Let me get this straight: If you purposely omit a high-dollar-but-low-growth store from your statistics about a given mall, then the average growth will be higher? Quick, call the National Guard.
Will somebody please inform Mr. Mathrani that this will always be true? It's just math, and it isn't going to change while we're around to see it happen. Maybe our great-grandchildren will live to see the rules of math change, but we won't be so lucky.
With iPhones being financed by the carriers now, I wonder how the Apple Stores report phone sales now?
I don't have a ton of accounting experience but Apple is likely claiming that revenue when they get paid by the carrier for the device. Not when it's sold. It may not reflect on stores revenue at all.
With that said a carrier financed iPhone maybe a $0 sale. With each store likely selling 30+ phones a day, that could be where the "loss" came from.
Apple does financing now, too. Oh, and Apple has been able to do carrier financing for a couple of carriers. There are still many people who buy iPhones at full-price, and I have yet to see any news of Apple Stores NOT having a huge line on release day for a new iPhone.
She'a already made Apple's money back just in the successful Apple Watch launch, via her fashion connections, but she is at Apple to fine tune the brand via the retail shopping experience.
I recommend that you do a bit more research on her before you throw her to the wolves.
Stop hyperventilating. No one's throwing anyone to "the wolves." These are fair questions to ask in an Apple fan forum, in relation to a blog about Apple Retail.
Apple Watch aside (which was nicely done, I agree), I recommend you share your "research" with us, and educate us. I don't agree with the fashion connections part of it. If anything it's Jony Ive that was front and center at those fashion events; I don't recall seeing Ahrendts at many -- if any -- of those.
Can you site any examples where Ron Johnson was ever front and center at Apple? I don't remember ever seeing him on stage at a keynote or being the face of Apple from a PR standpoint. That's just never been the role of Apple's head of retail. If Ahrendts is a good public speaker maybe Apple should put here out there more but I'm not surprised they haven't.
Sidenote: does anyone remember the organ store? What was going on it that part of history that there were entire stores devoted to organs?
People were learning to play music? They didn't have $100 electronic keyboards & computers that could mimic entire orchestras? Lots of people went to church and considered it an honor to serve by playing the organ in church? There were lots of churches that needed organs vs fewer churches and the use of bands today?
By the way, musing about what Steve Jobs would do is pointless. He never cared what any of us thought about his management while he was alive, and probably advised Tim to ignore us as well. And Steve is dead so what he may have done now does not matter for shit.
Steve had a pretty deep vengeful streak. A comment/report like this could find GGP with a lot fewer Apple stores.
Screw you, Appleinsider, for publishing this negative drivel.
Why shoot the messenger? AI reports on Apple related news. It's news that some high ranking officer from a company that manages the places where many Apple stores reside made some comments about Apple's impact on the malls his company controls.
Stop hyperventilating. No one's throwing anyone to "the wolves." These are fair questions to ask in an Apple fan forum, in relation to a blog about Apple Retail.
Apple Watch aside (which was nicely done, I agree), I recommend you share your "research" with us, and educate us. I don't agree with the fashion connections part of it. If anything it's Jony Ive that was front and center at those fashion events; I don't recall seeing Ahrendts at many -- if any -- of those.
Can you site any examples where Ron Johnson was ever front and center at Apple? I don't remember ever seeing him on stage at a keynote or being the face of Apple from a PR standpoint. That's just never been the role of Apple's head of retail. If Ahrendts is a good public speaker maybe Apple should put here out there more but I'm not surprised they haven't.
Stop getting so damned defensive, folks. Who said anything about someone being on stage or being the face of Apple? Please stick to responding to what was actually posted. What I posted was that I've not seen anything new or radical resulting from the high-profile hire of Ahrendts. If I am mistaken, tell me. Otherwise, move along.
Apple Stores, which consistently rank among the most profitable retail outlets per square foot, are reportedly bogging down growth at a chain of upscale shopping malls across the U.S.
In a quarterly earnings call on Tuesday, General Growth Properties CEO Sandeep Mathrani intimated that Apple's retail locations weighed down growth for a sub-category of tenants whose stores come in at under 10,000 square-feet, reports BuzzFeed. GGP operates 97 upscale U.S. malls, 47 of which include an Apple Store.
"We experienced sales increases throughout the country," said General Growth Properties CEO Sandeep Mathrani. "Nearly every major retail category was up, with the exception of electronics, primarily due to Apple."
Mathrani said sales for under-10,000-square-foot stores grew 3 percent in 2015, bringing the average to $588 per square foot, but that number jumps to 4.5 percent if Apple Stores are excluded. The 10,000-square-foot denominator removes anchor tenants like Macy's from the equation. GGP's report only applies to 17 percent of all U.S. Apple Store locations and is not necessarily indicative of an overall decline in sales.
With the rise of iPhone, and a high-end shopping experience, Apple's standalone flagship and in-mall stores quickly became highlight destinations. In 2013, Apple Stores dominated other high-end brands, raking in an estimated $6,050 per square foot, double that of its nearest contemporary Tiffany & Co. The outlets proved so effective that other tech companies like Microsoft copied Apple's retail business model, albeit to lesser degrees of success.
Apple subsequently used its proven ability to draw in customers to negotiate favorable lease rates for flagship properties and mall outlets. Pure sales are not the only benefit of having an in-mall Apple Store, as the outlets have become destination stores for many shoppers, generating sizable increases in foot traffic.
According to BuzzFeed,, GGP previously mentioned negative Apple impact in August. At the time, Mathrani said growth for the trailing 12 months -- excluding anchor stores -- was at 3.4 percent, but would have been 3.9 percent if Apple Stores were not counted. In the year prior, however, Apple contributed a huge boost to sales growth. For the 12-month period ending in September 2014, GGP retail store sales growth stood at 6.7 percent, a number that would have peaked at 4 percent if not for Apple.
This is so full of B.S. it is an outrage. Go to any mall in the country and go around the mall to all the other stores. Check out the ratio of customers to employees. Now go to an Apple store. You will notice that it is full of customers all day long while the other stores have employees standing around all by themselves yawning not knowing what to do with themselves. Check out Microsoft store then the Apple store, same thing. The Microsoft employees will be found playing games while at the Apple store it is business as usual with plenty of customers to help out. The Apple store makes more money than all the stores in each of those malls combined. Just because Apple didn't sell as many phones as the market wanted doesn't mean that Apple isn't making any money, far from it. A record breaking quarter which was the highest in the world I might at. No other company has ever had such a profitable quarter. Don't believe all of this B.S. people. They seem to be pulling it from every hind quarter right now.
Can you site any examples where Ron Johnson was ever front and center at Apple? I don't remember ever seeing him on stage at a keynote or being the face of Apple from a PR standpoint. That's just never been the role of Apple's head of retail. If Ahrendts is a good public speaker maybe Apple should put here out there more but I'm not surprised they haven't.
Stop getting so damned defensive, folks. Who said anything about someone being on stage or being the face of Apple? Please stick to responding to what was actually posted. What I posted was that I've not seen anything new or radical resulting from the high-profile hire of Ahrendts. If I am mistaken, tell me. Otherwise, move along.
She's been there I think 18 months; they're just starting to roll out new store designs now that were in planning before she came in. Changing a huge retail operation like Apple takes time; doing to fast could be very bad.
Some people were blaming her for the Watch launch, or even the concept of the watch as luxury item, even though the launch was heavily supply constrained and she'd just came in when it was announced.
In 2-3 years we will see if she had "no influence".
The defensiveness comes from the extreme misogyny in many Apple forums, including this one, when she got named and the watch got launched. The comments were insane, vile and repulsive; great combination. So, yes, I sometimes overact and push back.
I can only surmise what kind of reaction would occur if a women was made head of Apple and she'd have the same result Cook just had? Comments wouldn't be pretty....
BTW. I'm a woman and been in charge of engineering in a few company for the last 15 years, senior engineer/architect before that for 15 more. This industry has been ridiculously male dominated and it showed in the mentality... for all that period; often appalling. In university, there was the 3 female electrical/computer engineer in the whole school at the undergrad level (so, about 2-3%); industrial and chemical engineering had 15% (the highest).
The mentality in this industry was absolutely terrible in the 1980s and 1990s, only became somewhat better in the last ten years.
Can you site any examples where Ron Johnson was ever front and center at Apple? I don't remember ever seeing him on stage at a keynote or being the face of Apple from a PR standpoint. That's just never been the role of Apple's head of retail. If Ahrendts is a good public speaker maybe Apple should put here out there more but I'm not surprised they haven't.
Stop getting so damned defensive, folks. Who said anything about someone being on stage or being the face of Apple? Please stick to responding to what was actually posted. What I posted was that I've not seen anything new or radical resulting from the high-profile hire of Ahrendts. If I am mistaken, tell me. Otherwise, move along.
When did Tim Cook say Angela Ahrendts was hired to bring new or radical to the company? Yes being CEO of Burberry she was a well known, high profile figure. But I'm not aware of Cook or anyone else at Apple saying that's why she was hired. IMO it was the media making a much bigger deal over her hiring than Apple ever did.
do lease terms & agreements matter in this case? it seems to me that unless all of this is equal, his argument has no truth and is simply fodder for the web.
Maybe I'm missing something, but from GPP's perspective, "sales" is the leasing of square footage to other companies. So, if they're saying Apple has slowed the growth in their (GPP's) sales within the electronics category, it means Apple pays less per square foot to lease space than other small "electronics" stores...which makes sense, considering Apple is huge, a proven draw, and can leverage their position to get a better lease rate. I really don't think GPP is saying Apple's retail sales are slowing.
Stop getting so damned defensive, folks. Who said anything about someone being on stage or being the face of Apple? Please stick to responding to what was actually posted. What I posted was that I've not seen anything new or radical resulting from the high-profile hire of Ahrendts. If I am mistaken, tell me. Otherwise, move along.
When did Tim Cook say Angela Ahrendts was hired to bring new or radical to the company? Yes being CEO of Burberry she was a well known, high profile figure. But I'm not aware of Cook or anyone else at Apple saying that's why she was hired. IMO it was the media making a much bigger deal over her hiring than Apple ever did.
No one expects Cook to say anything. Her hire was a big deal not just in the media, but in these forums, and at length. There was a lot around her perceived or actual role with the Watch from a number of folks here. It was a big deal for a number of reasons, including the fact that Apple had an all-male leadership team, that she was an incredibly successful CEO of a super-admired luxury brand (which she had resurrected), there was a lot of talk about her incredible communication skills, the high pay (which was perfectly justifiable) and a lot of chatter that she'd be prominently featured in a keynote.
Eighteen months later, I had expected a more high-profile role.
Speaking for myself, looking to the future, I'd rather hear more about Apple from people like her, Frederighi and Williams (if I am naming correctly the guy who came out to talk about the Hermes-Watch partnership), and less from Cook, Maestri, or Cue (none of whom I think is a great communicator). That's all.
The defensiveness comes from the extreme misogyny in many Apple forums, including this one, when she got named and the watch got launched. The comments were insane, vile and repulsive; great combination. So, yes, I sometimes overact and push back.
First, the point about defensiveness was not addressed to you, but to @rogifan_old (I had not noticed that your posts were defensive). Second, while there were some vile and repulsive comments as you say, I had no part of it -- I was as vehement in expressing my disgust at the misogyny as anyone else. Third, see my reply to @rogifan_old above.
Other than for store pickups of online orders (through which means you can get new stuff much faster than at the Retail Store) or Genius Bar appointments (although I can get outstanding support via a telephone conversation) or product returns/exchanges (which is a genuine convenience), does an Apple Retail Store add all that much value anymore?
I can see why during a decade of getting customers to switch, the Apple RS played a massive role for people to get a hands-on experience with Apple products. Given the ubiquity now of the iPod, iPhone, iPad, Beats headphones, and even Macs, I am guessing that there's less of a reason to visit.
Incidentally, I am surprised that we have not seen anything new or radical at the RS from the high-profile hire of Ahrendts. (I've been incredibly impressed by how Alphabet has put Ruth Porat to use as their public face, where she is now increasingly seen as a person who has brought tremendous cost and spending discipline to the company.)
Angela is a mystery to me... 25 million salary, 70 million hiring bonus....
And we get????
They are up to 81% retention of Apple store employees. That is certainly one improvement you should be able to attribute to her.
Better yet he should cancel Apple's leases so he can replace them with one of his preferred "high growth" tenants. Then he won't have to remove Apple sales figures any more to make sense of his growth charts.
How does he know what Apple store sales are?
I doubt apple is giving him those numbers...
Any one know how these leases work?
They are required to report to the malls as the malls take a percentage of sales for all tenants.
Comments
Will somebody please inform Mr. Mathrani that this will always be true? It's just math, and it isn't going to change while we're around to see it happen. Maybe our great-grandchildren will live to see the rules of math change, but we won't be so lucky.
- Jasen.
- Jasen.
Well worth the price.
Changing a huge retail operation like Apple takes time; doing to fast could be very bad.
Some people were blaming her for the Watch launch, or even the concept of the watch as luxury item, even though the launch was heavily supply constrained and she'd just came in when it was announced.
In 2-3 years we will see if she had "no influence".
The defensiveness comes from the extreme misogyny in many Apple forums, including this one, when she got named and the watch got launched.
The comments were insane, vile and repulsive; great combination.
So, yes, I sometimes overact and push back.
I can only surmise what kind of reaction would occur if a women was made head of Apple and she'd have the same result Cook just had?
Comments wouldn't be pretty....
BTW. I'm a woman and been in charge of engineering in a few company for the last 15 years, senior engineer/architect before that for 15 more.
This industry has been ridiculously male dominated and it showed in the mentality... for all that period; often appalling.
In university, there was the 3 female electrical/computer engineer in the whole school at the undergrad level (so, about 2-3%); industrial and chemical engineering had 15% (the highest).
The mentality in this industry was absolutely terrible in the 1980s and 1990s, only became somewhat better in the last ten years.
Eighteen months later, I had expected a more high-profile role.
Speaking for myself, looking to the future, I'd rather hear more about Apple from people like her, Frederighi and Williams (if I am naming correctly the guy who came out to talk about the Hermes-Watch partnership), and less from Cook, Maestri, or Cue (none of whom I think is a great communicator). That's all.
First, the point about defensiveness was not addressed to you, but to @rogifan_old (I had not noticed that your posts were defensive). Second, while there were some vile and repulsive comments as you say, I had no part of it -- I was as vehement in expressing my disgust at the misogyny as anyone else. Third, see my reply to @rogifan_old above.
They are up to 81% retention of Apple store employees. That is certainly one improvement you should be able to attribute to her.