Apple Confirms Upcoming Retail Store at World Trade Center [Updated]

[MacRumors]

Apple market director Jason Barlia has confirmed the company's plans to open a retail store at the World Trade Center Transportation Hub in Lower Manhattan, according to CNET. The store will be located in the Oculus transit and retail complex, and it is expected to open later this year.

WTC Transportation Hub - Oculus (Image: Priscilla C. via Instagram)​

The location will mark Apple's tenth retail store in New York City after its first Brooklyn store opens in Williamsburg this Saturday. Apple has another six stores in Manhattan, one in Queens, and one on Staten Island. The Bronx is the only borough that remains without an Apple Store within New York City limits.

Apple's plans to open a retail store at the new World Trade Center have been rumored since 2013, and an alteration permit confirmed the company's construction plans earlier this year. The store is said to be situated at the underground level, and it will reportedly span two floors with up to 10,000 square feet of space each.

Update: Apple plans to open its World Trade Center retail store on August 16, the latest projected opening date of the Oculus complex, according to multiple sources.

Article Link: Apple Confirms Upcoming Retail Store at World Trade Center [Updated]

 

[Junior117]

Wasn't there a rumour that they would have offices above the WTC Apple Store? Or am I confusing that with something else?

 

[Bswails]

Apple can we get ONE store in Manhattan further than 96 street?

 

[naeS1Sean]

Something about that seems so wrong to me...

(Note: I haven't been to or seen the site since the attacks)

 

[keysofanxiety]

Wow, the tenth in New York City! I sometimes forget how vast NYC is.

Here in the humble UK we pretty much have one per city, excluding London. Though our cities must seem like quaint villages

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

Something about that seems so wrong to me...

(Note: I haven't been to or seen the site since the attacks)

I was there last October and it doesn't seem quite right to me, either...

 

[cdmoore74]

Shouldn't Apple be concentrating on selling more products instead of building even more stores? People are screaming for Mac refreshes and a newly redesigned iPhone, not more stores.
When the floor drops I hate to see the outcome.

 

[dannyyankou]

Awesome, the redevelopment there is going really good. The memorial pools are incredible. Everyone should see it at some point in their life.

 

[Benjamin Frost]

So the site where over a thousand people died in a terrorist attack was redeveloped?

I feel they should have built a memorial on the site and left it at that. Somewhere people could have gone to sit and reflect. But I guess money talks and people are greedy.

Mammon trumps God in today's world, I'm sad to say.

 

[RichTF]

So the site where over a thousand people died in a terrorist attack was redeveloped?

I feel they should have built a memorial on the site and left it at that. Somewhere people could have gone to sit and reflect. But I guess money talks and people are greedy.

There is a memorial site there, a really nice one too. And it's massive, taking up the footprint of the original two towers, space which could easily have been used for commerce if they really were just being "greedy".

Have you even been to the memorial site? (serious question)

 

[44267547]

I would be interested in visiting that location when it's completed.

 

[mr.steevo]

I will definitely be going there next time I'm in NYC. My last visit was September 9th 2001.

But I won't be going so as to see the Apple Store.

 

[coolfactor]

Shouldn't Apple be concentrating on selling more products instead of building even more stores? People are screaming for Mac refreshes and a newly redesigned iPhone, not more stores.
When the floor drops I hate to see the outcome.

Yah, for me, it's a neglect of the user experience. Things like the poor design of the "Get Info" window of the Finder goes untouched for years, a "Show All" button at the top of System Preferences that does nothing when you click it, and for months, my usage of Coda (third-party editor) has been negatively affected apparently due to a "cosmetic bug" that Apple refuses to make a priority (according to Panic), and Pages getting a downgrade when 5.x was released. Yet Apple is silent on these issues. No amount of "Feedback" through their forms seems to have any impact. Don't they realize that the "day-to-day experience" of their users that keeps people coming back to buy more fancy hardware, especially with something as important as their computer operating system? The experience matters. It really does. But they care more about new features than refining existing ones, so it seems.

But hey, another store. Yay! Okay, that vent went on for too long. Guess I'm just disenchanted with Apple these days. They've grown so big, and the little guy is getting even smaller.

 

[FactVsOpinion]

There is a memorial site there, a really nice one too. And it's massive, taking up the footprint of the original two towers, space which could easily have been used for commerce if they really were just being "greedy".

Have you even been to the memorial site? (serious question)

And not only that, but also... It's not as if Apple is planting there store inappropriately adjacent to the memorial. Rather, it'll be in an underground station that will filled with retail stores of various kinds.

 

[Edge100]

Mammon trumps God in today's world, I'm sad to say.

I believe it was belief in God that caused the problem at the WTC in the first place...

 

[applesith]

I'm looking forward to having an apple store down here in FiDi close to where I work! I heard Tom Ford and Hermes will be there as well!

The new center under One World Trade is absolutely beautiful. All of the retail areas under construction look great and will probably have a similar look to prevent certain stores from standing out.

 

[Edge100]

I'm looking forward to having an apple store down here in FiDi close to where I work! I heard Tom Ford and Hermes will be there as well!

The new center under One World Trade is absolutely beautiful. All of the retail areas under construction look great and will probably have a similar look to prevent certain stores from standing out.

Agreed. I was down there last week and it's a wonderful space.

 

[mfvisuals]

Yah, for me, it's a neglect of the user experience. Things like the poor design of the "Get Info" window of the Finder goes untouched for years...

Can you elaborate on what you mean by "poor design"? I have been using it for years with no complaints.

...a "Show All" button at the top of System Preferences that does nothing when you click it...

It actually does do something. If you're within a specific preferences pane (i.e. Network, iCloud, etc.) it will take you back to the main System Preferences window so you can select a different preferences pane to open.

...and for months, my usage of Coda (third-party editor) has been negatively affected apparently due to a "cosmetic bug" that Apple refuses to make a priority (according to Panic)...

Apple provides guidelines for app developers to ensure that their apps display correctly and match the aesthetics of the Mac OS, so (in my experience anyway) the responsibility of correcting those sorts of issues is usually on the developer. They also have to make sure that if the supposed "bug" is with the Mac OS that changing things to address said "bug" won't affect the thousands of other apps made by other developers. In short, it can get complex and complexity means additional time is needed to resolve the problem.

...and Pages getting a downgrade when 5.x was released...

Calling it a "downgrade" isn't all that accurate. It did lack a lot of features that were in the previous version, but that is because it was completely rewritten and they eventually did add back a large majority of the features that were noticeably absent from the original release. I recall that the rewrite was done to make Pages, Numbers and Keynote integrate with the then brand-new iCloud services.

But hey, another store. Yay!

You do realize that the people responsible for getting new stores built are a completely different group of people than those responsible for Apple's software development and design, don't you?

Apple is a very large company, very capable of multi-tasking.

Guess I'm just disenchanted with Apple these days. They've grown so big, and the little guy is getting even smaller.

...well, you can't please everybody.

 

[Benjamin Frost]

There is a memorial site there, a really nice one too. And it's massive, taking up the footprint of the original two towers, space which could easily have been used for commerce if they really were just being "greedy".

Have you even been to the memorial site? (serious question)

I eat humble pie.

Thought it was built on the same site as the original World Trade Centre. Thanks for enlightening me.

Edit: having done some research, I see that the memorial site is surrounded by six huge skyscrapers. I think this is wrong. The whole site should have become a peaceful park with trees. I take back my humble pie. Greed and Mammon have still won.

 

[AndyDiamond]

The Oculus is indeed pretty spectacular.
There are many stores going into the underground mall.
It's a Westfield complex and as with these types of things it's the usual Michael Korrs, Victoria's Secret, Sephora yadda yadda - bland and boring as hell as you find these stores ad nauseam everywhere else in the city. Apple store seems quite fitting then.
No problem if that's your thing but I'd be going there for the architecture, not the retail experience.

 

[caliguy]

I was in that hub a few weeks ago. It's beautiful. It will be a fine place for an Apple store. If anything, the store in Grand Central seems tacky.

 

[eatrains]

I eat humble pie.

Thought it was built on the same site as the original World Trade Centre. Thanks for enlightening me.

The new World Trade Center site is still in the same place as the old one; the memorial and museum occupies the footprints of the Twin Towers and the area immediately around them, but the site also has three skyscrapers with a forth on the way, subway and commuter rail stations, an expansive retail mall (home to the future Apple Store), and a future performing arts center.

 

[Benjamin Frost]

The new World Trade Center site is still in the same place as the old one; the memorial and museum occupies the footprints of the Twin Towers and the area immediately around them, but the site also has three skyscrapers with a forth on the way, subway and commuter rail stations, an expansive retail mall (home to the future Apple Store), and a future performing arts center.

Thanks. I have regurgitated my humble pie and edited my original post.

 

[Kestrel452]

I eat humble pie.

Thought it was built on the same site as the original World Trade Centre. Thanks for enlightening me.

Edit: having done some research, I see that the memorial site is surrounded by six huge skyscrapers. I think this is wrong. The whole site should have become a peaceful park with trees. I take back my humble pie. Greed and Mammon have still won.

I personally am not of the mindset that you need to permanently retire that land for anything but green space in order to honor the 9/11 victims. IMHO, there is no better response to terrorism than replacing what they've blown up with something even taller or more grandiose. Don't let them destroy our commerce, which is exactly what they want. Apple building a store is just business as usual, as it should be.

 

[Benjamin Frost]

I personally am not of the mindset that you need to permanently retire that land for anything but green space in order to honor the 9/11 victims. IMHO, there is no better response to terrorism than replacing what they've blown up with something even taller or more grandiose. Don't let them destroy our commerce, which is exactly what they want. Apple building a store is just business as usual, as it should be.

I can see your reasoning, but the act of building even more commerce just strikes me as wilful and reactionary. The commerce can easily be rebuilt in any part of New York.

I would have preferred to see the US making a proper statement to honour the fallen. Greed has won, and in that sense, it offers another target for terrorists. If it were simply a park with beautiful trees, there would be no target. I feel for the families of those who died; they have been let down by New York.