This is factually incorrect. I picked up my iPad Pro 11 M1 2021 from White City Apple Store in the UK last year, which already had a “dedicated pickup area” after ordering online.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple's First Store With Dedicated Pickup Area in UK Opens This Week
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
This is factually incorrect. I picked up my iPad Pro 11 M1 2021 from White City Apple Store in the UK last year, which already had a “dedicated pickup area” after ordering online.
If I order delivery I have a 1-30 day wait.
If I order pickup I go wander downtown and have a coffee on the way to the store. I am immediately greeted at the door and say I have a pickup. They do something on an iPad, and ask me to wait one moment, then someone appears with my product.
They had all that and then hired that crazy Burberry lady who tried to make those stores all posh and edgy in hopes of raising prices that way.
They do not do it because they consider it unsightly and not cool and therefore, unApple. In my view, they are wrong.
The worst thing is carrying a MBP in it's box out of the store, knowing you have a £3000 object at the end of your hand, which hasn't been registered or even used. I'm amazed thieves don't hang outside Apple Stores, frankly.
Well, looking for a “Genius” for that is your first problem. 🤣
That was probably temporary due to Covid regulations.
They certainly hang around in shopping mall parking garages. If I know I will be buying an expensive electronic device i take a suitably sized plastic or canvas shopping bag with me which will disguise the purchase on my way to my bus, subway or car. No point in advertising what you are carrying.
I went there to buy a watch recently and went up to someone and said "I want this watch with this band". They said "did you make a shopping appointment?"......long story short I waited 30 minutes to buy a watch while the 5 greeters standed there doing nothing. Whomever is in charge of retail has never tried to be a customer. I could have went to Best Buy and been done in 5 minutes. I'm done with the Apple Store at this point. There is really no benefit.
Make an appointment??!! What a farce. This type of attitude is just one of many steps which will eventually lead to the deep decline of the company.
They’ve started putting specific express checkout areas at stores, but I agree, the lack of proper checkout areas is weird.
This is still present at my store. Whenever I have an online order, I just head to the spot that says “Express Checkout/Order Pickup”
I generally avoid stores (other than to very quickly see new products) because I find everything about them unsettling. I'm the kind of person who prefers dedicated areas (and signage) for everything. Nowadays even the Genius Bar is gone.
Genius isn’t a sales role, it’s a GENIUS Bar role, so why are you trying to find a Genius to check you out for a Lightning cable?
I get it, I do, but lay off the lazy “Genius” cracks. You can complain about the checkout environment without implicitly demeaning the Apple Store staff by joking that they’re not “geniuses”.
What does any of this have to do with the Apple store??? Do you want Apple to hire and assign a security guard with an AK47 to walk you to your car? Or better yet, get an armored car to drive you home? Is there anything that users of this forum won't complain about? Sheesh.
Since the pandemic began, I've only visited an Apple Store once – have they removed the feature from the Apple Store app that lets you pay for an item and walk out of the store? I used to use that ability often, found it so useful!
Or are you only buying the expensive stuff that's not kept on the shop floor?
Dedicated pickup area? No way, I prefer wandering around like a lost child hoping an employee will notice me
Apple today shared a preview of its new Brompton Road store in London, which opens to the public this Thursday, July 28 at 4 p.m. local time.
Apple Brompton Road is the first Apple Store in the UK with a dedicated Apple Pickup area for customers to pick up their products ordered on Apple's online store.
Apple has rolled out a dedicated pickup area in a handful of stores since late 2021, including Apple The Mall at Bay Plaza in New York City, Apple The Grove in Los Angeles, Apple Rosenthaler Straße in Berlin, Apple Myeongdong in Seoul, and a few others.
Other design aspects of Apple Brompton Road include floor-to-ceiling windows along the facade, a unique curved timber ceiling, terrazzo flooring, a mirrored ceiling above the Forum area for Today at Apple sessions, a dozen Sicilian ficus trees with seating at the base of each planter, and more. Apple says the store is powered by 100% renewable energy.
Apple Brompton Road is located in London's busy Knightsbridge neighborhood alongside many other flagship retailers, including the department store Harrods. Apple says the store has over 200 employees who collectively speak more than 45 languages.
"We are thrilled to open Apple Brompton Road in London, a city teeming with energy, history, and cultural diversity," said Apple's retail chief Deirdre O'Brien. "The store's focus on creativity gives our incredible team members the perfect space to share their passion and expertise with Londoners and visitors from around the world."
On July 30, four Apple Fitness+ trainers will join Apple's head of fitness technologies Jay Blahnik for an in-store Q&A session at Apple Brompton Road, followed by a three-kilometer walk and five-kilometer run in nearby Hyde Park.
Article Link: Apple's First Store With Dedicated Pickup Area in UK Opens This Week
That's exactly what I was thinking when I walked out of the store, though the casino and into the parking garage with my new MBP M1 Pro 16 and iPhone 13 pro max. I was looking every which way checking to see if someone was following and ready to jack me.
In the UAE you can not purchase online and pick up in store at all!!!
I just moved to the UAE and rather than buying a studio display before moving I figured I’ll simplify and buy in region. Given my current lack of address I had to plead the local Apple Store to allow me to use their address for shipping.
Then I discovered that I can not purchase online in the UAE if I don’t have a local billing address for my credit card… Nor can I buy the product in store with my foreign credit card because it isn’t in stock with the height adjustable stand.
What I’ve been taking for granted when living in the US, UK, and Canada is now a distant memory of a working Apple Store experience.
I am dumbfounded.
I just moved to the UAE and rather than buying a studio display before moving I figured I’ll simplify and buy in region. Given my current lack of address I had to plead the local Apple Store to allow me to use their address for shipping.
Then I discovered that I can not purchase online in the UAE if I don’t have a local billing address for my credit card… Nor can I buy the product in store with my foreign credit card because it isn’t in stock with the height adjustable stand.
What I’ve been taking for granted when living in the US, UK, and Canada is now a distant memory of a working Apple Store experience.
I am dumbfounded.
Apple Stores are, IMHO, still in the development stages. We have one in Tulsa, pretty far south for a lot of potential customers and parking during the Holiday Shopping period is simply horrendous. Having products shipped to your home in OK as long as the Porch Pirates don't beat you to the Porch.
What would be most helpful for many people would be another retailer who has closed down with major space for holding drop shipped type items and best sellers - especially in smaller packaging. It can be both a daily feeder to the retail store(s) as well as "Pick UP Today" Products for customers with an Urgent need. The customer selects the item in the primary stores, pays for it to ensure his/her wanted item is immediately set aside and the customer can there leave their original Apple store to get their items.
The use of a closed department store allows for more space for training and all levels possible, from beginner learning Swift to more advanced programming. If this back-up location is in a town with a University or two then some hefty training can be provided at advanced levels. Especially important when products in specialty fields are possible. Medicine is a great example with a lot of textbooks are possible, Engineering and business are two other examples.
The Key is that this extra "Apple Depot" can be a dynamic outlet and it's potential should be maximized.
What would be most helpful for many people would be another retailer who has closed down with major space for holding drop shipped type items and best sellers - especially in smaller packaging. It can be both a daily feeder to the retail store(s) as well as "Pick UP Today" Products for customers with an Urgent need. The customer selects the item in the primary stores, pays for it to ensure his/her wanted item is immediately set aside and the customer can there leave their original Apple store to get their items.
The use of a closed department store allows for more space for training and all levels possible, from beginner learning Swift to more advanced programming. If this back-up location is in a town with a University or two then some hefty training can be provided at advanced levels. Especially important when products in specialty fields are possible. Medicine is a great example with a lot of textbooks are possible, Engineering and business are two other examples.
The Key is that this extra "Apple Depot" can be a dynamic outlet and it's potential should be maximized.
As has been noted by others, this article is factually incorrect as Westfield Stratford and Westfield White City both have had dedicated pickup areas for quite some time. Despite all covid restrictions going away, they continue to operate, so not temporary.
I am not sure how other countries work but in the UK, the Apple store experience is strange and unlike any other stores we have.
So I turn up and want to buy something, I can't just grab it off the shelf and take it to a counter. Fine, the products are too expensive to be on shelves but I still have no counter. I have to walk around randomly and find a random store employee who is not busy to ask them to get it for me. Most of the time there is nobody free so you are left loitering round like a plonker hoping someone notices you.
I just want to go there, queue up at a counter if needed and buy what I want. Sure, have people on hand to help out those wanting a demo or a product etc, that makes sense but have a counter where I can either buy something there and then or pickup something I have ordered.
They seem to cater for those who either want to fart about pressing buttons on a mac with no intention of buying it or non tech savvy folk who want help with what to buy. The rest of us who know what we want are left standing awkwardly until a genius finishes up with someone else.
So I turn up and want to buy something, I can't just grab it off the shelf and take it to a counter. Fine, the products are too expensive to be on shelves but I still have no counter. I have to walk around randomly and find a random store employee who is not busy to ask them to get it for me. Most of the time there is nobody free so you are left loitering round like a plonker hoping someone notices you.
I just want to go there, queue up at a counter if needed and buy what I want. Sure, have people on hand to help out those wanting a demo or a product etc, that makes sense but have a counter where I can either buy something there and then or pickup something I have ordered.
They seem to cater for those who either want to fart about pressing buttons on a mac with no intention of buying it or non tech savvy folk who want help with what to buy. The rest of us who know what we want are left standing awkwardly until a genius finishes up with someone else.
The White City store is my local Apple Store. You can say this is arguing semantics, but the White City pick up location is not a dedicated area inside the store like in the picture. It is (or was?) a separate storefront on the ground floor under the old store before the Apple Store moved several months ago. If it still exist, the pick up location is a several minute walk from the new store. As far as I am aware, Brompton Road will be the first Uk store with a dedicated, signed pick up location inside the store which is similar to the pick up areas which exist in places like the new Seoul Apple Store