Apple Retail Stores Continue to Buck Economic Sluggishness

[MacRumors]

Bloomberg reports on Apple's retail store performance amidst the current economic situation, noting that Apple's retail sales have held up remarkably well as other merchants have seen sales slip.

Apple, based in Cupertino, California, increased revenue at its stores by 2.5 percent in the first six months of the year to $3 billion as the rest of the retail industry suffered. During the same period, sales at all U.S. retailers fell 9.2 percent compared with the first half of 2008, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.

The report focuses on Apple's flagship Fifth Avenue store in New York City, noting that the store may be the highest-grossing retail outlet in the famed shopping district on a per-square-foot basis.

Apple's Fifth Avenue emporium probably has annual sales of more than $350 million, topping any of the chain's other outlets, said Jeffrey Roseman, executive vice president of real- estate broker Newmark Knight Frank Retail in New York. The location is 10,000 square feet, putting its sales per square foot at a minimum of $35,000, based on Roseman's estimate.

Other high-end retailers noted in the report, such as jewelry shops Tiffany & Co. and Harry Winston, are reported to be bringing in closer to $12,000 to $18,000 per square foot annually.

A previous report had pegged Apple's annual sales for its Fifth Avenue store at as much as $440 million, although that number may have been slightly inflated, as it came from the building's owner as it was being marketed for sale.

Article Link: Apple Retail Stores Continue to Buck Economic Sluggishness

 

[SFStateStudent]

"And the hits just keep on comin'!"

 

[Scallywag]

That 5th Avenue store is madness... a huge tourist trap/attraction. Amazing building though... stick to the West 14th store if you're looking to try anything out, it seems far less crowded.

 

[DMann]

"And the hits just keep on comin'!"

Those "Laptop Hunters" commercials seem to be doing wonders - consumers seem to feel that they're "cool enough" to purchase computer solutions which work really well, after all.

 

[Amdahl]

amidst the current economic situation

I love euphemisms for disaster.

"after the events of September 11..."

 

[Mr_Ed]

Just wait until Microsoft opens its retail stores. Apple is GOING DOWN!!!


NOT!!

 

[alent1234]

the other stores don't have high sales numbers per square foot because they work differently. they are mostly for show where you come in and have sales people show you stuff. less product, more space to show it to you.

 

[Truffy]

$35,000/sq.ft.? And the rent's only $34,000!

 

[iDrinkKoolAid]

I bought my 13" Macbook Pro two weeks ago on a Friday evening, and had to wait an hour at the Apple Store until a salesperson was freed up!

 

[Mjmar]

The Apple Store in my local mall is crowded from open until close... Even when there's barely anybody in the other stores.

 

[bytethese]

$35,000/sq.ft.? And the rent's only $34,000!

I know Manhattan apts can be small but thankfully the store is bigger than 1sq ft!

That 5th Avenue store is madness... a huge tourist trap/attraction. Amazing building though... stick to the West 14th store if you're looking to try anything out, it seems far less crowded.

I'll agree to a certain degree. I do find myself at the 5th Ave store on occasion since it's actually more convenient for me to get to from my apt. Hell, it was "cool" to wait in line for my 3GS there. However if I want a little less noise, I hit the 14th St store.

 

[ericinboston]

Nice that Apple got 2.5% more sales....but how can you compare 1 store (Apple) to a lump of every single retailer (which INCLUDE APPLE in the overall average)?! Then considering what Apple sells at these stores (few makes/models of computers, ipods, and software) compared to the Best Buys, Sears, Target, Walmart, LL Bean, Gaps, Home Depots of the country is just misguided.

Again, nice that Apple is bucking the trend a tad...but pretty misleading advertisement without including a couple of examples of the other side of the coin. But, again, this is an Apple focused/biased website so...




-Eric

 

[neiltc13]

Most of the products inside are overpriced and often outdated. I can't understand why anyone would shop there.

 

[iphones4evry1]

And how much did the Microsoft Vista store bring in? hahahahahahahaha!!!

 

[a4cab03]

I was at the Apple store at South Coast plaza in SoCal last saturday and it was packed. Saw a guy buying a fully loaded Mac desktop and the 30inch ACD.

 

[Macminiintel]

This is great news, Microsoft will be thinking to themselves "Oh my god its gonna work for us lol". Too bad the Microsoft Store won't work for them. Sure they copy Apple, but nothing is ever quite as good as the original, most people now are starting to see the world beyond Microsoft.

I mean MS tried to copy the iPod with Zune look how amazing that turned out, fail. It will work for Apple & Apple only no one can really explain it, its just the experience of owning an Apple product, its what the costumers want.

 

[DMann]

This is great news, Microsoft will be thinking to themselves "Oh my god its gonna work for us lol". Too bad the Microsoft Store won't work for them. Sure they copy Apple, but nothing is ever quite as good as the original, most people now are starting to see the world beyond Microsoft.

If anything, the MS stores will be beneficial to Apple - after peering in, they'll likely walk on by and want to check out the nearby Apple Store - great strategy MS.

I mean MS tried to copy the iPod with Zune look how amazing that turned out, fail. It will work for Apple & Apple only no one can really explain it, its just the experience of owning an Apple product, its what the costumers want.

Conversely, the experience of owning a Microsoft product, alone, is enough to drive more sales to the Apple Store.

 

[jmadlena]

Most of the products inside are overpriced and often outdated. I can't understand why anyone would shop there.

Probably because the Apple store sells products that those people actually want to use, and can use easily without a lot of headaches. Those products are overpriced in your opinion, but if someone places a $100 price tag on a product actually working well, then many people would consider them spot on. Some people would rather have a tech that is not bleeding edge, but is easy to use. You know, like most consumers.

And that's my opinion. Good thing we don't all have to have the same opinions.

 

[DMann]

Most of the products inside are overpriced and often outdated. I can't understand why anyone would shop there.

A fine description and summary of Microsoft's products.

 

[indiecraig]

Most of the products inside are overpriced and often outdated. I can't understand why anyone would shop there.

Apple retail stores usually update their products on the day of release, so I don't see how they can possibly be outdated. Also, the prices are the same as the website. I guess you could be saying all Apple products are overpriced, in which case, why the hell are you on an Apple blog?

 

[Warsteiner]

If it's true that their Fifth Avenue store generates sales of $350 million, and taking into account that Apple Inc's total revenues are $35 billion (see http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=APPL), then we can conclude that 1% of the sales one of the largest consumer electronics companies in the world come from just one store.

Wow.

 

[Doctor Q]

I did a highly scientific survey of Apple's retail business over this past weekend. Namely I went to the Century City Apple Store in Los Angeles and noticed that it was busy. Not as crowded as on a Big Event day, but still full of people, some of them making purchases.

So business looks good for Apple on this end of the country. Since then I helped a college student plan a MacBook Pro purchase, so I can guarantee they have at least one more sale coming. Ka-ching!

By the way, I also looked in the Tiffany store in Century City and there were a good number of shoppers there too. But they were browsing the displays and I didn't see anybody actually buying anything. I hope they cover their rent too.

 

[axual]

Six word explaination

You get what you pay for.

 

[dernhelm]

That's just the big Apple store in NYC. But even the Apple stores in smaller places (like Ann Arbor MI) seem to be doing a pretty brisk business (at least the last several times I've been in there).

What I've seen is that the customer service there is truly outstanding. I recently bought a copy of Leopard and could not install on my iMac. I spent an afternoon on it, and couldn't figure it out. They spent probably 45 minutes on it, discovered it was faulty RAM, didn't even ask to see my Apple Care, and totally resolved it (installing their own RAM, and installing Leopard for me to prove it out). They re-installed my faulty RAM, and showed me Leopard running on it before I left, and did not charge me a nickel.

When I got home, I reinstalled the RAM Apple shipped with it, ordered new RAM and I was off to the races.

It isn't just about the product, it's about the experience.

 

[kornyboy]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_0_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7A400 Safari/528.16)

It is good to see some positive results in a still grim economy. Things are improving a bit though.