Apple shutters Apple Watch gallery in London's Selfridges department store

AppleInsider

Following news that Apple will in January shut down an Apple Watch pop-up shop in Paris, an identical store-within-a-store concept located in London's Selfridges department store has closed its doors.

As noted by MacRumors, the Selfridges Apple Watch store is no longer listed on Apple's retail list for the UK, suggesting the outlet has been shuttered.

AppleInsider confirmed the closure on Tuesday. Phone calls placed directly to the Apple Watch gallery are forwarded to a recorded message saying the location is no longer operating. Customers interested in Apple Watch are urged to visit Apple's website to find their nearest brick-and-mortar Apple store.

The Selfridges Apple Watch gallery closes its doors after serving London for some 20 months. Dubbed a pop-up shop for its small size, location within a larger department store and focus on a single product, the outlet officially opened in April 2015 shortly before Apple Watch went on sale worldwide.

To drum up interest in the smartwatch gallery, Apple commissioned a series of promotional installations for display in the department store's windows. The most recent incorporated Apple Watch into hand-sculpted flowers of all sizes, some of which were created using 3D printing.

As reported in October, Apple is scheduled to close a similar Apple Watch pop-up shop in the Galeries Lafayette department store in Paris later this month. With the Parisian smartwatch boutique seeing a steady decline in business, Apple is slowly winding down operations and has over the past weeks transitioned employees to regional company stores.

Once the Galeries Lafayette location closes, Apple will be left with only one dedicated Apple Watch venue in the Isetan department store in Tokyo, Japan. The future of that outlet is unclear.

elijahg

Presumably this is due to few watches being sold at these locations. I've seen I think two other Apple watches in the wild. My Series 1 watch is good - I miss it if I forget it - but it certainly isn't essential. It has numerous problems: It's generally a bit slow, and the heart monitor is pretty poor. It's slow to detect a pulse and often just wrong, I've had heart rates as low as 35 registered.

Siri is slow too. Frequently displaying "I'll tap you when I'm ready", then either never tapping or ending up cancelling the request altogether because I lower my arm, which is downright annoying. It looks ridiculous as I have to walk around holding my arm up until Siri finally processes. This brings me to another point with Siri: why the hell aren't more requests processed directly on the phone/watch?! I had ViaVoice doing recognition on a 200mhz PPC603, I'm sure a 700mhz ARM CPU can handle it. 

Third party apps are still slow and often unresponsive too, even though the UI responds to touches. 

FitBits auto-detect activities, why do I have to manually start them with the Apple Watch?

It is great for notifications and replying with short responses, and for changing music tracks. The complications are really useful too, as is the Apple Pay capability. But when people ask me what I like about it, or to show me what it can do, sadly I quickly run out of things to say or show.

levi

elijahg said:

Presumably this is due to few watches being sold at these locations. I've seen I think two other Apple watches in the wild. My Series 1 watch is good - I miss it if I forget it - but it certainly isn't essential. It has numerous problems: It's generally a bit slow, and the heart monitor is pretty poor. It's slow to detect a pulse and often just wrong, I've had heart rates as low as 35 registered.

Siri is slow too. Frequently displaying "I'll tap you when I'm ready", then either never tapping or ending up cancelling the request altogether because I lower my arm, which is downright annoying. It looks ridiculous as I have to walk around holding my arm up until Siri finally processes. This brings me to another point with Siri: why the hell aren't more requests processed directly on the phone/watch?! I had ViaVoice doing recognition on a 200mhz PPC603, I'm sure a 700mhz ARM CPU can handle it. 

Third party apps are still slow and often unresponsive too, even though the UI responds to touches. 

FitBits auto-detect activities, why do I have to manually start them with the Apple Watch?

It is great for notifications and replying with short responses, and for changing music tracks. The complications are really useful too, as is the Apple Pay capability. But when people ask me what I like about it, or to show me what it can do, sadly I quickly run out of things to say or show.

Not sure where you're located but I see multiple daily in and around the SF Bay Area and when visiting family in the Midwest. The high end retail locations no longer make sense, especially since Apple has pivoted away from the luxury/Apple Watch edition strategy. Data and Apple's own marketing suggest sport and aluminum models are what's selling. This move makes total sense. 

bulk001

I remember being in an Apple Store when v1 of the watch was released. A lady was there by appointment to try out the watch and put her handbag on the glass case holding the watches. You would of though that she had just s$$it on their display by the reaction of the staff who demanded that she immediately remove it or she would have to leave. Nobody knows if you have the 10k (or whatever the price is) gold watch or the cheapest version. Every watch looks the same and sadly (as I really want to see Cook's first product succeed) it just looks like some sort of tech-y watch that everyone has. Now if it had functionality that a Rolex didn't (like actually using my health data for some real purpose not some app that has no purpose being in a watch other than to say they have a watch app) it may be worth it but a high end watch like a Rolex it isn't (a high end Rolex appreciates over time, the apple watch does not). If everyone drove a Ferrari, a Ford Focus would suddenly stand out. 

chia

I think another factor is the proximity of Apple's very first store in the U.K. at Regent Street.
It is just one underground stop away from Selfridges, five to ten minutes bus ride or even twenty to thirty minutes walk.

SpamSandwich

I've seen more than a few Apple Watches in the real world recently. More than I expected to see.

ulric

levi said:

Not sure where you're located but I see multiple daily in and around the SF Bay Area and when visiting family in the Midwest. The high end retail locations no longer make sense, especially since Apple has pivoted away from the luxury/Apple Watch edition strategy. Data and Apple's own marketing suggest sport and aluminum models are what's selling. This move makes total sense. 

Oh I bet you do see manyhipsters everyday sporting apple products in the SF Bay Area.  90 minutes away from the Apple campus.  That's where most of the watches must be.

The apple watch is so ugly and colorful, it's easy to spot.  That causes a bias that leads one to think that everyone has them everywhere when they're still rather rare. I'm in Canada and I know about a dozen people that have one, but I work in tech. I know a couple of people with Huawei watches, I don't draw a conclusion of market penetratoin from that. Normal people have fitbits, at most, and are no sure why they have one.

rogifan_new

Were these expected to be long term pop-up stores? I never thought so.

bluefire1

bulk001 said:

I remember being in an Apple Store when v1 of the watch was released. A lady was there by appointment to try out the watch and put her handbag on the glass case holding the watches. You would of though that she had just s$$it on their display by the reaction of the staff who demanded that she immediately remove it or she would have to leave. Nobody knows if you have the 10k (or whatever the price is) gold watch or the cheapest version. Every watch looks the same and sadly (as I really want to see Cook's first product succeed) it just looks like some sort of tech-y watch that everyone has. Now if it had functionality that a Rolex didn't (like actually using my health data for some real purpose not some app that has no purpose being in a watch other than to say they have a watch app) it may be worth it but a high end watch like a Rolex it isn't (a high end Rolex appreciates over time, the apple watch does not). If everyone drove a Ferrari, a Ford Focus would suddenly stand out. 

The market for expensive watches like Rolex and Patik Philippe has softened since the introduction of the Apple Watch, which remains a work in progress. If Apple plays its cards right, the Watch will be a hit down the road. Compare sales of the first iPhone in 2007 (1.39 million) to sales 4 years later (72.29 million).  If AW does even half as well, it will be a huge success. 

huckdaisy1

SpamSandwich said:

I've seen more than a few Apple Watches in the real world recently. More than I expected to see.

I am a 57 year old who works in health care at a large mid western hospital. I own apple stock and my wife and I own iphones.  Two months ago I bought a apple wacth and I love it.  At work it is not uncommon to see half a dozen others wearing a apple watch,  I know Physicians, nurses and others who wear them.  I also see them at the gym,  So yes, I think apple is on to something.  

EsquireCats

The Watch is the new iPod. Indeed the past Nano-on-wrist pretty much foretold this angle. As for the pop-up stores closing, that's what they do: the watch is no longer new so pop-up stores won't do much outside of a holiday shopping season.

flashfan207

elijahg said:

Presumably this is due to few watches being sold at these locations. I've seen I think two other Apple watches in the wild. My Series 1 watch is good - I miss it if I forget it - but it certainly isn't essential. It has numerous problems: It's generally a bit slow, and the heart monitor is pretty poor. It's slow to detect a pulse and often just wrong, I've had heart rates as low as 35 registered.

Siri is slow too. Frequently displaying "I'll tap you when I'm ready", then either never tapping or ending up cancelling the request altogether because I lower my arm, which is downright annoying. It looks ridiculous as I have to walk around holding my arm up until Siri finally processes. This brings me to another point with Siri: why the hell aren't more requests processed directly on the phone/watch?! I had ViaVoice doing recognition on a 200mhz PPC603, I'm sure a 700mhz ARM CPU can handle it. 

Third party apps are still slow and often unresponsive too, even though the UI responds to touches. 

FitBits auto-detect activities, why do I have to manually start them with the Apple Watch?

It is great for notifications and replying with short responses, and for changing music tracks. The complications are really useful too, as is the Apple Pay capability. But when people ask me what I like about it, or to show me what it can do, sadly I quickly run out of things to say or show.

The Series 2 processor is snappy and responsive. Truly wonderful. A huge and noticeable upgrade over the original. I highly recommend it. 

gmgravytrain

bluefire1 said:

bulk001 said:

I remember being in an Apple Store when v1 of the watch was released. A lady was there by appointment to try out the watch and put her handbag on the glass case holding the watches. You would of though that she had just s$$it on their display by the reaction of the staff who demanded that she immediately remove it or she would have to leave. Nobody knows if you have the 10k (or whatever the price is) gold watch or the cheapest version. Every watch looks the same and sadly (as I really want to see Cook's first product succeed) it just looks like some sort of tech-y watch that everyone has. Now if it had functionality that a Rolex didn't (like actually using my health data for some real purpose not some app that has no purpose being in a watch other than to say they have a watch app) it may be worth it but a high end watch like a Rolex it isn't (a high end Rolex appreciates over time, the apple watch does not). If everyone drove a Ferrari, a Ford Focus would suddenly stand out. 

The market for expensive watches like Rolex and Patik Philippe has softened since the introduction of the Apple Watch, which remains a work in progress. If Apple plays its cards right, the Watch will be a hit down the road. Compare sales of the first iPhone in 2007 (1.39 million) to sales 4 years later (72.29 million).  If AW does even half as well, it will be a huge success. 

I get the feeling there is not a single analyst on Wall Street who even remotely thinks AppleWatch will ever be a successful product. In fact, most of them already believe AppleWatch to be a monumental Tim Cook failure. They all love the Echo (the hit product of the decade) and hate AppleWatch (supposedly the miss product of the decade). Every time AppleWatch is mentioned, the cry of disappointment is overwhelming. I truly don't quite understand why or how Apple keeps putting out products that are instantly hated. Has Apple really lost sight of what consumers want in the way of products?

king editor the grate

The lust factor is definitely there.

I live in southern Illinois, got new original Watch this fall. I used Apple Pay at Casey's and got a "Well that's neat!" from teenage clerk; asked about availability at Taco Bell (ugh) and clerk said it sounded really great and she'd use it if she had one, and tried and failed to use at Subway. I said I'm basically pointing it at everything that could possibly take it, and guy said, "I would too if I had one of those!"

Building a a better future, today!

yojimbo007

ulric said:

levi said:

Not sure where you're located but I see multiple daily in and around the SF Bay Area and when visiting family in the Midwest. The high end retail locations no longer make sense, especially since Apple has pivoted away from the luxury/Apple Watch edition strategy. Data and Apple's own marketing suggest sport and aluminum models are what's selling. This move makes total sense. 

Oh I bet you do see manyhipsters everyday sporting apple products in the SF Bay Area.  90 minutes away from the Apple campus.  That's where most of the watches must be.

The apple watch is so ugly and colorful, it's easy to spot.  That causes a bias that leads one to think that everyone has them everywhere when they're still rather rare. I'm in Canada and I know about a dozen people that have one, but I work in tech. I know a couple of people with Huawei watches, I don't draw a conclusion of market penetratoin from that. Normal people have fitbits, at most, and are no sure why they have one.

1-apple watch can be as monochromatic as you like... and as colorful as u like.  ( nice or ugly is too personal , i find most watches people wear now a days hidiouse ... Apple watch is simple and elegant and super customizable)
2- i dont live  near SF area and i see so many sporting them now a days.. above my expectstion. 
3- when you try one yourself for a month.. you will discover what a fantastic multifaceted and useful device it is.

minglok50

elijahg said:

Presumably this is due to few watches being sold at these locations. I've seen I think two other Apple watches in the wild. My Series 1 watch is good - I miss it if I forget it - but it certainly isn't essential. It has numerous problems: It's generally a bit slow, and the heart monitor is pretty poor. It's slow to detect a pulse and often just wrong, I've had heart rates as low as 35 registered.

Siri is slow too. Frequently displaying "I'll tap you when I'm ready", then either never tapping or ending up cancelling the request altogether because I lower my arm, which is downright annoying. It looks ridiculous as I have to walk around holding my arm up until Siri finally processes. This brings me to another point with Siri: why the hell aren't more requests processed directly on the phone/watch?! I had ViaVoice doing recognition on a 200mhz PPC603, I'm sure a 700mhz ARM CPU can handle it. 

Third party apps are still slow and often unresponsive too, even though the UI responds to touches. 

FitBits auto-detect activities, why do I have to manually start them with the Apple Watch?

It is great for notifications and replying with short responses, and for changing music tracks. The complications are really useful too, as is the Apple Pay capability. But when people ask me what I like about it, or to show me what it can do, sadly I quickly run out of things to say or show.

I assume you didn't upgrade the watchOS then as my first gen Apple Watch is more responsive since I did. Or I presume you don't own at all?

As for Selfridges store closing, I assume this is because the flagship store on Regents Street has reopened and there is also the Covent Garden store nearby. Therefore the Selfridges store isn't required. London retail space is expensive so no need for a third location within the Centre of London.

thedba

bluefire1 said:

bulk001 said:

I remember being in an Apple Store when v1 of the watch was released. A lady was there by appointment to try out the watch and put her handbag on the glass case holding the watches. You would of though that she had just s$$it on their display by the reaction of the staff who demanded that she immediately remove it or she would have to leave. Nobody knows if you have the 10k (or whatever the price is) gold watch or the cheapest version. Every watch looks the same and sadly (as I really want to see Cook's first product succeed) it just looks like some sort of tech-y watch that everyone has. Now if it had functionality that a Rolex didn't (like actually using my health data for some real purpose not some app that has no purpose being in a watch other than to say they have a watch app) it may be worth it but a high end watch like a Rolex it isn't (a high end Rolex appreciates over time, the apple watch does not). If everyone drove a Ferrari, a Ford Focus would suddenly stand out. 

The market for expensive watches like Rolex and Patik Philippe has softened since the introduction of the Apple Watch, which remains a work in progress. If Apple plays its cards right, the Watch will be a hit down the road. Compare sales of the first iPhone in 2007 (1.39 million) to sales 4 years later (72.29 million).  If AW does even half as well, it will be a huge success. 

I think the Apple watch is already a huge success. The only reason why many think it isn't, is they're comparing it to the iPhone. 
If we were to apply the same standards to all other bands/watches then absolutely no one would be considered successful. 

jaffa

"The market for expensive watches like Rolex and Patik Philippe has softened since the introduction of the Apple Watch" Lol, the Apple watch - even the gold one - has had zero influence on the quality watch market. No-one outside Apple's marketing department or their freebie receiving celebrity hangers-on thought the Apple Edition Watch was a serious player in the quality watch space, it was a joke.

xbit

elijahg said:

Presumably this is due to few watches being sold at these locations. I've seen I think two other Apple watches in the wild.

I live in London and I see multiple Apple Watches on my commute every day.

I visited the Selfridges pop-up when it opened to try on an Apple Watch. It was exactly that though: a temporary pop-up space. I'm surprised it lasted so long as it took up a large proportion of prime window space along Oxford Street.

jnieves386

levi said:

elijahg said:

Presumably this is due to few watches being sold at these locations. I've seen I think two other Apple watches in the wild. My Series 1 watch is good - I miss it if I forget it - but it certainly isn't essential. It has numerous problems: It's generally a bit slow, and the heart monitor is pretty poor. It's slow to detect a pulse and often just wrong, I've had heart rates as low as 35 registered.

Siri is slow too. Frequently displaying "I'll tap you when I'm ready", then either never tapping or ending up cancelling the request altogether because I lower my arm, which is downright annoying. It looks ridiculous as I have to walk around holding my arm up until Siri finally processes. This brings me to another point with Siri: why the hell aren't more requests processed directly on the phone/watch?! I had ViaVoice doing recognition on a 200mhz PPC603, I'm sure a 700mhz ARM CPU can handle it. 

Third party apps are still slow and often unresponsive too, even though the UI responds to touches. 

FitBits auto-detect activities, why do I have to manually start them with the Apple Watch?

It is great for notifications and replying with short responses, and for changing music tracks. The complications are really useful too, as is the Apple Pay capability. But when people ask me what I like about it, or to show me what it can do, sadly I quickly run out of things to say or show.

Not sure where you're located but I see multiple daily in and around the SF Bay Area and when visiting family in the Midwest. The high end retail locations no longer make sense, especially since Apple has pivoted away from the luxury/Apple Watch edition strategy. Data and Apple's own marketing suggest sport and aluminum models are what's selling. This move makes total sense. 

I live in LA and see Apple Watches every day. They are not made to be flashy, so you only notice them if you look for them.

GeorgeBMac

Why close department store displays?
Because they cater mostly to those interested in fashion accessories and Apple has realized that the Apple Watch is not well suited as a fashion accessory.

Apple would be better off opening up kiosks in sporting goods stores -- like Garmin has been doing.

I am a retired geek who has become a serious runner and strength trainer (although I do not look it!).  But, when I go to my running store looking for a running watch they will recommend and sell me everything BUT an Apple Watch.  If I wasn't a geek and an Apple fanatic, I would trust their advice.