Apple shows 24x7x365 NYC flagship store

New York City nightlife used to mean hanging out in smoke-filled nightclubs at the edge of town and stumbling home as the sun came up. But, from what we hear, you can't smoke in the clubs anymore (not that we're really too upset about that), the real estate boom has squeezed a lot of them out of town, and there's even been talk of more aggressively enforcing the city's decades-old anti-nightclub statute. So, what's a denizen of the night to do? Well, it looks like Apple's come up with the answer. As previously rumored, the company's new midtown store, which opens tomorrow, will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. The store, which has gotten a lot of buzz for its five-story, glass encased, Jobs-designed, cube-shaped entryway, will feature 4,000 square feet of retail space, most of it underground, and will be able to satisfy those musical and computing urges, day or night. Word is that the store will also be giving away one MacBook an hour to lucky visitors over the next couple of days (starting with tomorrow's 6pm opening), so we expect some pretty sizable crowds to show up. Yo, Steve: Add a dance floor and teach your Geniuses to really tend bar, and we may just drop by one night and pick up one of those pods of yours.

[Thanks, Jake]
Photo courtesy Dave Thorup.

[John from Buffalo @ May 18th 2006 11:59AM]

I bet you can get a MacBook or MacBook PRO there, today! At least in the first 12m its open!

Shameless (Dvorak) listing:
http://www.johnwaller.org/apple/macbook/

[Travis Jenkins @ May 18th 2006 12:02PM]

WOw!! Talk about an innovative design...love it!

[the godfather @ May 18th 2006 12:08PM]

That's gonna suck for the people that have to work on holidays like x-mas and new years eve. What better place to celebrate the birth of christ or zombie day than at an Apple store!!!1

[John @ May 18th 2006 12:10PM]

I saw it it's huge!! And very cool. 24/7 365 :)

[Kevin @ May 18th 2006 12:12PM]

24x7x365 is redundant. 24x365 covers it just as well, how could it be open 365 days a year without being open 7 days a week?

[Lord of My Pants @ May 18th 2006 12:16PM]

How dorktastic would you feel walking into a computer store at 4am? NEEEEEEEERDS.

[Clinton @ May 18th 2006 12:17PM]

So perhaps the next Engadget meetup for NYC can occur one night/morning at the new Apple store.

[Alan @ May 18th 2006 12:19PM]

You guys must not understand New York City. People are very much awake at 4am, and a lot of them have money. This will work, just you see.

[jon @ May 18th 2006 12:22PM]

Being that apple has such a small lineup of products...how in the world are they going to fill all that space. I thought the Pasadena Mac store looks pretty sparse and thats with like 5 of each item out on display.

[Todd @ May 18th 2006 12:22PM]

It looks cool - I bet apple fan boys are gonna make a mess in their pants once they get inside.

The building looks like it was expensive to build, and being open 24X7X365 means paying and insuring three shifts of employees - is that why Apple products are so expensive? Recooping crazy overhead?

[Lord of My Pants @ May 18th 2006 12:24PM]

Alan, I live in NYC and would not be caught dead in the Apple store at 4am unless I had a business reason (like hitting a deadline after my laptop got stolen or something). But yeah, there are legions of uncool people here and no doubt they will flock to the 24 hour doofus box.

[PEZ @ May 18th 2006 12:24PM]

Now if they could only make their batteries last 24/7.

Yeah I know that was stupid.

[coprock @ May 18th 2006 12:25PM]

Catch me at the Genius Bar at 3am.

[Matt @ May 18th 2006 12:26PM]

Kevin-

Welcome to Marketing 101. The more numbers, the more impressive it sounds... in theory at least.

24x7x365?? That's nothin'. My store's gonna be open 60x60x24x7x12x365!

[David @ May 18th 2006 12:34PM]

Would be great if the LA stores were open around the clock. Not that I'd want to go just hang out there, but it would be good to have that 24-hour genius bar available for those late-night tech emergencies. The Apple Store at the Grove has room in it for a small Starbucks too, I think.

[bert @ May 18th 2006 12:43PM]

looks like something david blaine would be trapped in!!,

[kuwan @ May 18th 2006 12:50PM]

Well, my site, cutterpillow.com, was suspended due to too much mysql traffic. It doesn't look like I exceeded my bandwidth but maybe they got surprised that all of a sudden 100s of people were accessing my site at once.

Anyway, hopefully it will be back soon but all of the photos are in the Flickr set.

Dave

[jmchez @ May 18th 2006 12:53PM]

Nothing against Apple, but their architect ripped off the Hayden Planetarium (or Rose Center for Space or whatever) on 81st Street.

[diulei @ May 18th 2006 1:21PM]

Everybody rips off everybody these days. Everybody.

[detroityianni @ May 18th 2006 1:27PM]

all the purse snatchers will be scouting for apple bags around the corner at 4am !

[JD @ May 18th 2006 1:31PM]

How many other computer companies have tried this idea of being open 24 X 7, At least apple have the guts to try it, if they don't get the numbers they're expecting at 4 in the morning, then at least they tried. Also it gives consumers much more option, they don't need to be rushing down to a store in their lunch breaks because a store closes at 5.
I think it'll work!

[mveloso @ May 18th 2006 1:37PM]

An Apple store open all day = free internet access 24 hours a day. In NY, that'll drive a lot of traffic into the store.

As it is, the SoHo store is filled with people checking their gmail. I expect the uptown store to be no different.

[Frankie Q @ May 18th 2006 1:45PM]

#19
I'm studying to become an architect, and as my studio teacher once said, architects 'borrow' from each other all the time. If you think you have come up with something new, that nobody else has done, there is probably a good reason for it not being done. It's all about compounded knowledge, and how you use that knowledge to your advantage.

That said, it's a pretty kickass cube, even if it is just a glass cube!

[Patrick @ May 18th 2006 1:45PM]

I guess *maybe* tourists will be there in the middle of the night and weekends, but that area of Midtown is DEAD (like Financial District dead) after 7pm.

[Molly @ May 18th 2006 1:51PM]

seriously dudes i have spent hours walking in new york in the wee hours trying to figure out what to do...i have just found my answer!

[Chris @ May 18th 2006 2:04PM]

Would love to see the washrooms for this place.

[Chris @ May 18th 2006 2:04PM]

Would love to see the washrooms for this place.

[thenobot @ May 18th 2006 2:20PM]

That sure is one Big Apple...

[deadbeatdad @ May 18th 2006 2:22PM]

Great, drunk people wandering into the store after 4 AM to play with exquisitely-designed, expensive gadgets. Perhaps a great place to inspect your late-night hook-up in the harsh, white glare of the Apple light prior to doing the deed.

But then again, given that part of town, it might induce drunk binge purchasing instead.

It's what's right about America.

[vlangden @ May 18th 2006 2:52PM]

Regarding the Macbook/hour giveaway:

That's just great. I had already planned on staying out all Friday to Saturday night getting horrendously drunk with my friends however - now I just have to hang around at AppleFifth and submit an entry per hour while taking one shot of whatever per hour at the Genius bar. A bar in a store with an all glass entrance? Sounds like my kind of calamity.

http://www.apple.com/retail/fifthavenue/sweepstakes.html

[John from Buffalo @ May 18th 2006 2:55PM]

I guess it wouldnt funny to start making jokes about Apple employees throwing stones in a glass house.

[NSKGTI @ May 18th 2006 3:14PM]

I wonder if they have locks on the doors?

[DM @ May 18th 2006 3:43PM]

I wonder what will happen to this store once the iPod fad dies out...

[kuwan @ May 18th 2006 4:22PM]

My site is back up (the original source for the photos). There were some mysql configuration problems that threw the server into a fit. Hopefully things will be back to normal now.

http://cutterpillow.com/content/view/32/1/

Dave

[PDubNYC @ May 18th 2006 4:26PM]

32-feet does not equal 5 stories, except maybe on the Shire or something.

Anyway, I hope to enter the Macbook drawing at least once, but I am not a big fan of lines, so chances are I'll just say F it, even though I only work 2 blocks away.

[Rodrigo Hashimoto @ May 18th 2006 4:28PM]

What a beautiful store!!!

[Mike @ May 18th 2006 5:11PM]

Now you can satisfy those late-night iPod cravings.

Cheers

[cycomachead @ May 18th 2006 5:41PM]

they will fill the store it can get so crowded during time
I live in La so I hpoe they have something out here

but in LA "Financial District dead" that doesn'rt work out here
the place is crowded after 7 on more than a few nights- and wy more on weekends

Im 13 and both my parents work in LA - I know.

Pasadena store not big enough, there is a 2x in LA the is just as crowded
This will not be a problem

I could take advantage of a 24/7 apple store that way If I need I can get help at all time, or I can work on my homework on a Quad at midnight.

I would also go in then and just use the internet

[Jeff @ May 18th 2006 5:42PM]

A swank store that appears to be furnished by IKEA.

I dig the entrance, but what's with the dorm room decor?

[Yem @ May 18th 2006 5:42PM]

So. Lame.

A giant glass monument to Jobs' ego set atop a concrete slab.

Different isn't always better.

They should have grassed the top side, planted apple trees (hyuk hyuk), benches and tables, free wifi, etc. What a wasted opportunity.

[Yem @ May 18th 2006 5:43PM]

I guess it does suit midtown though.

[Perrey Z. @ May 18th 2006 5:46PM]

It's a Seen and be seen type of place. Perfect for people like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan to hang there without purchasing anything. But, aren't all Apple stores like that? At least the Aventura Mall one is...

[Trevor @ May 18th 2006 6:13PM]

#3 start thinking about how other people live, not just you. Not everyone is christian (I happen to be and it is CHRISTmas, not Xmas -- don't abbreviate the most important part) so many Asian-americans could work that day (their is a reason many Jews have chinese food that day) and I'm sure working new years eve/day is fun and not much work (and again that is based off the Christian/Roman calendar).

[liamoc @ May 18th 2006 6:31PM]

Its going to be a bitch keeping all that glass clean

[stevenyc @ May 18th 2006 6:39PM]

All that glass will help with lighting costs during the day :)

[dean @ May 18th 2006 6:47PM]

that is going to be one hot box!
if its not in the shadow of other buildings apple will have fun keeping it cool. that is the most urban greenhouse i've ever seen!

[Bob @ May 18th 2006 7:21PM]

Cool store, but what the heck is 24x7x365? Is that 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, huh? The store would be open 24x7x365= 61,320 hours a year? Do you really mean 24x365=8,760 hours a year! Cool store but do the math, it just does not add up.

[Dave @ May 18th 2006 7:31PM]

Bob, its not a math problem. Its a very common marketing phrase.

Just look at Google, 1,040,000 for 24x7x365, and only 137,000 for 24x365.

Not everything in life has to do with math, even if you wish it was.

[Mikey @ May 18th 2006 7:59PM]

you people are ridiculous....first of all, noones going to mug you on madison ave in the upper 50's....

i pass the cube between work and home, it was CRAZY as i was passing by, lots of media, lots of crowds...people probably think it's open to the public already..

i think they will do fine...i work in the music industry, im very much an apple/ipod person and there are LOTS of us here in the city, if im up at 3am and my computer has something tragic happen, you bet my ass i'll be at the apple store.... or if i cant sleep, def. a place i'll go to check things out...

as cool as the 247 thing is....if you know the area, anything uptown is pretty dead after midnight....after the craze wears off, im sure they will modify their operating schedule....

[dave95 @ May 18th 2006 8:09PM]

Beautiful, dare I say Landmark?

That clever Steve Jobs, always thinking different from the rest of the industry.