Apple finalizes plans for third Manhattan retail store
Apple Computer will open its third Manhattan retail store at SL Green Realty Corp.'s retail joint venture at West 34th Street, according to Reuters.
"The team had to negotiate more than six separate transactions and explore the outer reaches of the New York City building code with help of several consultants," Andrew Mathias, SL Green's chief investment officer, is reported as saying during a third-quarter conference call with analysts on Tuesday.
According to the report, the deal for the Apple Store west of Fifth Avenue began with discussions of a 50-by-100 square-foot floor plan but the store will end up being 50 to 75 feet by 100 feet.
The Mac maker's quest for its third Manhattan hot spot has been met with its share of road bumps. Almost a year ago to the day, it abandoned plans for a glass enclosed two-story retail store in Manhattan's Flatiron District after being unable to come to terms with a local landmarks preservation commission.
Apple returned to the drawing board and in Dec. of 2005 was reported to have net-leased an entire 30,000-foot five-story building opposite the Empire State Building at 21 W. 34th St from Jeff Sutton of Wharton Realty and his partner, SL Green Realty Trust. A back-and-forth process then ensued, with Apple reportedly testing the limits of Manhattan's building code before recently finalizing plans to proceed with renovations.
It's unclear from the latest report when Apple plans to open the new store. However, a timeframe around the second half of 2007 would seem most likely given the company's previous retail initiatives in Manhattan.
Apple currently operates two other retail outfits on the island, each of which are approximately 20,000 square feet in size: an underground Fifth Avenue location that opened in 2006 beneath a 32-foot glass cube entranceway and a trendy two-story shop that opened in Soho in 2002.
"The team had to negotiate more than six separate transactions and explore the outer reaches of the New York City building code with help of several consultants," Andrew Mathias, SL Green's chief investment officer, is reported as saying during a third-quarter conference call with analysts on Tuesday.
According to the report, the deal for the Apple Store west of Fifth Avenue began with discussions of a 50-by-100 square-foot floor plan but the store will end up being 50 to 75 feet by 100 feet.
The Mac maker's quest for its third Manhattan hot spot has been met with its share of road bumps. Almost a year ago to the day, it abandoned plans for a glass enclosed two-story retail store in Manhattan's Flatiron District after being unable to come to terms with a local landmarks preservation commission.
Apple returned to the drawing board and in Dec. of 2005 was reported to have net-leased an entire 30,000-foot five-story building opposite the Empire State Building at 21 W. 34th St from Jeff Sutton of Wharton Realty and his partner, SL Green Realty Trust. A back-and-forth process then ensued, with Apple reportedly testing the limits of Manhattan's building code before recently finalizing plans to proceed with renovations.
It's unclear from the latest report when Apple plans to open the new store. However, a timeframe around the second half of 2007 would seem most likely given the company's previous retail initiatives in Manhattan.
Apple currently operates two other retail outfits on the island, each of which are approximately 20,000 square feet in size: an underground Fifth Avenue location that opened in 2006 beneath a 32-foot glass cube entranceway and a trendy two-story shop that opened in Soho in 2002.
Comments
Maybe this one will float above ground?
why not put a mini-store one in every starbucks?
or convert a subway train. that way they could be everywhere!
there are already two apple stores in manhattan... let's put a store in park slope brooklyn. i live there so i might be slightly biased.
Not an Apple Store per se, but you may be interested in this:
http://www.macsupportstore.com/
there are already two apple stores in manhattan... let's put a store in park slope brooklyn. i live there so i might be slightly biased.
The Apple Stores are about marketing and mindshare -- being across the street from the Empire State Building is a smart way to market your products to ever-revolving numbers of tourists.
It's like putting one in Disneyland.
Is a 3rd one in Manhattan really necessary? I think Jobs is just bored and wants to design a new building.
Not really. I'd rather they start focusing on places with no or little Apple Store coverage first, but they seem hell bent on seeing how many Apple stores they can put in a given area.
Is a 3rd one in Manhattan really necessary?
You guys don't know NYC. We have 8.7 million people living in 321 square miles, plus around 2 - 3 million visitors every day. The two stores we have are packed with people.
Los Angeles has four stores, 2 of those stores are within a mile of each other. Los Angeles population is around 4 million people living in 498 square miles. Their four stores don't see nearly the same amount of foot traffic as our two.
It's like putting one in Disneyland.
Now that Jobs is the largest shareholder of Disney, I am sure plans are in the works.
Maybe an Apple ride too.
Is a 3rd one in Manhattan really necessary? I think Jobs is just bored and wants to design a new building.
The SoHo store is so crowded that it's difficult to walk around. It does so much business that waiting on line can be a chore.
I'll give you an idea.
When that store opened, it had just one area with registers, at the left of the front doors.
Then it had to open up more in the iPod section upstairs.
Then it had to open more upstairs opposite the iPod section.
It's still too busy.
The GM store has more registers already, but during any fairly normal shopping time, they are busy. No, I mean BUSY!
Another store? You bet!
Even though this store will be smaller, it will help.
New York is a Mac city, believe me.
You guys don't know NYC. We have 8.7 million people living in 321 square miles, plus around 2 - 3 million visitors every day. The two stores we have are packed with people.
Los Angeles has four stores, 2 of those stores are within a mile of each other. Los Angeles population is around 4 million people living in 498 square miles. Their four stores don't see nearly the same amount of foot traffic as our two.
Right.
And, I almost forgot.
There is one in the Roosevelt mall.
Also busy, and too small.
Now that Jobs is the largest shareholder of Disney, I am sure plans are in the works.
Maybe an Apple ride too.
The store in Disneyworld would be a good idea, though people on vacation won't be interested in big items, iPods and accessories as well as Macbooks might do surprisingly well.
Don't forget that Apple had an area in the Innovations building for years.
And, I almost forgot.
There is one in the Roosevelt mall.
Ah yeah I totally forgot about that one.
I never really go to Staten Island.
i need to make a trip to san antonio. i wasn't aware they opened up an apple store there.
Ah yeah I totally forgot about that one.
I never really go to Staten Island.
Not Staten Island. Queens.
nevermind.
I'm pretty sure we'll see one ther at some point.