World of Apple

iPad product info displays | Image courtesy of @glasshouseapps

Following much speculation Apple has today quietly unveiled what was known internally as “Apple Store 2.0″. The change means that products displayed in Apple retail stores are now flanked with an iPad showing product information and price comparisons rather than a card plaque. The new displays also allow a member of staff to be called for assistance.

The changes have been rolling out across the world with retail store employees only being told of the changes in meetings before stores open. Reports from some stores suggest that Apple staffers are wearing party hats and balloons have been spotted to celebrate 10 years since the first Apple store opened.

A number of photos have been posted by @glasshouseapps on Twitter showing the new iPad product displays.

Apple Store Pudong (China) | Image courtesy of Apple

On this day ten years ago Apple opened its first two retail stores, the first in Tyson’s Corner, VA, and three hours later Glendale Galleria in South California. As pointed out by Apple 2.0 Channel Marketing Corp. president David Goldstein told Businessweek, “I give them two years before they’re turning out the lights on a very painful and expensive mistake”.

Ten years later of course things are very different, Apple now has 325 stores in 11 countries, totally a mighty 2.5 million square feet of retail space. Apple retail stores made up 12.9% of Apple’s total revenue last quarter with $3.19 billion in revenue.

Below Steve Jobs gives a guided tour of Apple’s first retail store.

Arndale Apple Store opening - POS | © 2006 World of Apple

It is being reported today that Apple could begin making use of NFC payments in its brick and mortar stores. The rumour from Boy Genius Report cites “multiple Apple sources” who outline a number of changes that have occurred in retail stores recently.

BGR writes that Apple recently took its POS devices—iPod touch payment system—offline for “maintenance”, this is alongside a number of overnight shifts where staff have been asked to “assist in installing TBD devices”. Finally sources tell BGR that new tables have been installed in retail stores with different wiring and built-in “cash wraps”.

The site goes onto speculate that the upcoming retail anniversary plans and May 22 retail meeting could bring all the pieces of the puzzle together, one source has also outlined that NFC payments will be just one of the improvements brought in by the changes.

Such a bold move towards NFC payments in its own stores could throw many of the suggestions out of the window that Apple had abandoned plans to put NFC technology in the upcoming iPhone refresh.

Upper West Side, Apple Store | Image courtesy of Apple

Both MacStories and Boy Genius Report have written today that Apple will be holding a series of meetings on Sunday, May 22 for its US retail staff.

MacStories writes that a “trusted source” has informed them that Apple “will hold an all-hands employee meeting in US retail stores”, additionally MacStories notes that the meetings will start at the unusual time of 7am.

Boy Genius Report adds some additional information, in line with MacStories the site notes that Apple is holding mandatory meetings on Sunday, May 22 saying that “Most meeting are scheduled for the morning, but there are evening meetings as well.”

On a separate note BGR claims that “a solid Apple source” has informed them that Apple “may be planning something big for its 10th retail anniversary this Thursday the 19th”, BGR offers the following run down of information:

• There’s an overnight shift planned for around 10-15 individuals at each Apple Store to work from late Saturday all the way through mid-Sunday.
• During the overnight shift, it’s going to be required that employees lock cell phones in the main office. They will also have to sign an NDA with Apple.
• There are a wide variety of roles, we’re told, for the overnight shift. This includes all visuals staff, a manager, a business team member, a few Genius team members, one back-of-house employee, and a few generic Apple specialists.
• Apple stores have apparently already received hardware to install, and are expecting more hardware to come on Friday or Saturday. All materials that Apple stores have received have been instructed to be under lock and key until after close on Saturday night.
• Apple employees will be putting up black curtains at all stores so that people walking outside cannot see inside.
• Employees have had to download gigabytes of data from Apple corporate labeled, “training” in a password-protected zipped folder that won’t accessible to managers or anyone else until Saturday afternoon.

Apple Store Dresden | Photo by Deutsche EuroShop AG

It has been revealed over the past couple of weeks that Apple is planning a number of stores around the world which can now be revealed. On March 31, Apple opened its first retail store of 2011 with a new store in Dresden in Germany. The store opening marked the longest gap in Apple’s retail opening with the previous store opening on November 13, 2010.

Apple has also not been silent on the construction and scouting front, ifoAppleStore notes a number of new stores that are likely to appear towards the end of 2011 and into early 2012.

Retail website Nola.com writes that Apple could possibly take up a lease in New Orleans on the corner of St. Charles and Louisiana avenues. Apple’s retail team is reported to have contacted Stirling Properties who own the 24,000 square foot former funeral home. It is unknown what timeframes will be involved in the potential location.

Apple has also revealed that it will open a new Melbourne, Australia store but has so far kept the exact location a mystery. A job posting appeared on Apple’s website and simply listed the postcode “3205″ which is situated in South Melbourne. ifoAppleStore speculates that Apple could open the store based on previous timeframes in October this year.

Over in Europe Apple is scouting locations in Augsburg, Germany according to job postings that once again do not reveal the exact location.

Finally, Apple is making slow increments with its latest London based store. The fifth London Apple store will be situated in the gigantic Westfield Stratford City shopping centre that will open in September this year. The new centre is situated in East London next to the 2012 London Olympics site and will feature over 300 stores and 50 places to eat. It is currently unknown where Apple will lease within the complex but sources close to World of Apple have revealed that Apple has showed keen interest in a number of locations. It is very likely that Apple will open when the centre opens in September.

Citing a source within New York’s Metropolitan Authority, the New York Observer is reporting that Apple has abandoned plans to build a large retail store inside Grand Central Terminal.

The plans for the 16,000 square-foot store reportedly never got off the ground with negotiations with the MTA falling through at the early stages.

The report has been backed up by a tweet from vice president of Newmark Knight Frank Retail, Jeffrey Roseman.

Ahead of the start of the huge SXSW music and media festival it has been revealed that Apple will open a “pop-up” store in Austin, Texas to accommodate the hoards of geeks and music fans who will descend upon the city on Friday. The report which appeared in the Austin American-Statesman says that Apple closed the deal this week and began immediately furnishing two spaces at 101 West 6th Street less than half a mile from the Austin Convention Center. According to the newspaper’s sources the temporary Apple store will open on Friday, March 11, coinciding with the release of the iPad 2.

A brochure for the building [PDF] dug up by ifoAppleStore shows that the available retail spaces are priced at $38 per square-foot per annum.

The annual SXSW festival which focuses on music, film and interactive media attracts over 30,000 attendees from around the world and the closely situated Apple store will be a big hit with the release of the iPad 2.

Glasgow Apple Store Grand Opening on August 25, 2007

It is being reported by ifoAppleStore that Apple is planning to open a second store in the Scottish city of Glasgow. The new store is reportedly set to open in in the outer city Braehead Shopping Centre “by mid-September”.

ifo describes the shopping centre has being around 15 minutes northwest of the main city and contains 110 shops including an Ikea. The ever-accurate retail store rumour site pins space 162a for the Apple store which contains “2,620 square-feet of space and a unique storefront that faces both the parking garage and the mall interior”.

Apple opened its first Glasgow Apple Store in August 2007 on the historic Buchanan Street in the city centre.

Apple Store Pudong (China) | Image courtesy of Apple

It is being reported by The Wall Street Journal that Apple is planning to open a third store in the Chinese city of Shanghai and will most likely be the largest in the country so far.

Apple current has two stores in Shanghai as well as two in the capital city of Beijing. It has been stated by Apple in the past that the company wishes to open 25 retail stores in China by the beginning of 2012, a target it does not look on track to fulfil.

The new Shanghai store is said to be on the famous Nanjing Road and has reportedly been confirmed to “China Real Time after news of the plan appeared in Thursday’s Beijing Youth Daily.” It was also reported in the same publication that Chinese Apple stores “are visited by more than 40,000 people per day, –four times the average traffic in their American stores.”

Grand Central Terminal, New York City | Photo by Stuck in Customs

A report in The New York Observer clarified by a detailed essay from ifoAppleStore points towards a fifth Manhattan based Apple retail store. According to the sources Apple’s retail team has scouted out a location within Grand Central Terminal situated on Park Avenue and East 42nd Street.

According to ifoAppleStore the plan is to help move visitors away from the overcrowded Fifth Avenue store which is less than one mile away from the new location.

The 134,000 square feet retail space within Grand Central plays host to over 700,000 visitors a day although most are hurrying to trains. The retail space includes 68 shops and 35 restaurants. As detailed by ifoAppleStore, leases for spaces within Grand Central run at about $300 per square-foot and retailers are encouraged to take on 10-year leases.

Details of a new store to open in Italy have also be detailed by ifoAppleStore. The store which is set to open in Bologna will be the first street level store to open in the country, with all the others being mall based.

The three-level building at Via Francesco Rizzoli 16 holds a 13th century look and will rival similar grand looking stores in London and Paris, setteB.it has a selection of photos of the venue which is still visible despite work taking place.

Permit documents also revealed by setteB.IT show that the work will take place for 240 days at a cost of $2.7 million, expect the grand opening of the store in mid-2012.