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Apples in London?

D

DesignBook

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 19, 2004
7
0
Canada
Hello dear friends at MacRumors!

I'd like to send a shout out to my homies in London, UK.

I am a jetsetting Canadian on my way to London, England at the end of the week. I will be taking in the sites and practicing my awful British accent to no end.

I am putting out this post to request some assistance from the Brits on the boards. I will be staying with my girlfriend's brother, a stout PC user who remarkably insists on owning the best of everything (Porsche Cayenne Turbo, 35,000 gbp stereo, etc) but doesn't own a mac! He's a PC user and I will be packing all sorts of Apple goodies to tempt his "buy-the-best-or-die-like-the-rest" mentality.

In short, I am looking for the best Apple retailers in London. Now, I know a beautiful Apple retail store is due to open in Nov(?) but I'm only in London for 2 weeks... I want the next closest thing. Somewhere where I can have access to as much Apple hardware, in the nicest retail space possible.

I will be staying near Sloane Gardens, to give you an idea of my starting point. Something either near popular tourist attractions I will see anyway, or not terribly far from where I'm staying would be optimal.

So I put out the challenge, find me an apple retailer that will get my future brother-in-law to whip out his American Express!
 
redAPPLE said:
i am not from london, but i have seen an apple retailer in oxford street.
Click to expand...

It's called the Square, I think, on New Oxford Street. It's a retail nightmare - just about room to turn around in, only a very few pieces of hardware on show, and the staff have (to be polite) shady technical knowledge.

I hate to recommend Mikro Anvika as they are horribly pricey on the extras (all Apple stuff itself is the same price everywhere), but at least they have a fair bit of stock on display & it is a relatively congenial retail experience. Till the Apple store opens they really have a monopoly in central London.
 
Micro Anvika is probably the current best location and have many branches located on Tottenham Court Road, arguably the best place for electronics in London. I usually buy at John Lewis (they have a branch on Oxford Street) because of the free two year warranty, but I doubt that'll matter to you because you'll be going back to Canada.
 
The trouble is that several of the stores are looking a bit sparse of stock with so much new stuff coming in.

I was in John Lewis Oxford St and they did have the new monitors and the 2.0 G5 (no 2.5 yet), one or two old iMacs and the Books out on display. They also have a section of Mac software for the old 'but there's nowhere to buy the software' argument.

If he doesn't fancy a trip to TCR, electronic capital, there's also a Micro Anvika in the basement of Selfridges.
 
I'm gonna have to agree that Micro Anvika has all the stock you want but is very pricey for non-apple stock.

My Vote Goes to Square, who are indeed on New Oxford Street - 2mins walk from Tottenham Court Road Station (which is on both the Northern and Central Line tubes). They have always been very helpful and enthusiastic and are also true mac users rather than the trained up monkey's in Micro Anvika or the like.

Square Group! Square Group! Ra, Ra, Ra.

And no. I don't work there - just a very satisfied customer with their sales and their support - official Apple Support Centre.
 
DesignBook said:
I will be staying near Sloane Gardens, to give you an idea of my starting point. Something either near popular tourist attractions I will see anyway, or not terribly far from where I'm staying would be optimal.
Click to expand...

Just noticed where you are staying - your brother's 'corner shop' is likely department store, Peter Jones, which is one of the John Lewis shops and has an area of the store with Macs set up. PJ is on Sloane Square - computers on the 4th floor. At least one of the sales assistants in there has a Mac - I've heard him waxing lyrical over Mac OS X in iBooks regularly!
 
you could show him the current mac retailers and point out that a new official apple store will open in november(?) in regent st.

he should drool while looking at the apple site, then use his credit card in november.
 
Harrods had Apple Computer's in the computer warehouse department when I last went, If not then Selfridges or John Lewis (as previously stated) is probably the best bet.
 
Square Group on New Oxford St. Microanvika suck. They don't know anything and they never have anything in stock. And they're really crowded.
 
scb said:
john lewis department stores have a pretty good selection of stuff as well...
Click to expand...

yeah john lewis is always a good shout... normally have nice stuff on display... just DONT let him go to pc world..they have like 2 emacs and 1 12 inch rev a powerbooks and maybe a 800mhz ibook for new prices...
 
Go to harrods, and do the whole tourist thing then go "oohhhhh look at these!" orrr go to square. Square is good. Small but they've got everything there. Micro Anvika on the other hand is packed tighter than sardines and has other computers in there that might tempt him away... or he might be able to see how crappy they are!!

Hob
 
Aye, Micro Anvika is well stocked but don't listen to the white-shirted monkeys parading as salesmen, they know as much as my 3 year old about Macs....just the basics. Godd place to look at Apple HW though.
More out of town, is computer warehouse which is pretty sweet, easy drive from where you are.
After that you could visit Syon House which is literally 3 minutes drive away (thats if history is your thing), then perhaps go for a pint or two on the river at the London Apprentice. Beats Trawling up and Tottenham Court Road anyday in my book :D
 
Well well well, as a Canadian who has lived in London, I can tell you the good places to go to see Macs. :)

Just say, "Hey, can you show me the British Museum?" Ooops, that just happens to be near Tottenham Court Road (TCR) tube station, the location of both Micro Anvika and The Square. :p Yep, the Mac stuff is at the very front of the store, while PC's are at the back where they belong. Its crowded, but a nice, small store regardless. All their computers look great, even the PCs. They'll have all 3 PB's sitting on the right side of the store near the entrance, and probably PowerMacs as well, although you'll probably know more about Macs than the employees.

And then there's The Square, which is around a 3 minute walk from Micro Anvika. If you look at a London Underground map, Microanvika is 1 minute north of TCR station, while Square is 2 minutes east of TCR station. Very easy to get to.

And if you walk from TCR station to Oxford St station, the station east of TCR station (and the busiest tourist shopping area....plenty of reason for him to take you there), a John Lewis is fairly close to the intersection.

And Sloan Square is very close to Harrods, and you'll have a reason to see Harrods as well. Just a coincidence that there are Macs there too. :D You'll both be seeing Macs whether you want to or not.
 
nice environment, micro anvika? i dont think so! I would go to John Lewis or to Selfridges or the Square Group. John Lewis is a nice environment to look at Macs in, but I think that the people are nicer in the Square! ;)
 
square people are the nicest, John Lewis has the best range and layout, micro anvika is too crowded and they are very expensive, and everything i have bough there did not work, tv tuner card, cd burner, stick of ram, all faulty, i hate them
 
I would always go to John Lewis. Even though money does not seem to be an issue here they offer a std two year guarantee on computers. The service is always great but mac knowledge can be patchy. The display is spacious and the wall of Mac where I go looks great from afar as you walk across their floor.

BTW what is your killer piece of Apple goodness to tempt him. For people I know it is the iPod. I let them play and then tell them that they can have this much fun with their computer as well and that is a great "in".
 
There are a few shops that stock apple stuff along Tottenham Court Road. It's a brilliant place for electronics stuff. Micro Anvika is probably one of the best but the guys that work in there are a**holes.

If you walk on down Oxford st a bit (quite a bit) try the bottom floor of Selfridges, it has quite a good stock of apple stuff, or at least it did the last time i was there.

OT: And if you have time you should visit the Stables Market out at Camden Town during a saturady. Good place to get a bit o' grub ... but it has a lot of .. err .. weirdos :p
 
Go to Selfridges. Not only do you, as a Canadian, get to go to one of Britain's most prestigous stores, they also sell a huge range of Macs. Provided by Micro Anvika.

The store on Oxford street. You can't miss it, there's only two in the UK. Just ask a friendly londoner (note sarcasm) for directions if you get lost. Oxford street is famous :p
 
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