Angela Ahrendts interview addresses Apple retail refurb, town square concept successes
Apple's Senior Vice President of Retail Angela Ahrendts launched the 2016 Most Powerful Women Summit on Monday, and talked about her path leading to Apple, initial reluctance to take the job, and successes in tailoring the Apple Store experience for customers.
"I told him, 'I'm not a techie,'" Ahrendts told Forbes about when she was approached by Cook for the job. "And he said, 'I think we have 10,000 of those, you are supposed to be here.'"
Over the course of the next few conversations with Cook about the position, Ahrendts suggested that instead of just helming retail, that her position focus on blending retail with the online presence, and re-focus the stores to be a larger part of the community as a whole.
Ahrendts proposal to Cook led to the town square concept in some of Apple's newer stores and recent remodeling efforts.
"Companies have a huge obligation right now, and the bigger the company, the bigger the obligation," Ahrendts said. "We are thinking about what the community needs."
Ahrendts noted that before the end of the year, 95 stores will be redesigned to accommodate Apple's vision of a community surrounding each store, with the town square serving as educational centers for the area. The executive pointed to "Teacher Tuesdays" and the forthcoming classes for children to learn Swift in conjunction with the recently released iPad Swift Playgrounds app as part of that larger vision for the stores.
"The store is now the biggest product we produce and we have five new features," said Ahrendts. "Accessories are avenues, and the huge digital screen in each store is the forum."
"On the weekend you'll see an artist sketching things or a guy playing a guitar," Ahrendts said about the new Apple store concept. "The goal is to help foster human experiences that draw people out of their digital bubbles."
Ahrends was the CEO of fashion icon Burberry from 2006 to 2014, before her tenure at Apple. She joined Apple on May 1, 2014, and is the only female senior executive at Apple.
"I told him, 'I'm not a techie,'" Ahrendts told Forbes about when she was approached by Cook for the job. "And he said, 'I think we have 10,000 of those, you are supposed to be here.'"
Over the course of the next few conversations with Cook about the position, Ahrendts suggested that instead of just helming retail, that her position focus on blending retail with the online presence, and re-focus the stores to be a larger part of the community as a whole.
Ahrendts proposal to Cook led to the town square concept in some of Apple's newer stores and recent remodeling efforts.
"Companies have a huge obligation right now, and the bigger the company, the bigger the obligation," Ahrendts said. "We are thinking about what the community needs."
Ahrendts noted that before the end of the year, 95 stores will be redesigned to accommodate Apple's vision of a community surrounding each store, with the town square serving as educational centers for the area. The executive pointed to "Teacher Tuesdays" and the forthcoming classes for children to learn Swift in conjunction with the recently released iPad Swift Playgrounds app as part of that larger vision for the stores.
"The store is now the biggest product we produce and we have five new features," said Ahrendts. "Accessories are avenues, and the huge digital screen in each store is the forum."
"On the weekend you'll see an artist sketching things or a guy playing a guitar," Ahrendts said about the new Apple store concept. "The goal is to help foster human experiences that draw people out of their digital bubbles."
Ahrends was the CEO of fashion icon Burberry from 2006 to 2014, before her tenure at Apple. She joined Apple on May 1, 2014, and is the only female senior executive at Apple.
Comments
I don't think the "town square" idea (along with bringing in artists and musicians) is necessarily a bad idea in general (in fact, I kinda like the idea), but the biggest problem Apple stores have is the large number of people in them already. They need to figure out how to get people in and out *faster*, not have them linger.
Perhaps the "town square" idea would be a better fit at the Microsoft stores....they seem to have more than enough empty space to do this right
So that massive portfolio you keep banging on about won't let you stretch to a Starbucks?
The problem is that many folk don't understand how ducks move.
If they can't see something going on right in front of their eyes, they think that nothing is happening. Because Sog can't see China from his basement he has no inkling of the work Ahrendts has done there. When she started, Apple didn't have a single store. Now they'll have 40 by the end of the year).
Double the the size of every store? and add a cafe? How does the latter help sell Apple products? How does the former help? Some store are small but most are the right size. What are you going to do with the extra space? Apple has enough space to display its hardware.
But Angela, if you're reading this, for god's sake do something about the nose level in the stores. I went to the new Brea refurb for a Numbers on the Mac class and besides barely being able to hear the instructor, my ears rang for an hour after leaving. Granted, this store seems to be packed all the time, but still . . .
Exactly! They're almost too conservative at times, but I guess its better than just building stores for the sake of building them.
"She's one of the most inspiring leaders I've ever known of"... your bar is seriously low... you'd give McDs a Michelin star