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Apple opens temporary, "open air" shop
Apple has opened its first open-air shop, a mix of traditional mall kiosk and Apple simplicity. Located at Glattzentrum mall in Wallisellen, the open-air shop has been set up while the mall's main Apple store is undergoing a complicated expansion. According to Macnn.com, reporting from a translated post on MacPrime.ch, workers are unsure as to how long the renovations will take. Considering Apple is expected to be launching new products this Fall, this open-air shop will allow the company to maintain its current presence in the mall even if the renovations last through the possible product launches. While the open-air shop doesn't have the square footage of a normal Apple Store, the set up is familiar; rows of tables showcase demonstration models while accessories line shelves. When a purchase is made the associate runs to grab it from the inventory room. You can see some pictures taken by MacPrime.ch above and below.
iTunes outages reported by some
Apple has confirmed that users may have experienced an outage across its store services today, including iTunes, the App Store, Mac App Store, and the iBookstore. The outage effected access to iTunes in the Cloud, iTunes Match, and the ability to restore purchases from iCloud backup. In total the outage latest about an hour and a half. iTunes and Store services weren't the only hiccups in the Apple system, though they were the longest lasting. FaceTime and the Game Center were also briefly down for around 20 minutes. The issues have been fixed and everything should now be running normally.
Apple announces it has 6 million registered developers
Apple kicked off WWDC with its typical heap of numbers about the developer community, Apple retail and more. At WWDC, participants traveled from more than 66 countries to attend, with 64 percent attending for the first time. The developer program has over 6 million registered developers, with 1.5 million added in the past year. As we all remember, tickets for the conference sold out in just 71 seconds. As a result, Apple decided to make a lot of the WWDC content available online. Tim Cook then hopped into Apple retail stores and announced that 1 million people make their way into Apple Stores each day. Apple now has 407 stores are in 14 countries worldwide, with one of their newest flagship stores opening recently in Berlin. Berlin's Kurfürstendamm store is a showpiece -- it is housed in a 100 year old building that was one of the first theaters in Berlin.
Looxcie POV wireless cameras coming to Apple stores in Europe
Looxcie, maker of their self-titled Looxcie POV WiFi cameras, has announced a deal that will put its products in Apple stores across Europe come January 23rd. The new US$329 Looxcie HD Explore is a wearable camera that allows you to live stream whatever is right in front of your eyes. The camera wirelessly transmits what it sees to your iPhone or iPad, which then uses a Looxcie app to broadcast your video to the world. Getting a product into brick-and-mortar Apple Stores is a huge boost for manufacturers. While the Looxcie will be available across Europe later this month, there's no word on whether it is coming to US Apple stores. Looxcie also announced an enterprise solution called the Vidcie. The Vidcie line of wireless cameras will be aimed at security and risk management agencies and feature a more rugged design and longer battery life.
Apple stores lead with the highest sales per square foot
According to RetailSails, a firm that tracks the US consumer and retail industries, Apple's retail stores are the most profitable stores per square foot out of any other US retailer. As a matter of fact, Apple stores have over twice the sales per square foot of the next closest on the list, Tiffany & Co. The RetailSails 2012 Chain Store Productivity Guide profiled 189 companies in the US which operated retail stores and compiled their results by measuring the trailing 12 months and 5 years of historical sales by channel, brand and region. Apple stores came out on top with $6,050 of sales for every square foot of retail space. Next in line was Tiffany & Co with $3,017 of sales for every square foot of retail space (over 50 percent less than Apple). Number three was Lululemon atheletica stores with $1,936 of sales for every square foot of retail space. Last year RetailSails said Apple earned a little over $5,600 per square foot. Besides having an obvious financial impact of selling more product per square foot, sales by area can also have a noticeable effect of how much a company pays for rent. Many malls and shopping districts decide how much to charge a company for leasing the retail space, in part, due to sales. Increased sales per square foot can lead to higher rents. Of course this would vary from location to location and given Apple's retail clout, it's perfectly reasonable to assume that it wouldn't be locked down to rent based on square footage alone. [via Forbes]
Apple halves number of licensed distributors in China
The opening of two new Apple Stores, one in Shenzhen this last weekend and the Wangfujing store in Beijing in late October, is a sure sign of Apple's strengthening control of its distribution channels in China. Now Patently Apple is reporting that the company has reduced the number of licensed distributors from four to two, relying on its own stores, electronics retailers and premium resellers. Two nationwide licensed distributors, Beijing Founder Century Information Systems and Beijing Hanlinhui Information Industry, confirmed with Shanghai's First Financial Daily that they had lost their distribution deals. Century Founder is now serving as a premium reseller, opening its own stores in Henan, Hebei and Hanlinhui rather than distributing Apple products to other resellers. Those stores tend to make most of their income off of Apple product accessories, which have a profit margin of more than 30 percent, while the margin on Apple equipment is a slim 8 percent. First Financial Daily also reported that the iPad mini launch drew smaller crowds in the Asian market than for other Apple products in the past. The Hong Kong Store reportedly had fewer customers than staff on hand, the Sydney, Australia store had about 50 people in line, and the Tokyo and Seoul stores both had about 100 customers in line at the opening.
PSA: iPhone 5 pre-orders kick off on September 14th at 3:01AM ET
Ready to hop on the iPhone 5 bandwagon after tuning into yesterday's unveiling? Keep an eye on the clock and pull out a credit card, because Apple, AT&T, Sprint and Verizon will kick off online pre-orders tomorrow at 3:01AM (or at 12:01AM PT for folks on the West Coast). Sixth generation iPhones begin shipping on September 21st and start at $199.99 for 16GB models bound to two-year contracts. Those who relish a healthy dose of suspense can always test the hand of fate -- and retail availability -- by visiting Apple's brick-and-mortar establishments at 8AM on launch day.
iPad online shipping times drop to one week
Apple's inventory of the new iPad is holding up well, especially in the US. Unlike the iPad 2 which faced shortages when it launched, the new iPad is readily available. Most US retail stores have at least one model of the iPad in stock and the online store is steadily improving shipment times. As noticed by CNET, shipping times for the iPad are now at five to seven days, down from one to two weeks. While the US is doing well, iPad supplies overseas are a bit more constrained. Online stores in the UK, Italy, France, Germany and other European countries still list a one to two week wait time for the new iPad. [Via CNET]
Apple to adjust work schedules for retail employees
A report from ifoAppleStore suggests Apple is changing the work schedule for its retail employees to alleviate a problem with over-crowding. According to the report, some Apple stores have doubled their traffic in the last year and they need more staffers to handle this increase in customers. Apple is reportedly instituting mandatory weekend hours for some full-time employees and increasing the mandatory minimum hours for part-time employees. Under the new rumored rules, Friday will join Saturday and Sunday to become a weekend day. All full-time Family Room, Red Zone Specialists, Creatives and Geniuses may have to work two out of every three weekend days. Part-timers may have to work 24 hours a week, up from 16 hours. These new rules will supposedly go into effect on April 15.
Protests against iPhone factory conditions planned at Apple Stores
Stories about troubling factory conditions at Foxconn are all too familiar, unfortunately, but hearing that protestors are planning to do something about it is new. GigaOM reports that this Thursday, representatives from Change.org and Sumofus.org are planning to bring petitions to Apple Stores in major cities around the US, asking the company from Cupertino to put together "a worker protection strategy" for the factories overseas that it contracts to make all of its products. The organizations will arrive at stores in Washington, DC, New York City, San Francisco, London, Sydney and Bangalore, and will also bring signs and leaflets along to educate Apple customers and employees about what's happening overseas. The petitions will have the names of 250,000 people on them, and one of the representatives from Sumofus.org says that the group is "asking Apple to clean up its supply chains in time to make the iPhone 5 its first ethically produced product." Obviously no one wants factories with terrible conditions for its workers, and Apple in the past has at least given lip service to wanting to make sure that conditions are as good as possible at the companies that it contracts work from. But maybe a protest like this will bring even more light to the issue, and pressure Apple even further to make sure that any of its production lines are at least benign when it comes to worker safety and labor rights.
Apple Store is down (Update: Back up with Valentine's Day gift guide)
The yellow sticky note of doom has appeared, and the Apple Store is currently down. What sort of updates will this bring? Since it's early Friday on the East Coast, most likely maintenance. But with Macworld, it could be anything. We'll let you know of any changes once it's back up! Update: The store has come back up. No new items have been added, but Apple has a new campaign on the store focused on Valentine's Day. Apple has positioned it as a gift guide, and the iPad 2 with a (PRODUCT) RED Smart Cover is prominently displayed.
For the third weekend in a row Apple opening three more stores
This weekend will mark the third time Apple has opened three stores in as many weeks. That's nine new stores in only three weeks -- quite an expansion and, you guessed it, almost a third of the 30 new Apple Stores the company plans to open this quarter. The new stores opening this weekend are all international ones. The three stores all open this Saturday, September 3. The first is the Campania store in Naples, Italy. It's doors open at 10AM and will be the first of Apple's seven Italian stores to open south of Rome. Then at 9:30 AM in Augsburg, Germany the City-Galerie store opens. The City-Galerie store will be Apple's sixth in Germany. Finally at 9:30 AM the Mapleview Centre Apple store will open in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. Mapleview will be Apple's 21st Canadian Store. Last week Apple opened stores in Arkansas and North Carolina in the US and in Sénart in France. [via ifoAppleStore]
Apple to close, revamp SoHo Apple store
We knew back in March that Apple had plans to expand and renovate its SoHo store in NYC. Now, we have some more details on the planned changes. According to ifoAppleStore.com, the SoHo store will close in the next three months and will remain closed for an unknown amount of time. It's an exciting time for Apple fans in NYC as the iconic glass cube outside its Fifth Avenue store is getting a facelift at the same time. Apple will expand its SoHo store and take over the rear ground floor of the building. This part of the building has been vacant since the U.S. Postal Service left in 2009. The first floor and the new rear section will be renovated, while the upper level and glass staircase will remain untouched. The location is a Heritage structure, but, thankfully, Apple's changes meet the criteria set by the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission.
Building permits suggest SoHo Apple Store ready for expansion
Apple's New York SoHo store has a long and storied history. It was the first Apple Store to open in New York City and is housed in an old, distinctively-styled Post Office building. It has been visited by Steve Jobs himself and has been the host of several high-profile guest appearances by the Coen Brothers and the Jonas Brothers. These appearances attracted so much attention that the store was cited as a bad neighbor by its community. Though its reputation is large, the square footage of the SoHo store reaches a mere 16,000 square-feet, making it the smallest Apple store in the Big Apple. A recent building permit issued for work on the SoHo store and a rental agreement for an adjacent property suggests the store may be expanding its retail footprint. The store currently occupies the upper level and a portion of the lower level and basement of 103 Prince Street. A remaining portion of the building is addressed as 124 Greene Street and was home to a Post Office branch until 2009. Now that this spot has been vacated, Apple has reportedly signed a lease for this parcel and is looking to integrate the 5,000-square foot space into its existing SoHo store. This expansion would put the SoHo store on equal footing with the other NYC stores, which average 20,000+ square-feet.
Apple may drop peripherals and some games from its retail stores
According to The Loop, quoting sources inside Apple, Apple Stores will be clearing out over 30 boxed games and some hardware items from retail shelves soon. The changes are the result of Apple wanting more room to help customers set up their new purchases, get email up and running, and basically familiarize new owners with their gear. To make room, Apple stores will drop printers, scanners and maybe even some hard drives from the display area. The items will still be in stock, but not out front where they take up valuable retail space. Most games are also likely to be dropped, with Apple retail employees suggesting the online Mac App Store as a good place to find them It's hard to fault Apple for these decisions. Most of the peripherals can be found at lower prices online. Getting people better and more personalized service seems like a good use of the retail space. The only caveat is that most of the stores are really noisy, and I'm hoping Apple can 'think different' about a way to reduce the racket in the stores so that training and setup can be a bit more pleasant.
Apple to open new stores in Italy
Apple is planning to open yet another new Apple Store in Italy, this time in Sicily, according to job adverts spotted on the company's website. Along with job ads for the new store in Bologna, Apple is looking for staff to work in an as-yet unannounced store in Sicily. Local newspapers are speculating that the store will be in the town of Catania, near the volcano Mount Etna, and it will open by the end of summer 2011. Looks like that will put an end to Apple's new store dry spell. [via MacStories]
Los Angeles Apple stores offering exclusive headphones this NBA All-Star weekend
If you're around Los Angeles and need some new headphones this weekend, your local Apple Store has a deal for you. To celebrate the NBA All-Star Game, Skullcandy is selling its NBA All-Star Aviator headphones in Apple Stores exclusively, this weekend only. At $180 they're not cheap, but they are some serious premium headphones. If you're the kind of person who likes owning exclusive gear, and you were planning on picking up a nice pair of headphones anyway, they're yours to hunt down and buy... unless you're an NBA All-Star player, in which case Skullcandy is giving you a set already, personalized with your own signature and jersey number. Most of us aren't NBA All-Stars, so everyone else will have to head out to the mall. If you do pick up one of these this weekend, let us know how it goes. This seems like a weird deal for Apple to host officially, considering the small potential audience. [via 9to5Mac]
Paris and Palo Alto getting new Apple Stores
ifoAppleStore has news of two new stores opening up soon. First up, Paris is getting another new store (in addition to the Opera store opened there recently) in the Carré Sénart shopping and entertainment complex, about 30 miles south of downtown. The area is reportedly quite built up as a commercial complex, so it sounds about right for an Apple Store to be there as well. That store is scheduled to open by November. Palo Alto, right near me in California, is also getting another store, though this time to replace the one that's already here. Instead of closing and re-opening the store, Apple apparently plans to demolish another building a few blocks away (seen above) and build a brand new store in its place. The new store design will have a glass entrance and roof, and it will use natural light to connect the inside with the outside. It sounds great -- the new store will probably be up and running sometime in 2012. [via MacStories]
New Australian Apple Store planned for November opening
According to a report from ifoAppleStore, another Apple store is slated to open outside Sydney, Australia. Construction crews are reportedly on site in Westfield Penrith (Penrith Plaza) for a store that will open in November 2011. The location within the mall is not yet known, but local chatter suggests it will occupy the space of two stores and will be apart from the larger, anchor stores. This will be the fifth store Apple owns and operates in the greater Sydney region. Other locations include stores in Bondi, the Chatswood Chase Mall and on George Street in central Sydney, the first Apple store to open in Australia. More than rumor, Apple is already seeking employees to fill positions within this new store. On Apple's Australia job board, the Penrith location appears in numerous future positions including those for store leaders, managers and Genius associates. [Via MacTalk]
Apple: Mac sales could sustain a Fortune 500 company by itself
One in five PCs sold in the United States is a Mac, making up 20.67% of U.S. consumer market share, and bringing in triple the amount of money the Mac has earned since fiscal year 2005. That's the amazing number that Tim Cook, Apple's COO, shared at the beginning of today's "Back to the Mac" conference. Other awesome numbers? Year-over-year growth is 27% for the Mac compared to 11% for the PC There are 600,000 Mac developers 33% of Apple's revenue comes from the Mac. That's enough to fund a Fortune 500 company on its own, and would rank 110th on the list (though it was made clear Apple has no plans to spin the Mac off) More than 75 million people have visited an Apple Store within the last business quarter The stores in China have the highest traffic of any Apple Store, signifying lots of potential in that company All very impressive numbers for Apple's traditional computing platform. iPhones and iPads are no slouches, either, of course, but the Mac is stronger than ever.
