Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

New Apple Stores?

mini-stores in Europe?

AppleInsider has posted this interesting article on the mini retail stores and a much speculated Manchester store. It's beginning to look like most of the increase in retail outlets for next year may be in UK stores. ;)

Apple Computer will extend its "mini" retail store strategy into Europe next year, highly reliable sources tell AppleInsider.

Although the company has yet to announce such plans, tipsters claim that approximately 5 Apple "mini" stores are slated to begin appearing throughout the United Kingdom in 2005. And at least one of the stores is scheduled to touch down in a university area of Scotland.

Speaking under anonymity, sources also confirmed that Apple will open a larger-size retail store in Manchester, England during 2005. The store will be the fourth full-sized retail store to open in the UK, joining an already established flagship in London and two forthcoming locations, one in Birmingham and another in Kent....
Click to expand...
 
cool :)

i haven't seen a mini store yet, but they look really cool. sj was right - the fact they they were designed to be small makes them look even better.

i hope we get one in london :D maybe heathrow airport?

/asif
 
Sayhey said:
It's right next to Arizona and Texas - just south of Colorado. Did it get lost? ;)

Seriously, Albuquerque is only the 18th largest metro area without a store. The good news is that it looks like the retail expansion maybe accelerating (from about 25 a year to up to perhaps 40 next year) and some of the larger cities sans stores may get one.
Click to expand...

I transferred back to ABQ (where I'm from) from Tempe (ASU), so that's been torture. It used to be that I was 15 minutes from TWO Apple stores, but now the closest is that very store, which is now 6 hr 45 min from ABQ. There's an Intel plant in Rio Rancho so having an Apple store, mini or normal, would be a great thorn in their side!
 
weezer160 said:
I transferred back to ABQ (where I'm from) from Tempe (ASU), so that's been torture. It used to be that I was 15 minutes from TWO Apple stores, but now the closest is that very store, which is now 6 hr 45 min from ABQ. There's an Intel plant in Rio Rancho so having an Apple store, mini or normal, would be a great thorn in their side!
Click to expand...

I sympathize and wish you luck on an Apple store in Albuquerque soon. I hope the forty store rumor for next year by ThinkSecret comes true.

BTW, the new Palm Beach Gardens store now has an entry on the "Search Jobs" page and individual job listings. A May to June opening would seem likely.
 
Bethesda, Maryland

Just ranting a little.

Bethesda, Maryland has a population of 55,277 according to my google search. Salt Lake City, Utah has a population of 181,743. Apple is about to open their second store in Bethesda, but the closest store to Salt Lake is still over 6 hours away in Las Vegas.

I realize that Bethesda probably has a large metropolitan area, but the SLC metropolitan area has over a million people, plus another half-million or so 30 minutes to the south, for a total of close to 1.5 million people.

That may be smaller than the Bethesda area, or maybe not. But it still gets frustrating that some cities (even some smaller than where I live) have multiple Apple Stores while I have to take an entire weekend in order to visit the one closest to my house.
 
aranhamo said:
Bethesda, Maryland has a population of 55,277 according to my google search. Salt Lake City, Utah has a population of 181,743. Apple is about to open their second store in Bethesda, but the closest store to Salt Lake is still over 6 hours away in Las Vegas.

I realize that Bethesda probably has a large metropolitan area, but the SLC metropolitan area has over a million people, plus another half-million or so 30 minutes to the south, for a total of close to 1.5 million people.

That may be smaller than the Bethesda area, or maybe not. But it still gets frustrating that some cities (even some smaller than where I live) have multiple Apple Stores while I have to take an entire weekend in order to visit the one closest to my house.
Click to expand...

The key here is that Bethesda is one of the more affluent suburbs of the Washington/Baltimore metro area that has a population of 7.6 million people. The metro area is the fourth largest in the country. Salt Lake City metro area has 1.3 million people in it and is the 36th largest in the nation. In other words, it is obvious that Apple's retail strategy involves saturation of extremely large markets while building at a slower pace in smaller and medium size markets.

Bethesda is more akin to Palo Alto in my own area. In Palo Alto there is also a mini-store "twined" with a larger store. In both cases, you have a suburb of a huge metro area with lots of potential computer buyers (i.e. yuppies) that flock to the stores. We will have to check back in next year and see if this strategy of mini-store/regular-size store combo in close proximity will be successful.

It seems to all be about building momentum and a buzz about the stores and products. It also seems to be working. Contrast that to Gateway's failed effort.

As to Salt Lake City's chances of getting a store soon, I've posted the list before, but SLC is now the 4th largest metro area without a store. I'd have to say your chances are pretty good.
 
i'm still wating for the one in south shore plaza in MA so i don't have to drive 30 mins to cambringe (which isn't bad because there a cheese cake factory accross the street :p ) It will be alot easier to go their instead since i go to school in Milton
 
puckhead193 said:
i'm still waiting for the one in south shore plaza in MA so i don't have to drive 30 mins to Cambridge (which isn't bad because there a cheese cake factory across the street :p ) It will be a lot easier to go their instead since i go to school in Milton
Click to expand...

Sahey had posted earlier that the South Shore Plaza - Braintree, Massachusetts is one of four that are possible for this month. Although it would seem that we would be hearing very soon. It would seem that they would want to catch the Christmas crowd. If not it should be open early 2005.

My wife and I hope to attend the opening if she has the day off. We like the Cheesecake Factory also.
 
I live 5 minutes from Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City. I talked to a lady at the customer service desk and asked her about an Apple Store coming. She looked on her list of coming tenants and told me that Apple wasn't one of them. That mall is a very nice mall with limited openings. In fact, there's a waiting list for retailers wanting to locate there. However, there is a pretty large store front that has been covered for a while. It looks big enough to do a full size Apple Store. But there isn't anything showing what it will be.

Does anyone else have some info on the Penn Square Mall Apple Store?
 
SwooshOU said:
I live 5 minutes from Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City. I talked to a lady at the customer service desk and asked her about an Apple Store coming. She looked on her list of coming tenants and told me that Apple wasn't one of them. That mall is a very nice mall with limited openings. In fact, there's a waiting list for retailers wanting to locate there. However, there is a pretty large store front that has been covered for a while. It looks big enough to do a full size Apple Store. But there isn't anything showing what it will be.

Does anyone else have some info on the Penn Square Mall Apple Store?
Click to expand...

This is a rumor started by a tip Gary at ifoAppleStore received about both a Oklahoma City and a Tulsa store. It looks like it was a bad tip. At least the original information was for an opening date this month and that is obviously not going to happen. Gary's still got the information on both stores listed, so perhaps he still thinks there is something to it. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for this one to come true without further information.
 
Salt Lake redux

For aranhamo and whoever else is interested, there is this very interesting post over at ifoAppleStore

The hissing and puffing of steam locomotives has long since departed the impressive red-brick Union Pacific station on South Temple Street, and now the building houses a Virgin Megastore as part of The Gateway outdoor shopping mall. What other retailers might locate here on the west edge of downtown Salt Lake City? Finally, Apple comes to the fourth-largest metro area without a retail store! Today city planners will approve an expansion of the mall, which locates an Apple store between ZGallerie and Ann Taylor, at the north end near Olympic Legacy Plaza. The store should open around June 1, 2005.
Click to expand...
 
Also on www.ifoapplestore.com:

On Dec. 8, 2004 city planners will approve a mall expansion plan that locates an Apple store between ZGallerie and Ann Taylor, at the north end of the mall near the Olympic Legacy Plaza. The mall, operated by the Boyer Company, occupies 650,000 s.f. and includes a 12-screen theater, restaurants, a planetarium and IMAX theater. SLC was the fourth-largest metro area with an Apple store. The store should open around June 1, 2005.

I'm so excited!!! :D
 
aranhamo said:
I'm so excited!!! :D
Click to expand...
I'll second that!!

Granted, SLC is a good five hour drive from me, but it's now the closest store to me! And I have family down there so I usually end up in the area at least two or three times a year. :D That will be a must visit each and every time.

By the way, I KNEW they would go to the Gateway mall. I can't remember if it was in this thread or not, but I predicted they would a couple months ago!

Go Apple!

:D:D
 
wdlove said:
Sahey had posted earlier that the South Shore Plaza - Braintree, Massachusetts is one of four that are possible for this month. Although it would seem that we would be hearing very soon. It would seem that they would want to catch the Christmas crowd. If not it should be open early 2005.

My wife and I hope to attend the opening if she has the day off. We like the Cheesecake Factory also.
Click to expand...

My wife had called the CambridgeSide Apple store regarding the Braintree store, she was told that they would not be open as planned due to construction issues. I think that I posted more detail on this earlier in this thread or possibly another.

It was sad to hear they would not be open until after the new year, both of us has hoped to do some holiday shopping in store vs on line... yes I know, we could drive to CambridgeSide but Braintree would be so much more convenient for us Cape Coders plus and I don't know how, but I always screw, getting lost, up when trying to access the CambridgeSide.
 
Will do!

Evilgeek, if SLC is going to be the closest store, where is the closest one now? You're in Idaho, right?

I'm going to see if I can get my wife to go down there today to get a better idea on where it's going to be.
 
zim said:
My wife had called the CambridgeSide Apple store regarding the Braintree store, she was told that they would not be open as planned due to construction issues. I think that I posted more detail on this earlier in this thread or possibly another.

It was sad to hear they would not be open until after the new year, both of us has hoped to do some holiday shopping in store vs on line... yes I know, we could drive to CambridgeSide but Braintree would be so much more convenient for us Cape Coders plus and I don't know how, but I always screw, getting lost, up when trying to access the CambridgeSide.
Click to expand...

zim you might find it easier to visit the Chestnut Hill Mall Apple Store. There is much less traffic congestion. Plus the parking is free. ;)
 
aranhamo said:
Evilgeek, if SLC is going to be the closest store, where is the closest one now? You're in Idaho, right?

I'm going to see if I can get my wife to go down there today to get a better idea on where it's going to be.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'm in Boise, Idaho. The closest store would be Portland right now. Seattle after that. A friend and I took a roadtrip to Seattle to see the University Village Store back in April, such a great environment.

If you can get your wife to go down there that would be sweet. Let me know. I know the Gateway fairly well so I should be able to visualize it.

:D
 
I only wish they would open one in Hampton Roads. There are over 3 million people that live in the 7 cities, and the closest Apple Store is Richmond. I suppose it's not as long a drive as those of you that live in the middle of nowhere, though.
 
Gateway

We went down to the Gateway to see where the Apple Store in SLC might be located.

www.ifoapplestore.com said that the SLC store would be between Ann Taylor and Z Gallerie. Z Gallerie is the store furthest north in the Gateway, and Ann Taylor is a few stores to the south. There aren't any empty spots between the two stores, and most of the spots are pretty small, much smaller than the Apple Stores I've seen in CA. There's a sizable spot upstairs, still between Ann Taylor and Z Gallerie, and it's vacant.

Also, on the mall map, there's a large area to the north of the mall, just beyond the Olympic Plaza, that's marked for future expansion. Right now it's just asphalt, but you can't park there or anything.
 
Pioneer Place - Portland, Oregon store

Apple is now listing the usual job openings for the long rumored Pioneer Place store in Portland, Oregon. This store made an appearance on Apple's "drop down" menu awhile ago, but disappeared in short order (the Syracuse store did this as well.) No store has yet made such a "disappearance" from Apple's plans once the individual job listings have been posted. Usually this means the opening of a store within 3-6 months.

Thanks aranhamo for the update.
 
Now, Oklahoma City has got to be one of the biggest metro areas without an Apple Store. 1.2 million people. Where does that rank on the list of Apple Store-less metros?
 
SwooshOU said:
Now, Oklahoma City has got to be one of the biggest metro areas without an Apple Store. 1.2 million people. Where does that rank on the list of Apple Store-less metros?
Click to expand...

If you are asking about US metro areas, and you exclude San Juan, Puerto Rico from the list, it is the tenth largest metro area without an Apple store. Ninth, if the rumors about Salt Lake are true. That's based on the 2000 census which has the Oklahoma City metro area with 1,083,000 people. Here is the list again.



  1. San Antonio, Texas
  2. Norfolk/Virginia Beach, Virginia
  3. New Orleans, Louisiana
  4. Salt Lake City, Utah
  5. Greensboro/Winston-Salem, North Carolina
  6. Nashville, Tennessee
  7. Providence, Rhode Island
  8. Rochester, New York
  9. Grand Rapids, Michigan
  10. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
  11. Louisville, Kentucky
  12. Greenville/Spartanburg, South Carolina
  13. Dayton, Ohio
  14. Fresno, California
  15. Birmingham, Alabama
  16. Tulsa, Oklahoma
  17. Omaha, Nebraska
  18. Albuquerque, New Mexico
  19. Knoxville, Tennessee
  20. El Paso, Texas
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back