Why would you want seating. Part of the Apple Store experience is the energy, and browsing the different areas and products even while waiting for the Genius Bar. Not sitting around on your butt. We do enough of that already.
Here's a for instance: My Dad loves his iPhone and he is 83 years old. He has been in Apple stores many times. If he were to go on a crazy busy day and needed to wait a while for a service, he might appreciate a place to sit.
I spent an hour inanApple store waiting for my phone backup to compete. Sitting would be great. When my Dad went in t get his iphone 6, he sure could have used a real chair. He's old!!
A showcase music area to try out the new Apple/Beats headphones (could be hugely profitable)?
Remember when a good part of the Apple Store was for software? I remember when people were upset when Apple started removing it. I remember saying how digital downloads were the future and getting a lot of comments about how running off a CD was still the best way for this or that. Things change, but at least this time ?Watch clues us in as to why some things require change.
Not sure if anyone mentioned this but I read it a couple days ago on 9 [to] 5 that they were setting up a jewelry style display.
This smacks of a new hotshot executive wanting to make her mark by shaking up things, mostly just for the sake of doing it. I have to ask myself just what is so broken about Apple Stores now that requires radical changes? Adding seating and projecting an image of luxury sound like bad ideas for the Apple Store experience.
It almost sounds like she wants to turn Apple Stores into some kind of boutique where customers can sit and discuss accessorizing with Apple products with salespeople over a cup of herb tea. I predict a major fail and that she will be handed her golden parachute and shoved out the hatch inside of two years.
Hot shot exec? She was a CEO that left to join Apple. She has nothing to prove.
While she's at it, change the name "Genius Bar" to something less condescending, and add signs or something to make the stores easier to navigate. It's not intuitive that customers would just magically know to seek out the employee in the middle of the crowd to check in.
Apple has spent way to much money on fancy flag ship stores and have left the rest in a poor state. They need to consider upsizing many of their stores. Right now the local store is often standing room only which sucks, some of these changes couldn't happen in that store at all. So yeah it would be good to see the focus placed back on expansion outside of flagship venues.
They can't redo everything at once. Plus there are various lease terms, space factors, etc.
I worry that too many visionaries that made Apple successful are being replaced by generic executives. Inevitable, I guess. You can't expect to win the lottery twice.
Jobs is dead. Apple is still succeeding. Get over it.
I don't care much for the stores. They are hard to get to as well as really crowded and noisy. Comparing them to the Microsoft store is pointless since I have no reason to go to one. This is becoming more the case for me at the Apple store also; minimal value add. Honestly, I would't just "hang out" at one. Why would any normal person do that? It would be nice however, if they became closer with their user community rather than just be a high volume minimalist sales outlet. Sponsor some user groups, make it easier to interact with knowledgable store personnel rather than this 5 minute doctor visit I am now experiencing at the "Genius" Bar. If I am going to pay more than online prices and deal with parking, give me a real reason to care, not just the opportunity to admire a glass staircase.
Am I missing something? The Apple Store on Regent Street in London does have seating and I have been there, resting my tired feet after all the walking. It sounds like this is rare and not many Apple stores have seating.
Hot shot exec? She was a CEO that left to join Apple. She has nothing to prove.
If you need help, ask. So simple.
They can't redo everything at once. Plus there are various lease terms, space factors, etc.
Jobs is dead. Apple is still succeeding. Get over it.
She is not "generic".
On top of that, she was a CEO who tripled the value of her company in 7 years. Cook has doubled his in just under 4 years (including his tenure as "interim" CEO). I wonder if Cook and Ahrendts have a running bet on whether he can top her percentage. ????
To me, the Apple Stores seem cold and sterile. The noise at the Downtown Palo Alto Store is downright obnoxious probably due to an over-fixation on glass and concrete. Apple is obviously going to need to make some changes, when they introduce their watch, but other changes are probably long overdue. It will be interesting to see what Angela Ahrendts brings to the table. I have never shopped at Burberry, so I have no idea of what sensibilities she brings to the retail experience.
Burberry is a place where you can spend $120 on an umbrella. It isn't cheap by any stretch. But my dad bought my mom a number of birthday/Christmas/anniversary gifts over the years. After his third purchase or so the store manager got to know him and my mom well enough to predict what another good gift would be. I'd describe my family as upper middle class, perhaps lower upper class, but practical. We don't throw money away but aren't afraid of spending a little more to get a little more, either.
It would kinda stink up the place but I could see some appeal in that. They'd need to install iToilets. They'd be the coolest toilets in the world. Everything would operate based on proximity sensors. When your ass is off the toilet, it would wait for a bit and then flush all by itself, no buttons. That's hygenic too because not a lot of people think about where people have been putting their hands just before using the flush. Not one person out of hundreds of people washed their hands before touching that and now you're touching it.
Having a snack/coffee area would be nice and you could meet other Apple people.
My biggest gripe is the inability to walk in the store take an accessory off the shelf and bring it somewhere to pay for it.
Like a self-serve checkout. That would be helpful and you would just beep the product over a scanner and use ?Pay or a card. They should have the scanners for people who buy outside the Apple Store too because people have felt odd buying things outside the store digitally and then walking in and taking it. Prepaying and then scanning would give them assurance the transaction was ok and the store can track the inventory easier.
Call me Ishmael, but I think Angela Ahrendts was actually hired as a replacement for Tim once he retires.
She's the same age as him (54), Ishmael so she's due for retirement at the same time. No way she's a suitable replacement for Cook either. Federighi would make a much better CEO.
If the store is in a mall they could put some benches just out front.
I think the most important thing for Apple Stores is tech support, and generous return policies, so people aren't afraid to try out new products they might not have seen before, such as a computer watch. And salespeople who can educate people on what these new products can do.
Call me Ishmael, but I think Angela Ahrendts was actually hired as a replacement for Tim once he retires. Seamless succession plans are everything at very large companies and you don't hire a "store manager" at the salary she's making.
She can't replace Tim though, Tim's genius is numbers ... and all that entails from production to shipping to AAPL. She could become CEO in a year or two and allow Tim to concentrate on the numbers with him as either joint CEO or CFO or something ... That would make sense, he is probably doing too much at the moment. But Tim has to stay for a long time ... PLEASE!
Here's a for instance: My Dad loves his iPhone and he is 83 years old. He has been in Apple stores many times. If he were to go on a crazy busy day and needed to wait a while for a service, he might appreciate a place to sit.
Excellent point and a nice coffee wouldn't go amiss there either! :smokey: Back in the 1980's when we had the Apple Centres in the UK we had an Italian style café (no food just coffee and biscuits) inside the building upstairs overlooking the street. My salesman probably did as much closing in there over a fresh cuppa as anywhere else.
She can't replace Tim though, Tim's genius is numbers ... and all that entails from production to shipping to AAPL. She could become CEO in a year or two and allow Tim to concentrate on the numbers with him as either joint CEO or CFO or something ... That would make sense, he is probably doing too much at the moment. But Tim has to stay for a long time ... PLEASE!
Unrealistic. Joint CEO situations rarely work out well (e.g. BlackBerry, and to a lesser extent Samsung, though in the latter they are really 3 separate businesses). If a CEO "retires" but stays on, it's usually as a non-executive chairman focusing on strategy while the new CEO focuses on operations. Chances are Ahrendts will stay in her current role for the foreseeable future since she's still relatively new. If she is going to be groomed as a future CEO Apple will fold additional operations under Retail, or put her in charge of a region (e.g. Greater China).
The CFO of Apple is really more of an investment manager given their large portfolio. Operations just lets them know how much cash they'll need, and he goes off and manages the rest, finding tax advantages along the way. They have a competent one already in Luca Maestri.
I don't care much for the stores. They are hard to get to as well as really crowded and noisy. Comparing them to the Microsoft store is pointless since I have no reason to go to one. This is becoming more the case for me at the Apple store also; minimal value add. Honestly, I would't just "hang out" at one. Why would any normal person do that? It would be nice however, if they became closer with their user community rather than just be a high volume minimalist sales outlet. Sponsor some user groups, make it easier to interact with knowledgable store personnel rather than this 5 minute doctor visit I am now experiencing at the "Genius" Bar. If I am going to pay more than online prices and deal with parking, give me a real reason to care, not just the opportunity to admire a glass staircase.
"Normal" people don't post on tech blogs. So you are not an ideal example of the masses.
She can't replace Tim though, Tim's genius is numbers ... and all that entails from production to shipping to AAPL. She could become CEO in a year or two and allow Tim to concentrate on the numbers with him as either joint CEO or CFO or something ... That would make sense, he is probably doing too much at the moment. But Tim has to stay for a long time ... PLEASE!
Why would anyone replace Tim after a record quarter? Define "too much". Tim is doing what he has been doing for 4+ years. Apple hasn't suffered.
Unrealistic. Joint CEO situations rarely work out well (e.g. BlackBerry, and to a lesser extent Samsung, though in the latter they are really 3 separate businesses). If a CEO "retires" but stays on, it's usually as a non-executive chairman focusing on strategy while the new CEO focuses on operations. Chances are Ahrendts will stay in her current role for the foreseeable future since she's still relatively new. If she is going to be groomed as a future CEO Apple will fold additional operations under Retail, or put her in charge of a region (e.g. Greater China).
The CFO of Apple is really more of an investment manager given their large portfolio. Operations just lets them know how much cash they'll need, and he goes off and manages the rest, finding . They have a competent one already in Luca Maestri.
I think you are nit picking on titles and roles there, and perhaps not picking up on the larger point, I was making. Tim may need some help at some point in time, whatever the title. This is Apple, Tim can create a new role called God if he wants but at some point I'd rather he stayed on and off loaded some lifting than retired anytime soon.
You had to read my comment relative to the one I was answering NOT take it in isolation.
I'm not sure about other cities, but the Apple stores I visit in NYC, Philly, Chicago always have people crowding the store and tables, camping out on computers and phones for personal Internet use. Maybe Ahrendts figures that dynamic is going to happen regardless, so might as well make it happen in a more luxurious setting. If anything, I think the more sophisticated a space feels the more pressure people feel not to loiter.
And maybe more seating doesn't mean open lounges. They will need to showcase thousand-dollar versions of these watches, I doubt they'll just have them sitting on an open table with only a locked charging cable. They may want bar seating similar to jewelry stores. Or they'll want special areas where an attendant needs to give you access to handle the gold and higher-value watches.
I've always why there isn't a lounge area in Apple Stores. I would love to go in and telecommute at an Apple Store. Of course, there'd need to be an Apple-designed espresso machine available...
that's a bad idea.. That's going to invite a lot of hobo's who would otherwise loiter around Starbucks or McDonalds.
Actually one of the thing that I like about Apple Store is that I can touch the product and play with it. Matter of fact some of the iPhone are more expensive than what the low-end of the ?Watch is going to be and they are available for people to touch and feel and play. This is why people like visiting Apple Store and sometimes just to kill time and enjoy Apple products. Yes, there might be some high end watches, but for Apple the cost might not be the reason. The last thing I want is an Apple Store looking like a jewellery shop, like Tiffany or Cartier. Heck, even those big safe like doors at Tiffany is intimidating for me to step inside the door. It would feel intimidating because I have those glass cabinets which has those $5,000+ watches in there and for me to take a look at that I would have to ask someone to just touch it. It goes against the whole premise of what Apple Store has been so far.
I do fear what Angela might do - Angela comes from an establishment which targets to a snooty clients. Ron Johnson came from Target which was target to middle of the run clients. Apple Store was designed by Steve and Ron helped it execute on it, along with the man other folks at Apple including the person who is exiting. I was just admiring the design of the new store that just opened up in China, with glass spiral staircase with clear class elevator in the middle - Awesome design. Fine do some adjustment to handle the flow for ?Watch, but I hope the change is minimalistic (something Steve always pushed for) and friendly.
I think you raise excellent issues that sound like they could be the exact disagreements Ahrendts and Bridger might have with each other. I think it's obvious up until now Apple stores have gone out of their way to maintain a communal one-family feel regardless of what new device they introduced to the family. With every new product Apple creates most people could probably understand the impulse to add on a different zone or experience, but Apple has stayed true to the original concept – which has value.
But I would also argue I personally have notices the threads starting to pull apart in the seamlessness. Most notably, stores having to triage and create make-shift zones within the store whenever a new phone launches, one table or wall or line dedicated to purchase, then you move to another table or line dedicated to wireless service activation, etc. At first glance when you walk in everything is just a blur of people and blonde wood and you can't tell what the heck is going on or where you should even stand. I think Ahrendts might wisely be anticipating that ?Watch could be the product experience that finally tears the threads apart if the stores are left as is. I doubt they would give the watches such an exclusive experience to make them feels as if watches are Apple's flagship product. But they also can't ignore that a gold-colored phone vs. an actual gold watch, mean very different things to a shopper.
A phone, people can easily pick up and put down with one hand even when it's tethered (I applaud Apple on raising the standard on how to minimally tether and secure devices). However, a watch, people want to attach to their wrist, take off, re-attach, see how it looks an outside perspective with a mirror, etc. This is not the case with any other device currently in an Apple store. The clip-on iPod shuffles/nanos came close to this, but that's child's play compared to what the ?Watch means to Apple. So I think it will speak volumes about Apple's vision when we see the store changes going into effect; it should provide yet another excellent study into retail experiences on top of the world-famous standards Apple is already credited with. I'm almost looking forward to that more than the watches—almost.
Comments
Why would you want seating. Part of the Apple Store experience is the energy, and browsing the different areas and products even while waiting for the Genius Bar. Not sitting around on your butt. We do enough of that already.
Here's a for instance: My Dad loves his iPhone and he is 83 years old. He has been in Apple stores many times. If he were to go on a crazy busy day and needed to wait a while for a service, he might appreciate a place to sit.
A showcase music area to try out the new Apple/Beats headphones (could be hugely profitable)?
Far more interesting than glass staircases.
Remember when a good part of the Apple Store was for software? I remember when people were upset when Apple started removing it. I remember saying how digital downloads were the future and getting a lot of comments about how running off a CD was still the best way for this or that. Things change, but at least this time ?Watch clues us in as to why some things require change.
Not sure if anyone mentioned this but I read it a couple days ago on 9 [to] 5 that they were setting up a jewelry style display.
http://9to5mac.coM/2015/01/31/apple-stores-to-be-outfitted-with-safes-to-house-gold-apple-watches/
Hot shot exec? She was a CEO that left to join Apple. She has nothing to prove.
If you need help, ask. So simple.
They can't redo everything at once. Plus there are various lease terms, space factors, etc.
Jobs is dead. Apple is still succeeding. Get over it.
She is not "generic".
Am I missing something? The Apple Store on Regent Street in London does have seating and I have been there, resting my tired feet after all the walking. It sounds like this is rare and not many Apple stores have seating.
On top of that, she was a CEO who tripled the value of her company in 7 years. Cook has doubled his in just under 4 years (including his tenure as "interim" CEO). I wonder if Cook and Ahrendts have a running bet on whether he can top her percentage. ????
Burberry is a place where you can spend $120 on an umbrella. It isn't cheap by any stretch. But my dad bought my mom a number of birthday/Christmas/anniversary gifts over the years. After his third purchase or so the store manager got to know him and my mom well enough to predict what another good gift would be. I'd describe my family as upper middle class, perhaps lower upper class, but practical. We don't throw money away but aren't afraid of spending a little more to get a little more, either.
The Microsoft Stores are the waiting rooms for the Apple Store when it's too busy, that's why they are located nearby.
They're going to have to stock handbags and manbags too for the phablets.
Based on the complete lack of information about what she has and hasn't done since she was hired? What about Eddy Cue, what's he doing all day long?
It would kinda stink up the place but I could see some appeal in that. They'd need to install iToilets. They'd be the coolest toilets in the world. Everything would operate based on proximity sensors. When your ass is off the toilet, it would wait for a bit and then flush all by itself, no buttons. That's hygenic too because not a lot of people think about where people have been putting their hands just before using the flush. Not one person out of hundreds of people washed their hands before touching that and now you're touching it.
Having a snack/coffee area would be nice and you could meet other Apple people.
I thought Apple II took over your account for a second there.
Like a self-serve checkout. That would be helpful and you would just beep the product over a scanner and use ?Pay or a card. They should have the scanners for people who buy outside the Apple Store too because people have felt odd buying things outside the store digitally and then walking in and taking it. Prepaying and then scanning would give them assurance the transaction was ok and the store can track the inventory easier.
She's the same age as him (54), Ishmael so she's due for retirement at the same time. No way she's a suitable replacement for Cook either. Federighi would make a much better CEO.
If the store is in a mall they could put some benches just out front.
I think the most important thing for Apple Stores is tech support, and generous return policies, so people aren't afraid to try out new products they might not have seen before, such as a computer watch. And salespeople who can educate people on what these new products can do.
She can't replace Tim though, Tim's genius is numbers ... and all that entails from production to shipping to AAPL. She could become CEO in a year or two and allow Tim to concentrate on the numbers with him as either joint CEO or CFO or something ... That would make sense, he is probably doing too much at the moment. But Tim has to stay for a long time ... PLEASE!
Excellent point and a nice coffee wouldn't go amiss there either! :smokey: Back in the 1980's when we had the Apple Centres in the UK we had an Italian style café (no food just coffee and biscuits) inside the building upstairs overlooking the street. My salesman probably did as much closing in there over a fresh cuppa as anywhere else.
She can't replace Tim though, Tim's genius is numbers ... and all that entails from production to shipping to AAPL. She could become CEO in a year or two and allow Tim to concentrate on the numbers with him as either joint CEO or CFO or something ... That would make sense, he is probably doing too much at the moment. But Tim has to stay for a long time ... PLEASE!
Unrealistic. Joint CEO situations rarely work out well (e.g. BlackBerry, and to a lesser extent Samsung, though in the latter they are really 3 separate businesses). If a CEO "retires" but stays on, it's usually as a non-executive chairman focusing on strategy while the new CEO focuses on operations. Chances are Ahrendts will stay in her current role for the foreseeable future since she's still relatively new. If she is going to be groomed as a future CEO Apple will fold additional operations under Retail, or put her in charge of a region (e.g. Greater China).
The CFO of Apple is really more of an investment manager given their large portfolio. Operations just lets them know how much cash they'll need, and he goes off and manages the rest, finding tax advantages along the way. They have a competent one already in Luca Maestri.
Why would anyone replace Tim after a record quarter? Define "too much". Tim is doing what he has been doing for 4+ years. Apple hasn't suffered.
I think you are nit picking on titles and roles there, and perhaps not picking up on the larger point, I was making. Tim may need some help at some point in time, whatever the title. This is Apple, Tim can create a new role called God if he wants but at some point I'd rather he stayed on and off loaded some lifting than retired anytime soon.
You had to read my comment relative to the one I was answering NOT take it in isolation.
That was my point ... hence I stated Tim should stay ... as long as possible IMHO.
I believe your point was to remove Tim as CEO but give him less responsibilities.
That's like removing Belicheat from his Head Coach job and turn him into a Defensive coordinator. (Side note: he should stop cheating).
And maybe more seating doesn't mean open lounges. They will need to showcase thousand-dollar versions of these watches, I doubt they'll just have them sitting on an open table with only a locked charging cable. They may want bar seating similar to jewelry stores. Or they'll want special areas where an attendant needs to give you access to handle the gold and higher-value watches.
I've always why there isn't a lounge area in Apple Stores. I would love to go in and telecommute at an Apple Store. Of course, there'd need to be an Apple-designed espresso machine available...
that's a bad idea.. That's going to invite a lot of hobo's who would otherwise loiter around Starbucks or McDonalds.
Actually one of the thing that I like about Apple Store is that I can touch the product and play with it. Matter of fact some of the iPhone are more expensive than what the low-end of the ?Watch is going to be and they are available for people to touch and feel and play. This is why people like visiting Apple Store and sometimes just to kill time and enjoy Apple products. Yes, there might be some high end watches, but for Apple the cost might not be the reason. The last thing I want is an Apple Store looking like a jewellery shop, like Tiffany or Cartier. Heck, even those big safe like doors at Tiffany is intimidating for me to step inside the door. It would feel intimidating because I have those glass cabinets which has those $5,000+ watches in there and for me to take a look at that I would have to ask someone to just touch it. It goes against the whole premise of what Apple Store has been so far.
I do fear what Angela might do - Angela comes from an establishment which targets to a snooty clients. Ron Johnson came from Target which was target to middle of the run clients. Apple Store was designed by Steve and Ron helped it execute on it, along with the man other folks at Apple including the person who is exiting. I was just admiring the design of the new store that just opened up in China, with glass spiral staircase with clear class elevator in the middle - Awesome design. Fine do some adjustment to handle the flow for ?Watch, but I hope the change is minimalistic (something Steve always pushed for) and friendly.
I think you raise excellent issues that sound like they could be the exact disagreements Ahrendts and Bridger might have with each other. I think it's obvious up until now Apple stores have gone out of their way to maintain a communal one-family feel regardless of what new device they introduced to the family. With every new product Apple creates most people could probably understand the impulse to add on a different zone or experience, but Apple has stayed true to the original concept – which has value.
But I would also argue I personally have notices the threads starting to pull apart in the seamlessness. Most notably, stores having to triage and create make-shift zones within the store whenever a new phone launches, one table or wall or line dedicated to purchase, then you move to another table or line dedicated to wireless service activation, etc. At first glance when you walk in everything is just a blur of people and blonde wood and you can't tell what the heck is going on or where you should even stand. I think Ahrendts might wisely be anticipating that ?Watch could be the product experience that finally tears the threads apart if the stores are left as is. I doubt they would give the watches such an exclusive experience to make them feels as if watches are Apple's flagship product. But they also can't ignore that a gold-colored phone vs. an actual gold watch, mean very different things to a shopper.
A phone, people can easily pick up and put down with one hand even when it's tethered (I applaud Apple on raising the standard on how to minimally tether and secure devices). However, a watch, people want to attach to their wrist, take off, re-attach, see how it looks an outside perspective with a mirror, etc. This is not the case with any other device currently in an Apple store. The clip-on iPod shuffles/nanos came close to this, but that's child's play compared to what the ?Watch means to Apple. So I think it will speak volumes about Apple's vision when we see the store changes going into effect; it should provide yet another excellent study into retail experiences on top of the world-famous standards Apple is already credited with. I'm almost looking forward to that more than the watches—almost.