
Expanding
Close

We’re all discussing this here and wondered what the wider Apple community thinks.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Former Apple Retail Chief Ron Johnson is out at JCPenney after his radical retail redesign failed to ignite sales in the same manner in which Apple Stores had grown accustomed. Ron Johnson left Apple in 2011 for the JCP job after a decade at Apple.  He helped design the original Apple Store concept after being lured away from Target by Apple CEO Steve Jobs. He pioneered concepts like the Genius Bar which was unheard of at the time but still a growing trend in the industry.

We know more than a few folks who would like to see him back at Apple which meanwhile has found him difficult to replace. One such attempt was the hiring and subsequent firing of John Browett, a former Dixon’s UK CEO.

Johnson continued to live in the Bay area during his stint at JCP commuting to Plano Texas via Jet so…

BREAKING: Ron Johnson out as J.C. Penney CEO – source • $JCP QUOTE: http://t.co/aP20vqeZqF

— CNBC (@CNBC) April 8, 2013

JC Penny CEO inventory apparently out of stock.

— M.G. Siegler (@mgsiegler) April 8, 2013

I'd rather see a guy fail like Ron Johnson did any day compared with all the corporate drones who just play it safe all day long.

— Adam Lashinsky (@adamlashinsky) April 8, 2013

J. C. Penney appoints Myron E. (Mike) Ullman, III as CEO succeeding Ron Johnson #breaking

— Reuters Business (@ReutersBiz) April 8, 2013

We’ve reached out to JCP and Apple for comment and will update as appropriate. Press release follows:

Expand
Expanding
Close

The Economic Times reported that Apple plans to triple the number of Apple-exclusive franchise stores in India from 65 to 200 by 2015, but the country still won’t see any official Apple Stores.

Government regulations mean that branded stores must source 30 percent of their stock from Indian companies, something Apple’s yet unable to do. It instead sells via franchisees who operate under their own brands, though generally emulating the look and feel of official stores to some degree …
Expand
Expanding
Close

We have some exciting 9to5Toys.com announcements for our US readers today.

1. We’ve teamed up with Stack Social to launch Specials.9to5toys.com which will feature new software and hardware specials for Apple ecosystem folks every day. Some examples:

• The $49.99 Spring 2013 Mac Bundle (including $99 Toast 11!)
• The Name Your Own Price Indie Gamer Bundle
• Amazing Photo Editing w/ PhotoDirector 4 Ultra
• BodyGuardz Bumps w/ Mic + Free Shipping

2. Specials will headline our new 1 minute Daily Deals Aggregator. This is one of the tools the 9to5Toys Team uses to scout out the best deals on the web. Now we’re releasing it to the public.

Every Day, you get the best 36 retail Daily Deals on the net including: Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, Target, MacMall, MacConnection, Woot, 1SaleaDay, Sears, NewEgg, eBay, Apple Refurbs and many others. The page gets updated every hour and is super-cached  for speedy browsing. Checking all 36 Daily Deals only takes a minute using the ^ and v arrow keys.

Bookmark the 1 Minute Daily Deals page now and you are guaranteed to save some money.

3. To celebrate the launch, we’re teaming up with AT&T to offer 3 of new $99 OtterBox Armor Series iPhone 5 cases in White, Black and Gray. We will award one on each of the three major social platforms: FACEBOOK, TWITTER and GOOGLE+. Just Follow/Like/Circle 9to5Toys (if you haven’t already) and Tweet/Like/+1 this post to enter. We’ll pick winners on Monday.

Speaking of contests, our $49.99 Parallels 8 Bundle (expires this weekend, details below) winners were picked; congrats to Robert, Tyler and TK!
Expand
Expanding
Close

We told you last month that shipping times for Apple’s new 21.5-inch iMacs slipped from an estimated delivery of 7 to 10 business days to 2 to 3 weeks. Today, iMacs are continuing to experience supply shortages with shipping times on many international Apple Stores once again pushed back. As noted by French language blog macg.co, Apple’s online store is now listing the 21.5-inch iMac as shipping in 3 to 4 weeks and the 27-inch model as available in 4 to 6 weeks in at least France. While Apple has yet to update its U.S. website with the new shipping times, Apple stores in Germany, the United Kingdom, Poland, the Netherlands, and many other European Union countries are now listing the longer wait times for new iMacs.

We heard that Apple expects to reach a supply and demand balance for the new iMacs (and iPad mini) within the next couple of months, but CEO Tim Cook recently noted that supply constraints will most likely continue into Q1. The same thing goes for Apple’s new iPad mini that, as of this week, is now shipping with an improved delivery time of 1 to 3 business days in at least the U.S. and Canada:

Expand
Expanding
Close

We just looked at the latest range of audio accessories from Griffin, and now well-known accessory maker Belkin is showing off a new audio product for CES 2013: The Belkin Thunderstorm Handheld Home Theater. Available starting this month on the Apple Store, the otherwise traditional-looking iPad case packs in front-facing ported speakers, thanks to a little help from Audifi, and doubles as a stand with various angles.

The case works as a dock, meaning Belkin will release two models to accommodate for both 30-pin and Lightning connectors. Belkin is also making a free companion app available that will allow users to customize sound profiles for different types of media. The Thunderstorm app isn’t available yet in the App Store, but it should début alongside the 30-pin version of the Thunderstorm Handheld Home Theater case sometime this month. A lightning-compatible version of the dock will become available in the spring. Both models will sell for $199.99 from Amazon, the Apple Store, and additional retailers.

We’ll bring you full hands-on from the CES show floor shortly.

Update: We had a chance to listen to the product on a loud crowd floor. While the sound was definitely a significant improvement over the built-in iPad capability, it was a little tinny/thin and didn’t add as much base as we would have liked.  We’ll have more when we get some hands-on time later.

Updated Gallery below:
Expand
Expanding
Close