Could someone explain to me the advantage of having an Apple store at an airport. The internet thing mentioned above seems to be a good idea, but is a store actually necessary?
16 hour X-Pacific flight. That 8 hour battery's going to die. Buy that Belkin AA adapter.
Need some headphones? A memory card for your camera? Want to use iChat AV in the store to say good-bye to somebody at the last minute? Forgot to pack some blank media and need to burn a few discs for a client?
Might be a stretch, but airport retailers prey on the impulse, last minute buy.
Fabulous looking store!! And London has not even got a full-size place - YET!! I can't wait for late November's opening!
And an airport location would be just great - provided of course it was in the duty free zone at the terminal you were actually using - you would need at least 3 at Heathrow! As has been said - stock all those accessories and the range of small items, maybe software as well, laptops even!
Apple mini stores in all major Airports would be a terrific idea. This would give Apple and it's products a commanding presence in a demographic area that is far more tightly focused than even the most upscale Malls.
I don't have the data at hand, but from my own experience (working for Intel and Xerox) that business travelers make up significantly more than half of the people boarding flights (especially during the week). Providing a WiFi "hotspot" would make these mini stores a focal point for these business travelers on every trip.
Having an "Apple "genius" available before every business trip would vault Apple's support program into the forefront of every business laptop user's mind when making a laptop purchase for business use. How about a "loaner" program to put iBooks and Powerbooks in the hands of business users for the duration of their trip? The potential and possibilities of this concept are enormous.
I came out of a comfortable retirement to get a part time job as a Marketsource Apple "PowerRep" when I decided to become an Apple "switcher" (and investor - Yahoooo!) When my Sears and Circuit City stores were dropped (I bought a Cube cheap from my Circuit City account) I suggested to Marketsource management that they pitch Airport Apple kiosks manned by former Sears and Circuit City Power Reps, but that didn't fly.
The comment by Ron Johnson that the new mini store is about the size of retail space in Airports gives me some hope that Apple execs are thinking along these lines. Apple - Bring 'en On!
2) A token Dell peecee running XP and IE connected to the Net left unattended. Customers are encouraged to give it a whirl without comment.
This would also be a great way to demo ilife, when a windows user comes in, show them ilife and ask if they can do all of that on a bone stock windows xp install (or useing whatever crap dell includes this week)...
NO PMs, NO XSERVES NO XSERV RAIDS, NO 30 inch cinima display, no fiber channel raid cards, well dear god...apple will now have nothing to sell...oh be still my beating heart...
Could someone explain to me the advantage of having an Apple store at an airport. The internet thing mentioned above seems to be a good idea, but is a store actually necessary?
Check out this article by Jonathan Seff over at maccentral. The comments by Aphelion also make an awful lot of sense. This would be a great idea!
Also the new stores for the end of the year (up to 100) will include three additional mini-store locations in Syracuse, New York; St. Louis, Missouri; and Bethesda, Maryland. Looks like Apple's retail effort is booming!
Greetings. Today I went to the new Southcenter Apple Store mini. It wasn't advertised much (and it is a small store), so not many people where there. I got in pretty quickly. I watched someone check out using the new system and it is /slow/. First of all, it wasn't really self checkout, it was guided by an Apple Store employee. After every checkout, the screen locked (you could still see the background app) and the employee had to type in his password again. Also, the employee had to talk to his boss, because, as he said, about the half the items for sale didn't have bar codes. It looked like the system had some kinks to work out. I've tried using the self checkout at Home Depot and that wasn't very efficient (but I was buying lots of items). I think it is funny, yet appropriate, that iPods take up 1/4 the store . Also, having smaller, cheaper stores helps get the word out to the smaller, father out malls and cities.
Also, if a mini store in an area becomes extremely succesful, it would hint at a full size store in that area. So these stores really allow apple to feel out a lot of places easier for the number of people wanting to buy macs.
Also, if a mini store in an area becomes extremely succesful, it would hint at a full size store in that area. So these stores really allow apple to feel out a lot of places easier for the number of people wanting to buy macs.
i don't think that's the case at all.
these are going in markets that already have a large apple store or that are not big enough to sustain one. despite being small, these stores definitely don't look cheap to build and it would be bad business to place them in anticipation of eventually replacing them with larger stores.
these need to be built on college campuses though.
Apple stores at airports with free "airport" and internet access would quickly become very popular IMHO.
Airports, stations, near schools/universities. And, if anyone interested in the international market is listening, follow this idea to every, yes every country, where a Mac/iPod could be sold. In most such countries, it is almost as though Apple does not exist! 5% means 1 in 20 computer shops should be Apple. I fear it is 1 in 200 or even 1 in 2000!
Now, before, I get accused that it is not a fair comparison, I agree. It's just that, I rarely hear people I know, tell me they are considering a Mac. All these people are still, er, uninformed!
I am glad Apple is doing great, but I can't get that phrase out of my head- " running to stand still".
Comments
Originally posted by Tuttle
Hmm, the word 'sterile' comes to mind.
Are you suggesting Apple Store employees have low sperm counts?
Originally posted by dino
Could someone explain to me the advantage of having an Apple store at an airport. The internet thing mentioned above seems to be a good idea, but is a store actually necessary?
16 hour X-Pacific flight. That 8 hour battery's going to die. Buy that Belkin AA adapter.
Need some headphones? A memory card for your camera? Want to use iChat AV in the store to say good-bye to somebody at the last minute? Forgot to pack some blank media and need to burn a few discs for a client?
Might be a stretch, but airport retailers prey on the impulse, last minute buy.
And an airport location would be just great - provided of course it was in the duty free zone at the terminal you were actually using - you would need at least 3 at Heathrow! As has been said - stock all those accessories and the range of small items, maybe software as well, laptops even!
Originally posted by tonton
This is exactly it, but I expect quite a few iPod sales, even though travelers wouldn't have time to load them up.
When are the airlines going to start selling iPods in-flight through their duty-free catalogs?
I don't have the data at hand, but from my own experience (working for Intel and Xerox) that business travelers make up significantly more than half of the people boarding flights (especially during the week). Providing a WiFi "hotspot" would make these mini stores a focal point for these business travelers on every trip.
Having an "Apple "genius" available before every business trip would vault Apple's support program into the forefront of every business laptop user's mind when making a laptop purchase for business use. How about a "loaner" program to put iBooks and Powerbooks in the hands of business users for the duration of their trip? The potential and possibilities of this concept are enormous.
I came out of a comfortable retirement to get a part time job as a Marketsource Apple "PowerRep" when I decided to become an Apple "switcher" (and investor - Yahoooo!) When my Sears and Circuit City stores were dropped (I bought a Cube cheap from my Circuit City account) I suggested to Marketsource management that they pitch Airport Apple kiosks manned by former Sears and Circuit City Power Reps, but that didn't fly.
The comment by Ron Johnson that the new mini store is about the size of retail space in Airports gives me some hope that Apple execs are thinking along these lines. Apple - Bring 'en On!
Originally posted by Xtremehkr
Place it in a poorly lit corner, facing a wall, with a dunce hat on.
Hahaha! That's a good idea.
Originally posted by Zweben
Hahaha! That's a good idea.
That would be petty. What I suggested would be effective.
Originally posted by Tuttle
2) A token Dell peecee running XP and IE connected to the Net left unattended. Customers are encouraged to give it a whirl without comment.
This would also be a great way to demo ilife, when a windows user comes in, show them ilife and ask if they can do all of that on a bone stock windows xp install (or useing whatever crap dell includes this week)...
Originally posted by CrunchinJelly
Wait a minute!
No eMac's in that store!
Apple are discontinuing it! I knew it!
NO PMs, NO XSERVES NO XSERV RAIDS, NO 30 inch cinima display, no fiber channel raid cards, well dear god...apple will now have nothing to sell...oh be still my beating heart...
1) No bags, gotta open the bottom cabinet
2) There's a god-awful delay after you scan your item and wiat for it to appear on screen
3) No way to get receipts other than opening the bottom drawer to the laser printer.
4) @Stanford, thermal paper slot, but not in use... @Oakridge, slot not present!
5)The interface doesn't look finished yet.
The PoS system is actually based around a G4 iMac. The whole wall slides out on rails like an Xserve.
Originally posted by dino
Could someone explain to me the advantage of having an Apple store at an airport. The internet thing mentioned above seems to be a good idea, but is a store actually necessary?
Check out this article by Jonathan Seff over at maccentral. The comments by Aphelion also make an awful lot of sense. This would be a great idea!
Also the new stores for the end of the year (up to 100) will include three additional mini-store locations in Syracuse, New York; St. Louis, Missouri; and Bethesda, Maryland. Looks like Apple's retail effort is booming!
Andrew
Originally posted by adpowers
I think it is funny, yet appropriate, that iPods take up 1/4 the store
Andrew
so these are basically iPod stores.
Originally posted by brianru
Also, if a mini store in an area becomes extremely succesful, it would hint at a full size store in that area. So these stores really allow apple to feel out a lot of places easier for the number of people wanting to buy macs.
i don't think that's the case at all.
these are going in markets that already have a large apple store or that are not big enough to sustain one. despite being small, these stores definitely don't look cheap to build and it would be bad business to place them in anticipation of eventually replacing them with larger stores.
these need to be built on college campuses though.
Originally posted by Carson O'Genic
Apple stores at airports with free "airport" and internet access would quickly become very popular IMHO.
Airports, stations, near schools/universities. And, if anyone interested in the international market is listening, follow this idea to every, yes every country, where a Mac/iPod could be sold. In most such countries, it is almost as though Apple does not exist! 5% means 1 in 20 computer shops should be Apple. I fear it is 1 in 200 or even 1 in 2000!
Now, before, I get accused that it is not a fair comparison, I agree. It's just that, I rarely hear people I know, tell me they are considering a Mac. All these people are still, er, uninformed!
I am glad Apple is doing great, but I can't get that phrase out of my head- " running to stand still".