Apple Set to Open First Retail Store in France

[SactoGuy18]

I'm surprised it took this long for France to finally get an Apple Store.

Having relatives who live in Switzerland near Basel (as such they speak fluent French), they tell me think many foreigners' perception of the French are totally WRONG because for many visitors, their first contact with the French people is usually in Paris, since so many international flights and long distance trains stop in Paris first. As such, like New Yorkers, Parisians have an "attitude" that can turn foreigners off in very short order even if the foreigner speaks French fluently.

Go outside Paris, and the French people are definitely way more friendly.

 

[MacGiver]

I'm surprised it took this long for France to finally get an Apple Store.

Having relatives who live in Switzerland near Basel (as such they speak fluent French), they tell me think many foreigners' perception of the French are totally WRONG because for many visitors, their first contact with the French people is usually in Paris, since so many international flights and long distance trains stop in Paris first. As such, like New Yorkers, Parisians have an "attitude" that can turn foreigners off in very short order even if the foreigner speaks French fluently.

Go outside Paris, and the French people are definitely way more friendly.

Correct, this is very true...being a French man and living in Paris I can tell this is true...even though i am one of the few nice Parisiens
Parisien can sometime be jerks just ike in NYC, people are stressed out, everything goes fast...a capital city actually...But once you know Paris well it becomes just like a small village.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Apple if you read this, please open more stores here in Germany and in France. There is a lot of money to be made here, and I need some serious help convincing all my French and German friends to EXTERMINATE their ***** Windows PCs.
The Mac is not known in vast areas in Europe and this needs to change.

You don't need that ... just point your German friends to any local Government office and sneak a peak at the PC screen ... its no longer running Windows but SUSE Linux. The German Gov told Balmer to take a hike (along with the exorbitant price hikes of using Windows infrastructure vs Open Source paid solutions: server solutions not just desktop). I think this occured some 3yrs back; unsure if its recently changed.

I agree in France Apple has a lot of money to be made.

Wait: I'm curious ... does OS X know the difference in the French language used in Montreal vs Paris? I'm aware that there are some differences and actual lack of words/phrases used in both locations.

 

[carlgo]

It is surprising that Apple has never even tried in so many countries.

Knowing nothing about Paris, I'll bet the first location was chosen primarily to be prestigious and get a lot of media attention. Later, they will open stores in lower-end places that are more convenient.

 

[boston44]

I agree with others..This store should boom in France, it's surprising it took this long to cater to the French..

 

[Marzzz]

Just got back from a week in Paris, and did have an opportunity to check out the new Apple Store. The store was beautiful with its winding glass staircase, location was very central but not obtrusive, and the staff I dealt with were very helpful and friendly and also spoke english. Both times I was there the place was completely packed.

Re: Paris- what someone said above was true- I am a native NYer and just looked at the people with a similar eye. There was definitely a share of rudeness, but many Parisians were pretty nice once you got to know them.

 

[SactoGuy18]

Re: Paris- what someone said above was true- I am a native NYer and just looked at the people with a similar eye. There was definitely a share of rudeness, but many Parisians were pretty nice once you got to know them.

I actually have a name for this attitude: cultural myopia. You get this a lot in places with really provincial attitudes like Boston, where the locals have this condescending attitude towards everyone else NOT from Boston.

But getting back on topic, I'm hoping to see a lot of Apple Stores in France over the next decade. They got to have at least four stores in Paris plus additional stores in major regional cities in France like Toulouse, Marseille, Lyon, and Lille.

 

[Jubijub]

Living in Lyon, I couldn't agree more