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
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
Comments
5 Best Places? Munich, of course.
Frankfurt. Berlin. Hamburg. Köln (aka Cologne).
No particular order.
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.
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...
edit:
[/sarcasm] (i'm not here to start a flame war
in other words: germans are not very pleasant people to have around. build the stores in austria instead!
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's head explodes.
Why would I care?
in other words: germans are not very pleasant people to have around. build the stores in austria instead!
edit:
[/sarcasm] (i'm not here to start a flame war
I second that
Vienna just NEEDS an Apple Store.
Why would I care?
See? Others think it's illogical that you don't, too.
chucker's head explodes.
Naw, chucker is cool.
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.
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.
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
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.
Why would I care?
I thought you lived in Germany.
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.
To be honest, I'm really shocked at how ham-handed Wal-Mart was.
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.
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*