Apple signs for flagship space in Munich

***AppleInsider*** · 03-05-2007, 02:55 PM

Apple has inked a deal with a Munich realtor for what will become the company's first retail outlet in Germany, a published report said Monday

According to wiwo.de, the consumer electronics maker plans to turn a five-story building in Marienplatz into a four-story flagship retail shop.

An architect's rendering accompanying the report appears to show that renovations to the location at 1 Rosenstrasse, formerly home to Sport Schuster, will include an all-glass facade and suspended Apple logo above the main entranceway.

The store, which will reportedly open sometime in the second half of 2008, is said to be just one of approximately five Apple retail locations planned for Germany.

Other locations are expected in Berlin and Frankfurt.

Architectural sketch of Apple Store Munich published by wiwo.de

Ireland · 03-05-2007, 03:04 PM

chucker's head explodes.

Vulcan1 · 03-05-2007, 04:13 PM

I hope they find their way to Düsseldorf too!! Königsallee would be perfect

macdracor · 03-05-2007, 04:26 PM

I'll be here for three more years! Let the Frankfurt store come quickly, and let them accept VAT forms!!!

suhail · 03-05-2007, 04:34 PM

That is the bestest place!! Prime space, very expensive, brilliant idea.

Vox Barbara · 03-05-2007, 05:09 PM

Yeah, Apple goes Germany, why took it so long?
5 Best Places? Munich, of course.
Frankfurt. Berlin. Hamburg. Köln (aka Cologne).
No particular order.

SpamSandwich · 03-05-2007, 05:16 PM

Should be interesting. Germany is known to have some of the most competitive retail in the world. Trust me, the customers there will drive Apple's Genius Bar people completely nuts.

Vox Barbara · 03-05-2007, 05:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Should be interesting. Germany is known to have some of the most competitive retail in the world. Trust me, the customers there will drive Apple's Genius Bar people completely nuts.

Uhm... can you explain a wee bit further, just curious...

SpamSandwich · 03-05-2007, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vox Barbara

Uhm... can you explain a wee bit further, just curious...

Germans are difficult customers to crack. Wal-Mart pulled out of Germany (not to mention China) because they couldn't adapt to the local way of doing business. If you took my barb personally, I apologize...

thetru7h · 03-05-2007, 07:46 PM

in other words: germans are not very pleasant people to have around. build the stores in austria instead!

@ our northern neighbours

edit:
[/sarcasm] (i'm not here to start a flame war

)

SpamSandwich · 03-05-2007, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thetru7h

in other words: germans are not very pleasant people to have around. build the stores in austria instead!

@ our northern neighbours

edit:
[/sarcasm] (i'm not here to start a flame war

)

I heard a little spark in the flame war about to begin... hee, hee...

Chucker · 03-05-2007, 08:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ireland

chucker's head explodes.

Why would I care?

atari · 03-05-2007, 09:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thetru7h

in other words: germans are not very pleasant people to have around. build the stores in austria instead!

@ our northern neighbours

edit:
[/sarcasm] (i'm not here to start a flame war

)

I second that

Vienna just NEEDS an Apple Store.

m01ety · 03-05-2007, 09:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chucker

Why would I care?

See? Others think it's illogical that you don't, too.

Carol A · 03-05-2007, 09:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ireland

chucker's head explodes.

Naw, chucker is cool.

Carol A · 03-05-2007, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Should be interesting. Germany is known to have some of the most competitive retail in the world. Trust me, the customers there will drive Apple's Genius Bar people completely nuts.

Wow. It would be really interesting to get 'the inside story' on how this store works out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Germans are difficult customers to crack. Wal-Mart pulled out of Germany (not to mention China) because they couldn't adapt to the local way of doing business.

Is there any chance you could elaborate on what happened with the Wal-Mart story wrt Germany? I mean, what's so different about the way they do business there?

Thanks in advance.

SpamSandwich · 03-06-2007, 12:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carol A

Wow. It would be really interesting to get 'the inside story' on how this store works out.

Is there any chance you could elaborate on what happened with the Wal-Mart story wrt Germany? I mean, what's so different about the way they do business there?

Thanks in advance.

Sure. Here are a few recent articles.

http://www.businessweek.com/globalbi...+news_top+news

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,...112746,00.html

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/to...icle694345.ece

Denmaru · 03-06-2007, 01:32 AM

Indeed - Vienna is in dire need of an Apple Store. But I wonder how the genius bar would handle some people of this city...

Thorsten · 03-06-2007, 03:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Sure. Here are a few recent articles.

http://www.businessweek.com/globalbi...+news_top+news

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,...112746,00.html

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/to...icle694345.ece

I don't think that Apple can make the same mistakes as Walmart.

Because the Apple Store Model is excellent, and I believe Germans will like it a lot.

When you buy a Mac these days in Germany you feel like walking into a store that sells Computer parts and happens to sell Macs too but not a Mac Store.

So I am really looking forward to the Apple Stores.

Also the Mac Stores in Germany, always complain about Apple how Apple treats them and that probably is Apples fault so I am looking to get Service directly from Apple at the Apple Store and buying new products right away and not having to wait 2 weeks after the release.

Ireland · 03-06-2007, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chucker

Why would I care?

I thought you lived in Germany.

Carol A · 03-06-2007, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Sure. Here are a few recent articles.

http://www.businessweek.com/globalbi...+news_top+news

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,...112746,00.html

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/to...icle694345.ece

Thank you.

Very interesting.

To be honest, I'm really shocked at how ham-handed Wal-Mart was.

It seems like the most basic business practice should be to study everything there is to know about a new market, esp. one in a different culture, *before* one goes into the country.

Sounds like Wal-Mart did just the opposite, and instead put lots of effort into trying to force 'their' way and business ethos onto this new market. Well, they're losing a billion dollars for being so pigheaded. I hope some heads roll over such appalling mismanagement.

Quote:

The retreat is hardly surprising given Wal-Mart's numerous missteps in Germany. Perhaps its most glaring was misjudging the German consumer and business culture. For instance, German Wal-Marts adopted the U.S. custom of bagging groceries, which many German consumers find distasteful because they tend not to like strangers handling their food.

It also imported its U.S.-style company ethic, which includes strongly discouraging interoffice romances. Many employees found the code intrusive. The company also had repeated clashes with unions. "Wal-Mart was not very humble when they went in," says Bryan Roberts, an analyst at Planet Retail, an industry research firm. "They wanted to impose their own culture."

Just as important was Wal-Mart's apparent underestimation of the competition and its miscalculation of the market. Wal-Mart may be the king of low prices in the U.S., but it was often undercut in Germany by local rivals such as Aldi and Lidl. One reason for that may have been that Wal-Mart never had enough stores in Germany to effectively compete. Aldi has some 4,000 stores, giving it a big advantage in logistics and advertising.

I think the 'bagging' issue is a bit much, however. Bagging should have been a nice convenience for the shoppers. How do they think those cans, jars and boxes got onto the grocery shelves to begin with? Someone touched them, of course. And wrt a stranger touching fruits and veggies, the consumer should just wash fresh foods before use.

Oh well, whatever. Seems there was finicky stubbornness on both sides. So Wal-Mart lost a billion dollars, and the German shoppers now are stuck with the Metro stores having less competition. Serves them both right. *shrug*

03-05-2007, 02:55 PM	#1
*AppleInsider* Kasper's Automated Slave Join Date: Nov 1997 Posts: 6,166	Apple signs for flagship space in Munich Apple has inked a deal with a Munich realtor for what will become the company's first retail outlet in Germany, a published report said Monday According to wiwo.de, the consumer electronics maker plans to turn a five-story building in Marienplatz into a four-story flagship retail shop. An architect's rendering accompanying the report appears to show that renovations to the location at 1 Rosenstrasse, formerly home to Sport Schuster, will include an all-glass facade and suspended Apple logo above the main entranceway. The store, which will reportedly open sometime in the second half of 2008, is said to be just one of approximately five Apple retail locations planned for Germany. Other locations are expected in Berlin and Frankfurt. Architectural sketch of Apple Store Munich published by wiwo.de

03-05-2007, 03:04 PM	#2
Ireland Registered User Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Ireland Posts: 8,564	chucker's head explodes. Collecting my SSD iMac Fry-die. :D

03-05-2007, 04:26 PM	#4
macdracor Registered User Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 1	Hurry to Frankfurt! I'll be here for three more years! Let the Frankfurt store come quickly, and let them accept VAT forms!!!

03-05-2007, 04:34 PM	#5
suhail Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 190	Awesome! That is the bestest place!! Prime space, very expensive, brilliant idea.

03-05-2007, 05:09 PM	#6
Vox Barbara grain of truth Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: mull over Posts: 1,891	Yeah, Apple goes Germany, why took it so long? 5 Best Places? Munich, of course. Frankfurt. Berlin. Hamburg. Köln (aka Cologne). No particular order. " I will not commit anything to memory that I can get from another source . . . " ALBERT EINSTEIN

03-05-2007, 04:13 PM	#3
Vulcan1 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 40	I hope they find their way to Düsseldorf too!! Königsallee would be perfect

03-05-2007, 05:16 PM	#7
SpamSandwich Registered User Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 8,461	Should be interesting. Germany is known to have some of the most competitive retail in the world. Trust me, the customers there will drive Apple's Genius Bar people completely nuts. "The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield, and government to gain ground." —Thomas Jefferson Proud AAPL stock owner.

03-05-2007, 07:46 PM	#10
thetru7h Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Location: Europe Posts: 4	in other words: germans are not very pleasant people to have around. build the stores in austria instead! @ our northern neighbours edit: [/sarcasm] (i'm not here to start a flame war )

03-06-2007, 01:32 AM	#18
Denmaru Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Vienna Posts: 182	Indeed - Vienna is in dire need of an Apple Store. But I wonder how the genius bar would handle some people of this city... Now running on a 20" aluminium iMac (Fall 2008), as well as a Macboook Pro 13" (mid 2009) and an iPhone.

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