Apple retail chief Angela Ahrendts, other execs on hand for Omotesando Apple Store opening [u]

Posted:
in General Discussion edited June 2014
Apple SVP of Retail Angela Ahrendts made her first official public appearance as an Apple exec at the grand opening of the company's newest retail outlet in Japan on Friday, posing for pictures with Apple fans and customers who made it down for the event.


Angela Ahrendts poses with Apple fans at the Omotesando Apple Store's grand opening. | Source: Mac Otakara via Twitter


A throng of people lined up to get into the Omotesando Apple Store in Tokyo when its doors opened on Friday -- a rare sight for the upscale shopping avenue -- while passersby peeked through the all-glass front facade and side walls to catch a glimpse of the goings-on inside.

Aside from Ahrendts, Japanese Apple blog Mac Otakara noted other Apple executives in attendance included Retail Real Estate and Development Vice President Bob Bridger, Worldwide Apple Retail International sales VP Steve Cano and Online Stores VPs Jennifer Bailey and Bob Kupbens.

As usual, Apple Store employees handed out free commemorative T-shirts emblazoned with the green leafy Apple logo seen on the store's barricades during construction. Workers started removing the protective barriers on Monday, offering the first look at Apple retail's latest creation.

The box-like building shares an architectural design language with other recently built Apple Stores, boasting three all-glass walls and a metal roof with overhang. Apple first showed off the design in the new "Stanford 2" location that opened last September.

Unique to the Omotesando outlet is a so-called "green curtain" of foliage that drapes the concrete rear wall. The leaves are said to shield the structure from direct sunlight during peak hours, cutting down on energy costs associated with cooling down the store's interior.

With real estate on Omotesando at a premium, Apple installed a metal-and-glass spiral staircase leading down to an underground level with extra display floor space, the Genius Bar and accessory racks. The design was highlighted in a video released yesterday that also offered a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to prep an Apple Store for its grand opening.

Update: Japanese Apple blog Mac Otakara has posted additional details of the event and a photo slideshow showing off the massive crowd that came down for the grand opening. The article has been updated to reflect the information.

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 27
    I need to go to an Apple Store sometime. Never been to one. Closest one is about two hours away.
  • Reply 2 of 27
    freerangefreerange Posts: 1,597member
    Angela - welcome, and please kick some butt so that we quickly get many more stores in China!!!!!
  • Reply 3 of 27
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    I need to go to an Apple Store sometime. Never been to one. Closest one is about two hours away.
    There are 4 of them less than an hour from me. But all but one are in malls so the designs are quite boring.
  • Reply 4 of 27
    nizzardnizzard Posts: 58member
    id love to give her bum a good licking
  • Reply 5 of 27
    tokiontokion Posts: 1member

    I welcome Apple to Omotesando which is a short train-ride less than 20 min door-to-door from where I live near Shimo Kitazawa, and more convenient than the Shibuya-store where it is necessary to walk through crowded Shibuya. However, including the Ginza-store, I now have 3 x Apple stores that I can reach within 45 minutes. All of them are popular and Apple is thriving in Japan!

  • Reply 6 of 27
    aaronjaaronj Posts: 1,595member

    She's all class.  It will be nice to see her at events and the like in the future.

  • Reply 7 of 27
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by NIZZARD View Post



    id love to give her bum a good licking

     

    wow.

  • Reply 8 of 27

    Quote:


    Originally Posted by NIZZARD View Post



    id love to give her bum a good licking

     

    Ok, that's hilarious you damn Brit!! Hope you don't mind if I flag you.

  • Reply 9 of 27
    fred1fred1 Posts: 1,111member
    A "throng"? Really?
    Definition: "a large, densely packed crowd of people or animals."

    Don't see it in the photos.
  • Reply 10 of 27
    mpantonempantone Posts: 2,033member

    Probably hyperbole. It just looks like a pretty ordinary Tokyo scene.

  • Reply 11 of 27
    fred1 wrote: »
    A "throng"? Really?
    Definition: "a large, densely packed crowd of people or animals."

    I think the writer meant "Thong."

    Definition: "a large, densely packed part of people's anatomy slangly named after animals."
  • Reply 12 of 27
    constable odoconstable odo Posts: 1,041member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Fred1 View Post



    A "throng"? Really?

    Definition: "a large, densely packed crowd of people or animals."



    Don't see it in the photos.

    A "throng"?!!!  Who cares about crowds?  I came here because I thought they had photos of Angela wearing a "thong".

  • Reply 13 of 27
    fred1fred1 Posts: 1,111member
    You want to see Angela wearing a beach sandal? Oh wait . . .
  • Reply 14 of 27
    drive23drive23 Posts: 7member

    I'd say using the term 'throng' was an attempt at modesty.

     

  • Reply 15 of 27
    They had the grand opening of a Panera Bread yesterday in our town. There were 7 people there and 2 just happen upon it.
  • Reply 16 of 27
    They're reporting from the year 20134? Japan is way ahead of us on the international date line.
  • Reply 17 of 27

    It’s very exciting to witnessed and experienced along with the people to see and enjoy the stuff of the newly open store here in Japan the  Omotesando Apple Store's grand opening. This is just a part of the city in which old meets new, and the store is an ideal reflection. It help connects consumers to choose variety of stuff, just like mffais.com - it offers newly features and information of the company before deciding to invest and getting involve with it.

  • Reply 18 of 27
    How do I say her last name? Not only do I feel wrong whenever I read it in my head, but I also mistakingly say "adherents" which I realize isn't even what her last name is remotely spelled like... But... It's what my brain does for some reason. lol
  • Reply 19 of 27
    is her right hand left handed?
  • Reply 20 of 27
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    How do I say her last name? Not only do I feel wrong whenever I read it in my head, but I also mistakingly say "adherents" which I realize isn't even what her last name is remotely spelled like... But... It's what my brain does for some reason. lol

    Try rhyming it with "parents." Close enough, brain unstuck.
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