Chestnut Street Apple Store may be ready by December

[AppleInsider]

Progress updates on the construction of a new Apple retail store in San Francisco's Marina District suggest a building well on its way to completion, albeit at the last minute.

ifo Apple Store reported on Thursday that Apple's third store for the city now has its steel framing as well as the air conditioning and electrical wiring, with the stainless metal lining for the inside already waiting in containers.

With a lot size of approximately 40-feet by 95-feet, the new shop is likely to fall between the company's two existing San Francisco locations in terms of square footage. Ongoing construction efforts are reportedly frantic, as workers attempt to complete the project in time to catch late holiday season shoppers.

A reporter from the San Francisco area blog Curbed noted in one update that the construction company's parking permit expires in mid-December, leaving the company less than three months to park and operate its heavy machinery outside the storefront. Whether or not employees would be ready to open the store so late into the holiday season is unclear, however.

This hurry may have already registered in a complaint from a neighboring store, ifo said, referring to city permits. One local resident griped in July that construction work had begun before 6:30 AM.

For Apple, the venture is also a pricey one, regardless of the location's seemingly limited floor space -- the Cupertino-based company and its contractor were reportedly asked to pay $100,000 to remove the Walgreen's pharmacy that once occupied the location, and a much heftier $2.6 million to build the new store.

The Apple store's location relative to the Marina Theater. | Credit: Curbed.

The exposed framework of the future Chestnut store. | Credit: Curbed.

The location appears to be wider than Stonestown. | Credit: Curbed.

Even with these considerations looming over its head, however, Apple stands to benefit significantly from the outlet's help in satiating the Bay Area's demand for the company's products. During the initial rush to buy the iPhone, San Francisco's Stockton Street flagship and the Stonestown mall stores were some of the first to run out of the handset, and have been home to some of the most frenzied buying during the holidays.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[digitalclips]

Three in one City! Lucky them! I'd love one in Sarasota.

[solipsism]

Not a very big store from the looks of it.

Originally Posted by digitalclips

Three in one City! Lucky them! I'd love one in Sarasota.

Maybe you can get one in Best Buy in Sarasota. :-) As for now Tampa is your closest one and there are two new ones just South of Ft. Myers. Surprising that Sarasota hasn't made the list yet.

[city]

Originally Posted by digitalclips

Three in one City! Lucky them! I'd love one in Sarasota.

This is Apple's backyard. I think L.A. has a dozen stores: The Beverly Center and Grove stores being about a mile apart.

[mrjoec123]

Originally Posted by digitalclips

Three in one City! Lucky them! I'd love one in Sarasota.

I know it sounds crazy to some people to have three stores in one small city (the population is only 800,000 or so here), let alone more than 10 in the surrounding Bay Area, but if you saw how mobbed the Stockton Street store is on a daily basis, you'd understand the need. Plus, the Marina is full of just-got-out-of-college ex-frat Yuppies who have cash to burn. And it's right next to Pacific Heights, Seacliff, and all the richest parts of the city where celebrities who don't want to live in LA live.

They'll make back their money and then some.

[digitalclips]

Originally Posted by mrjoec123

I know it sounds crazy to some people to have three stores in one small city (the population is only 800,000 or so here), let alone more than 10 in the surrounding Bay Area, but if you saw how mobbed the Stockton Street store is on a daily basis, you'd understand the need. Plus, the Marina is full of just-got-out-of-college ex-frat Yuppies who have cash to burn. And it's right next to Pacific Heights, Seacliff, and all the richest parts of the city where celebrities who don't want to live in LA live.

They'll make back their money and then some.

I am all for that

Hey I was only kidding. I know Sarasota is a dot on the map compared to San Fran.

Maybe Apple could take over a few Walgreens locations here and save money, we have about 300 too many here

[baygbm]

I've visited 9 Apple stores in the last couple years. How many Apple stores have you been to?

I'll check out that Chesnutt street store when it opens.

[city]

Originally Posted by baygbm

I've visited 9 Apple stores in the last couple years. How many Apple stores have you been to?

I'll check out that Chesnutt street store when it opens.

Aren't they all the same?

[Wildguess]

Originally Posted by digitalclips

Three in one City! Lucky them! I'd love one in Sarasota.

And I know the perfect spot. It would be at the new upscale mall going
up at University and I-75.

[Unicron]

You know there are entire *states* that don't have an Apple Store, yet SF will have three?? Bitter!!

[eridium]

Originally Posted by baygbm

I've visited 9 Apple stores in the last couple years. How many Apple stores have you been to? .

Interesting question.
I've been to:
Tokyo (Ginza) - The most impressive Apple store I've visited, it's 5 stories tall and *packed* with goodies and customers, is very stylish, and the theater/presentation floor is the most cinema-like of any Apple store.
Osaka (Japan) - Also pretty impressive, though only 2 stories. Metallic, modern, kind of a polished aluminum look.
Emeryville Bay St - The 1st or 2nd Apple store, back when I was a student at UC Berkeley. My friend worked there ... was great for the novelty, being the first.
Stanford/Palo Alto - More of the same.
San Francisco (flagship) - beautiful, I think this is in a bank building? It has a skylight so you can see some of the skyscrapers of San Fran when you look up. A little larger than the Osaka store but smaller than Tokyo.
I live in Los Angeles so there are a ton around me, but none of them are nice like the San Fran/Tokyo stores:
Santa Monica - lots of traffic, but bad for buying a system: opens to a pedestrian shopping area (3rd Street Promenade) Probably has high sales from all the customers.
Century City - smaller, but sane. Easy parking in a really nice shopping mall, this is where I buy my systems.
The Grove - nothing special, but in another high-pedestrian-traffic area
Manhattan Beach - Completely non-descript and uninteresting. I'd rather go to Best Buy. Yawn.

Originally Posted by city

Aren't they all the same?

Actually some of them are really beautiful, I've never been to the flagship in New York but image it's awesome.
In the Tokyo and San Francisco outlets, it feels like a little event just visiting ... very cool shopping experience.

[addabox]

Originally Posted by Wildguess

And I know the perfect spot. It would be at the new upscale mall going
up at University and I-75.

Huh. My family is in the process of selling my late grandfather's home about three miles west on University.

It's weird, cause the lot is being bought to develop some big office complex, and when I was a kid and we visited my grandparents, all of that area was just country and small bungalows.

I guess the whole corridor is getting really built up?

[computer123]

Cheers, I am glad to hear that .