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Apple Store at MacArthur Center in Virginia Permanently Closing Following Years of Safety Issues at Shopping Mall
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I don’t think Apple is losing sleep over this taking into consideration their restail footprint. The Apple store was truly a strategic business move in a market dominated by the Windows PC that was everywhere. Today, I went to Best Buy and inside they have a pop up Apple store section with all the Apple products you would find in your average Apple store. Biggest benefit, I could play with all the products and not have to schedule a ridiculous appointment and only get a few minutes.
Today was the first time I actually played with an iPhone 12. It’s really nice, very large and gorgeous screen. I still think Apple could reduce the bezels and make it even bigger. There is enough to push the Pro Max to 6.9. Surprisingly it’s maneuverable as a one handed device. Albeit this was just from 5 minutes of play.
Going back to the store, Apple is in such a good position with an already powerful website that you buy and have anything Apple device you want delivered. For my personal experience, I didn’t even need to go through Apple to buy my M1 MacBook Pro and even got a better buying experience from Amazon.
2001 or 2010, this closure would have been a big deal, but certainly not today. Then again, most people who go to an Apple store are likely more for help and support and socialization.
Today was the first time I actually played with an iPhone 12. It’s really nice, very large and gorgeous screen. I still think Apple could reduce the bezels and make it even bigger. There is enough to push the Pro Max to 6.9. Surprisingly it’s maneuverable as a one handed device. Albeit this was just from 5 minutes of play.
Going back to the store, Apple is in such a good position with an already powerful website that you buy and have anything Apple device you want delivered. For my personal experience, I didn’t even need to go through Apple to buy my M1 MacBook Pro and even got a better buying experience from Amazon.
2001 or 2010, this closure would have been a big deal, but certainly not today. Then again, most people who go to an Apple store are likely more for help and support and socialization.
I bought my first Mac at MacArthur Center. I just remember being thrilled as I carried it to the parking garage. Finally a computer with sensibilities that encouraged me rather than irritate me. I used it to write, edit photos, build a website, and finish my degree. I learned Objective-C and Xcode with it and got my first job.
The Buyer Guide would have labeled that computer red with an update imminent. But I didn’t know that. Walking out of MacArthur with that 2009 13” MacBook Pro was a seminal moment. It was after a bad breakup. It was after a major change in my education. It was a fresh start.
The Buyer Guide would have labeled that computer red with an update imminent. But I didn’t know that. Walking out of MacArthur with that 2009 13” MacBook Pro was a seminal moment. It was after a bad breakup. It was after a major change in my education. It was a fresh start.
Yeah Agreed - Was there for the first Day still have the T-Shirt! Bummed
More and more malls are having problems with violence and are having to do this....
www.wral.com
The two biggest malls in the Raleigh/Durham area have had to do this. I literally stopped going to the malls on the weekend because you never know what's gonna go on violence wise.
Apple can't keep a location going where it's not safe. Too much liability for them. And you know all these troublemakers are gonna end up in the Apple Store at some point.
Streets at Southpoint to require chaperones for anyone under 18 on weekends
Starting this weekend, safety officers will be at all entrances checking any visitors who appear to be younger than 18 during designated hours.
www.wral.com
The two biggest malls in the Raleigh/Durham area have had to do this. I literally stopped going to the malls on the weekend because you never know what's gonna go on violence wise.
Apple can't keep a location going where it's not safe. Too much liability for them. And you know all these troublemakers are gonna end up in the Apple Store at some point.
Wow, I wonder what it is about that mall that attracts crazy people.
Either way, I'm glad they're not laying off the employees. Hopefully they can all accept the alternatives Apple provides.
EDIT: Wow, I looked it up on Google Maps and it doesn't even seem to be a bad area. Downtown, by the river, looks nice. What's the deal?
Damn man, this sounds like things going towards a state the likes of where I come from, ultra violent city with ultra violent crimes every freaking where... what the second poster says I can concur, overnight any section of a city, park or mall can become a shooting turf wars. I want to believe that it’s financial reasons mostly, but the stories are contradictory: the news say safety, some users say it’s financial, others say it’s actually going great financially... for safety, if I were to live close-by I would definitely go by safety first. Survival reasons.
EDIT: typos
Absolutely, I agree, you even got downvotes on that don’t know why... it’s perfectly fine to judge, I can guarantee it has saved my life and probably many of us too. I judge the speed of a car coming towards me, I judge a dark corner or alley or weird spot in a dangerous city (I come from one of the most insecure cities in the world), I judge someone seemingly impaired behind the wheel or with a blunt object and/or with an aggressive attitude and go far away from that... was I wrong? Maybe, but I would rather be wrong at misjudging and have infinite chances at that than being wrong once the other way around and it’s game over.
Wow, I wonder what it is about that mall that attracts crazy people.
Drugs man some areas are cracked out
There's nothing more terrifying than a giant elaborate dance number breaking out unexpectedly.
I know it's a stock photo... but zooming in you can see old iPods and black casing MacBooks... AND the iMacs STILLLL look the same all these years later!
Around 2010, I got to be part of the original employees that opened the Apple Store in Greenville, SC. Mall is super good in a good town. Where I live, 45 min away, it is a miracle our run down mall hasn't completely closed. Sadder, I took my family to a mall a little farther away our joyriding one day, and I thought to my self, how does a place like this keep the doors open. Without exaggerating, I think I could count on both hands how many people I saw walking the stores at that place.
Around 2010, I got to be part of the original employees that opened the Apple Store in Greenville, SC. Mall is super good in a good town. Where I live, 45 min away, it is a miracle our run down mall hasn't completely closed. Sadder, I took my family to a mall a little farther away our joyriding one day, and I thought to my self, how does a place like this keep the doors open. Without exaggerating, I think I could count on both hands how many people I saw walking the stores at that place.
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Chris Rock did a whole routine on there being two types of shopping malls in each town. I guess MacArthur Centre is that second type of mall he refers to.
Williamsburg is halfway between VA beach and the short pump store. Honestly, that outlet mall would be a good location, but people would be expecting outlet prices.
Yeah. Especially since malls were never known to be places where groups of kids went to do nothing else except shop.
Let's close this feedback loop. What financial reasons are causing MacArthur Mall to shut down? Could it be.... maybe.... gang violence dissuading customers from visiting the stores? 🤔
The property IS managed by JLL which saw a sharp drop in leasing revenues in 2020 and “are overall much more optimistic for the capital markets outlook than we are for the leasing outlook.” Sounds like divestiture and a restructuring of their exposure to me. BUT, I’d have to do WAY more looking than the 5 minutes that took. I’m no journalist.
This was my experience late last year. I wanted an Apple Silicon MacBook, but the local Apple Stores didn't have any in stock. A local Best Buy did, so I went there.
Got to compare the MBA and MBP (they were located next to each other). Made it easy to decide that I liked both and it was just a question if they had the configuration I wanted - they didn't have an MBA in my preferred configuration but had an MBP in my preferred configuration. So I bought an MBP (8 / 256) and have been very happy with it so far.
But d4mn, those rumored 14" and 16" MBP sure sound tempting...
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I used to live in Spartanburg, and I also went to a Greenville mall. There had a gaming store (none in Spartanburg) that I liked to patronize. Forget the name of the store, I moved to Ohio in 1997.
As someone who just moved from Southside to the Peninsula, I hope somewhere in Newport News. Like City Center.
You don’t live in the area do you? People weren’t spending money in these stores before these incidents. As has been stated several times in this thread, retailers already. It’s also been shared within this thread that the owner has been informing tenants for for some time now that leases would not be renewed.
No offense to our folks at Macrumors, because this isn’t really their beat, but there are other significant factors — on top of the general downturn in detail spending in America and the SPECIFIC downturn in retail spending at MacArthur — in why this is occurring:
Apple store at MacArthur Center mall in Norfolk to close
Apple Inc. confirmed late Thursday evening it plans to close its store at the MacArthur Center mall in downtown Norfolk, but didn’t say when. An emailed statement from the company noted that …
www.pilotonline.com
Absolutely right. Not to mention that there have been no "active" shooters at the center, let alone "several" of them. "Active shooter" has a specific meaning and what has happened at MacArthur (which is no different than a thousand other places unfortunately) doesn't come close. To put a wild guess in a "news" story is a disgrace, but it is what passes for journalism everywhere these days. Hence we live in an age where all the information in the world is at everyone's fingertips, yet we live in the most uninformed and easily misled society imaginable.
Shopping centers have been dying EVERYWHERE, particularly the last 5 years. It is called "online shopping." While there are still more purchases made in-store than online, the shear number of freestanding shopping locations (and the rise of mega retailers) is putting location after location out of business. There are too many brick & mortar retailers for the number of people who shop these days. Throw in Covid and it is even worse.
Or, could it be a years-long battle between online retailers and much more expensive brick-and-mortar stores? Or could it be a year long shutdown due to COVID? Malls across the country are struggling to stay alive. It's not a secret, unless you just aren't paying attention.