Apple Stores

When the online Apple Store is down, that usually means the company is adding new products – but this time it’s likely just a technical glitch.

The store has twice been replaced today with the message the company displays as it preps new products for sale …

A day ahead of the official opening, Apple Saket photos have been shared by the Cupertino company. This will be the second retail store in India, opening just two days after the spectacular Apple BKC.

CEO Tim Cook yesterday opened Apple BKC in Mumbai, and will likely do the same at Apple Saket in New Delhi. Sadly, this one looks far less impressive …

Photos and video clips have been shared of Tim Cook opening the Apple BKC store in Mumbai earlier today – including his surprised and delighted look when a customer turned up with an early Macintosh. Update: Apple’s official photos added to the end of the post.

Apple yesterday showed off the store in a set of photos, and it’s definitely high up there in the rankings of the most beautiful Apple Stores …

There’s been a very long wait for the first Apple Store in India, as the company worked on negotiating and meeting the government conditions for opening a single-brand store – but the Apple BKC store finally opens tomorrow.

Apple has now previewed the store ahead of its official opening, and it looks absolutely stunning …

Ahead of the opening of the first Apple Stores in India, it’s being reported that Apple banned 22 competing brands from an “exclusive zone” around the store. These brands include Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Twitter.

The iPhone maker used a clause in the mall lease agreement to ban these brands not just from opening stores in the zone, but even from buying ad space there …

Apple is about to open its first retail store in India. After multiple delays, a recent report revealed that the Apple Store located in Mumbai is expected to open later this month. Ahead of the opening day, Apple has shared the first image of the store’s barricade, as well as a special wallpaper to celebrate the occasion.

A few preview photos of the latest Apple Store have been shared, ahead of the opening of Apple Gangnam on Friday, March 31. It will be Apple’s fourth store in South Korea.

The new store features what Apple says is a unique facade that changes in appearance across the course of the day, and across seasons …

A union has alleged that five Apple Store workers were illegally fired, in retaliation for their union-related activities. Formal charges have been filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) – which are in addition to those already filed against Apple for other forms of union-busting.

The Communications Workers of America says that while the official reasons for the firing were attendance-related, this was simply a pretext. In one example, a union activist was subjected to disciplinary proceedings for being an average of one minute late on three occasions …

A “historic” agreement has seen Apple recognize a union of UK Apple Store workers, some three months after staff voted in favor of unionizing. It happened just one day after the company appointed its first ever Chief People Officer.

Apple has signed a collective bargaining agreement which will see the company negotiate with the union over pay, shift patterns, and other working conditions …

Opening Indian Apple Stores has been high up Tim Cook’s to-do list since at least 2015, and after a huge number of challenges, setbacks, and delays, it looks like we will now finally see at least two major stores open this quarter. Hiring of retail staff is underway, with some applicants already announcing their successful appointments.

The step is a hugely important one for Apple, as it seeks to grow its business in a country whose population now rivals that of China, and which has a rapidly growing middle class …

Apple on Monday confirmed that it will soon open a new retail store in the huge American Dream shopping mall and entertainment complex in New Jersey. The store is expected to have the same design as the latest Apple Retail Stores and will open to the public later this week, starting December 3.

Update: The new store is now open to the public and located in Court D, Level 2 of American Dream.

Apple faces the prospect of a union busting lawsuit, over alleged illegal activities designed to persuade Apple retail staff to abandon plans to unionize. It follows two formal complaints about the company breaking the law in the US.

Union organizers are collecting information on anti-union moves in order to prepare a case. It comes shortly after staff at the St Louis Apple Store suspended unionization plans in the face of what was described as “increased hostility” toward workers …

The Apple Store unionization movement is showing no signs of slowing, with the Penn Square store in Oklahoma City the latest to seek to join a union.

Around 70% of staff have applied to join the Communications Workers of America union, and they say they are prepared for any union-busting tactics Apple may deploy …

After 9to5Mac reported this weekend that the NYC Apple Store employees started the process toward unionizing, it seems that a retail location in Atlanta will become the first in the U.S. to file a union election, per a report.

There are many things to love about Apple Stores.

The designs are great. Either funky and modern, with loads of glass and natural light, or a respectful yet contemporary conversion of a classical building.

You can freely play with the products, without any sales pressure. If you have questions, there will generally be someone who knows the answer …

Expand
Expanding
Close

A report from the Wall Street Journal today details Apple’s minuscule success in India with iPhone, specifically highlighting Amit Rajput, who runs a counter selling iPhones in the country with a population of over 1.3 billion. Rajput spoke on how one iPhone sale a day is considered ‘lucky’, with his coworkers at the Samsung, Oppo and Nokia counters selling well over ten devices daily.

The sales decline comes as a stark contrast to 2013, where Rajput recalled selling 80 iPhones per day. He says today, most Indian consumers don’t spend more than $300 on a smartphone — reducing Apple’s presence in the country dramatically.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple’s Michigan Avenue, Chicago flagship store has been officially put up for sale by its landlord, Walton Street Capital.

Expand
Expanding
Close

The giant screens that form part of the new Apple Store design created by Jony Ive reportedly cost $1.5M each.

We got out first look at the screens at the opening of the Brussels store in Belgium, as well as a tour of a mockup in December. We reported last September that Memphis would be one of the first U.S. stores to get the new design, and that store finally opened at the weekend at 2031 West Street in Germantown – but Albany Crossgates, NY, got there first earlier this year …

Expand
Expanding
Close

Mark Gurman revealed on Friday that Apple has introduced a new reward program designed to boost iPhone sales in Apple Stores.

The program’s goal is to push Apple retail employees to sell more iPhones by promising rewards and all-expense paid vacations to Cupertino, California to employees who sell the most iPhones in their region, according to sources.

I do, of course, recognize the pressure Apple is under following flat iPhone sales last quarter and the company warning that its revenue will this quarter see its first ever year-on-year decline since 2003. But Tim Cook has himself repeatedly claimed that Apple focuses on making great products rather than sales numbers, repeating this line earlier this month.

Offering staff incentives to push iPhone sales strikes me as a mistake with the potential to damage the company’s image …

Expand
Expanding
Close