Inside Apple's New Amsterdam Retail Store

[IAMsterdam]

The two Apple Stores I ever go to are just in malls. I wish my Apple Store was in some cool old building or something.

Well, that's never going to happen. Because when these historical buildings were built you're ancestors were still living in Europe and ''The New World'' (USA) wasn't even colonized yet.

Sorry bro !

Anyways, I'm excited for saturday. Official opening of the Apple Store Amsterdam!

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If only amsterdam wouldnt be on the other side of the country

Holland isn't that big . 200 kilometers (125 miles) is living 'near the beach' for some friends of mine who live in California. You just have to put it in perspective !

 

[Apple Key]

It really looks fantastic inside! I'm totally blown away by the glass staircase.

 

[IAMsterdam]

Why do they insist it is the first in the Netherlands? It is not.

It is! You have stores like ''Xando'' in Enschede or Amstelveen. But those are Apple premium resellers. This is the first OFFICIAL Apple store, from Apple itself.

 

[Winni]

Finally in my home town, call me a happy camper.....in line for the Ipad 3

And the reason why you just don't order it online is...?

 

[GimmeSlack12]

I'll take an iPad 2, a Macbook Air 13" and three of the finest joints you have to offer please. Oh, and throw in an ounce of mushrooms while you're at it

 

[CHSE]

A great example of how beautiful a space can turn out with good design and respect for the original details. Most of the ornate moldings and architecture have been preserved/restored yet the interior still looks very modern and clean.

I completely disagree- yes they nicely preserved the building but than they fill it with their IKEA style furniture and fixtures. That stuff is just a pain in the eye - yes it looks very nice in malls but if you have a historic building please get the brain of your designers working and furnish the store accordingly. Apple does have the potential and the money - they did the same at the Grand Central store in NY- it is hard to believe that they have such a great space there and could not come up with something more impressive.

 

[baller1308]

I wonder how many employees it takes to staff that Apple Store

I completely disagree- yes they nicely preserved the building but than they fill it with their IKEA style furniture and fixtures. That stuff is just a pain in the eye - yes it looks very nice in malls but if you have a historic building please get the brain of your designers working and furnish the store accordingly. Apple does have the potential and the money - they did the same at the Grand Central store in NY- it is hard to believe that they have such a great space there and could not come up with something more impressive.

I disagree and believe Apple went in the right direction. They bring consistency and simplicity to their stores. While haven't furniture and fixtures match the building they are in would be nice, they want you to focus on the products. When people go to the store they know what to expect and are familiar with the setting based on other stores that have visited or seen online.

Those tables they use are damn expensive too.

 

[Red Oak]

Simply Beautiful

Congrats to the Apple Retail team. Great job!

 

[Drunken Master]

A great example of how beautiful a space can turn out with good design and respect for the original details. Most of the ornate moldings and architecture have been preserved/restored yet the interior still looks very modern and clean.

Usually, most retailers including Apple are very quick to gut whatever space they move in to evoke the aesthetic of their "brand". This doesn't matter in places like malls which are designed to be stripped out but I've seen so many retailers rip out marble, tin ceilings, and other detailing to put in cheap but modern looking finishes. I'm glad Apple was compelled to do the right thing here.

Agreed.

Sure, they could have taken down all the Ionic columns, but the ancient Greek touch is pretty well associated with class anyway, so why not keep it all?

I completely disagree- yes they nicely preserved the building but than they fill it with their IKEA style furniture and fixtures. That stuff is just a pain in the eye - yes it looks very nice in malls but if you have a historic building please get the brain of your designers working and furnish the store accordingly. Apple does have the potential and the money - they did the same at the Grand Central store in NY- it is hard to believe that they have such a great space there and could not come up with something more impressive.

They could have gone for either darker tables or plain white ones, but you don't want it to look like a museum. The focus is still on the products, not the furniture. Case in point: I went into the local Container Store a couple months ago (which by the way, is laid out horribly) and they had the displays that were so ornate yet so practical looking, it was hard to differentiate what was for sale and what wasn't. The decorations drew so much attention to themselves yet seemed like products as well, even when though they weren't, it was almost confusing and I don't ever find myself confused by store displays.

 

[Vayne]

Finally in my home town, call me a happy camper.....in line for the Ipad 3

In line yes, but behind me.

 

[Vayne]

And the reason why you just don't order it online is...?

Since ordering online could bring delay perhaps; at the Apple Store (or any other store) you walk out with your product. Some people (like friends of mine) desperately need to have a product whenever they decide to buy something; 'waiting means frustrating'.

 

[jonnysods]

I love how unique they make every store feel.

 

[wrkactjob]

Another place to visit in Amsterdam after coffeeshop Baba and Greyarea....should be a good combo.

 

[albusseverus]

Looks like what I imagined the Brisbane Australia store will look like, only cheaper.

Hope they don't go for white pillars in MacArthur Chambers, that would be tragic. It looked nicer than that before the remodel. Fingers crossed. Stick with sandstone, please Apple Retail.

 

[notjustjay]

Look at the size of those dovetails!

 

[CJM]

Revisiting Amsterdam in June; shall check it out.

 

[Rychiar]

uhhh that looks like 20 chairs to me...

 

[SqueakyTech]

I completely disagree- yes they nicely preserved the building but than they fill it with their IKEA style furniture and fixtures. That stuff is just a pain in the eye - yes it looks very nice in malls but if you have a historic building please get the brain of your designers working and furnish the store accordingly. Apple does have the potential and the money - they did the same at the Grand Central store in NY- it is hard to believe that they have such a great space there and could not come up with something more impressive.

I agree. The Buildings are beautiful. The furniture and fixtures on their own are nice. Putting them together though, just looks awkward to me.

 

[uknowimright]

I'm amazed they didn't wait a few days for the release of iPad 3. All the iPad 2s they have on display, that are showing info relating to other products, and in stock will go to waste surly?

Also, if you attempt to buy an iPad 2 now, does anyone in store warn you that a new one is likely to be announced next week?

I saw someone trying to buy an iPad 1 at best buy last night told him may want to hold off, the iPad 2 will most likely be the same price in a few weeks, don't think he believed me, oh well

 

[zoetmb]

Well, that's never going to happen. Because when these historical buildings were built you're ancestors were still living in Europe and ''The New World'' (USA) wasn't even colonized yet.

Depends upon the age of the building. While this isn't old in European terms, there are plenty of buildings in the U.S. from the 1800s and even some from the 1700s. And there are great old cast iron buildings and brownstones in New York, Chicago, Boston and some other old cities built from the 1860s to 1910.

And it's "your ancestors", not "you're ancestors" (which means "you are")

 

[zoetmb]

I completely disagree- yes they nicely preserved the building but than they fill it with their IKEA style furniture and fixtures. That stuff is just a pain in the eye - yes it looks very nice in malls but if you have a historic building please get the brain of your designers working and furnish the store accordingly. Apple does have the potential and the money - they did the same at the Grand Central store in NY- it is hard to believe that they have such a great space there and could not come up with something more impressive.

I agree. The Buildings are beautiful. The furniture and fixtures on their own are nice. Putting them together though, just looks awkward to me.

I have mixed feelings about this. Even in stores with modern architecture, I never felt that the 'parsons tables' were that great. And I think many of the stores were poorly designed in terms of sound: the concrete floors, hard tables, glass advertising displays on the walls and the hard glass ceilings and doors combine to create an unbelieveably loud sound level in some of the stores. I was in the NYC Lincoln Center store and I thought there must have been a live band playing in the lower level. I went down there and it was just a small speaker playing recorded music, but it reverberated through the entire store due to the hard reflective surfaces. It was so loud that it was almost impossible to get Siri to work. I had to cup my hands over my mouth and place them against the phone.

But on the other hand, what would have been better in the Amsterdam store (or the Grand Central Terminal store)? Dark mahogony ornate tables? French renaissance desks? That would have been off-putting, IMO.

 

[thirteen1031]

I'm amazed they didn't wait a few days for the release of iPad 3.

Beyond the fact that it may come later, I think they wanted a chance to show off the store and make the opening the one and only event for that day, not have it in competition with the release of the iPad 3. This also gives their employees a chance to get some experience just dealing with regular customers, and regular customers a chance to check out the store before they both have to deal with the press for a new product.

Besides, they'll only be open four days before the keynote, and this way they can show the keynote in the store. AND--providing the iPad 3 release doesn't come later to the Netherlands, it gives customers a chance to order up their iPad 3 and have it waiting there in the store (if that's where they want it delivered--and a visitor to Amsterdam might indeed want to pick up a new iPad at the store) because the store is open and receiving such shipments.

So, all-in-all probably a good idea to keep the store opening its own event and separate from the arrival of the iPad 3.

 

[deannnnn]

Looks amazing! I still need to check out that new Apple store in Grand Central Terminal.

 

[IAMsterdam]

Depends upon the age of the building. While this isn't old in European terms, there are plenty of buildings in the U.S. from the 1800s and even some from the 1700s. And there are great old cast iron buildings and brownstones in New York, Chicago, Boston and some other old cities built from the 1860s to 1910.

And it's "your ancestors", not "you're ancestors" (which means "you are")

There are, but I don't call that ''old''. besides the ''old buildings' in USA you couldn't even compare them with the beautiful old buildings from the renaissance or even from before that. That's what you call history. Visit Paris or Venice and you'll know what I mean. The ''American history'' is relatively young. Even though they don't really have old buildings the ''new buildings'' the New York skyline for example are just as breathtaking in their own ways, even tho you can't compare the 21st century with the renaissance.

Apart from that, (old) Dutch architecture is different than from the rest of Europe. There are actually still buildings built by the Dutch settlers in ''New Amsterdam'' (New York) who just look the same as the buildings in Amsterdam nowadays! And you can tell those were built by the Dutch by it's design/architecture.

Thanks for the grammar update by the way!

 

[nickelt]

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I'll take an iPad 2, a Macbook Air 13" and three of the finest joints you have to offer please. Oh, and throw in an ounce of mushrooms while you're at it

Sorry mushrooms have since been banned. But i do find it funny you can smoke in a bar as long as its 100% weed. That tabacco is really bad for you. Anyway back on subject...