Apple closing Simi Valley store with no replacement ahead of 'iPhone 8' launch

Posted:
in General Discussion
Apple will close its Simi Valley, Calif. store on Sept. 15, the company has announced, despite an iPhone launch likely happening as little as a week or so later.




"Thank you for over 10 great years," a message on Apple's website reads. "The last day we will be open is September 15." With Simi Valley shuttered, the next closest locations will be The Oaks, Northridge, and Topanga, the latter of which is being renovated and will only reopen on Sept. 16.

The Apple retail chain has seen almost non-stop global expansion in the past several years, and may soon hit 500 locations. That makes a closure without a replacement unusual, particularly given the timing involved.

Apple is expected to announce three new iPhones -- the "iPhone 8", "iPhone 7s", and "iPhone 7s Plus" -- at a Sept. 12 press event, and ship them later the same month. The company should also reveal a 4K Apple TV and an LTE-equipped Apple Watch.

The Simi Valley outlet has presumably run into weak sales, making it difficult to justify given other shops nearby. It's not yet clear though what will happen to the store's workers.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 25
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member
    Isn't this the first Apple Retail Store to close permanently? 
  • Reply 2 of 25
    Presumably the timing is dictated by the lease terms.  It wouldn't make financial sense to re-up for a year just because it happened to expire a couple weeks before a new product launch.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 25
    The outdoor mall at Simi has been losing tenants almost as soon as it open 10 years ago. There is almost no foot traffic for any of the stores. I have been surprised Apple stayed as long as they did. 

    The Northridge and Topanga locations are always very busy.
    fred steinbb-15SpamSandwichwatto_cobrabaconstangRayz2016avon b7cornchipirelandravnorodom
  • Reply 4 of 25
    At some point, I believe Apple will need to revisit it's retail strategy. Large malls are declining, in many areas, as online takes a larger share of consumer's wallets...
    anantksundaramcornchip
  • Reply 5 of 25
    There is a newly refurbished Apple Store at the Thousand Oaks mall less than a 10 min drive away from the Simi location.
    bb-15SpamSandwichwatto_cobraRayz2016cornchip
  • Reply 6 of 25
    karmadave said:
    At some point, I believe Apple will need to revisit it's retail strategy. Large malls are declining, in many areas, as online takes a larger share of consumer's wallets...
    I'm pretty sure that most of Apple's sales are online and have been for years.  Their strategy is just fine.
    bb-15watto_cobraronncornchipravnorodom
  • Reply 7 of 25
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    I plotted them in Maps. The closest looks to be The Oaks at about 17 miles and a 21 minute drive. Northridge and d Topanga bring it to 16 miles/24 minute drive and 17 miles/30 minute drive, respectively. Not a big inconvenience for those in Simi Valley, but I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around that area with a population of 126k (circa 2014) not being able to keep an Apple Store in business.

     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simi_Valley,_California
    watto_cobracornchip
  • Reply 8 of 25
    foggyhillfoggyhill Posts: 4,767member
    karmadave said:
    At some point, I believe Apple will need to revisit it's retail strategy. Large malls are declining, in many areas, as online takes a larger share of consumer's wallets...
    If all Apple did there was sell phones, maybe you'd have a point. But, they do more. Servicing their equipment is what distinguishes them from the other phone sales guys. Where would people then go?

    Changing the stores to be less about sales and more as demo / service though could happen.
    randominternetpersonbb-15watto_cobracornchip
  • Reply 9 of 25
    Soli said:
    I plotted them in Maps. The closest looks to be The Oaks at about 17 miles and a 21 minute drive. Northridge and d Topanga bring it to 16 miles/24 minute drive and 17 miles/30 minute drive, respectively. Not a big inconvenience for those in Simi Valley, but I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around that area with a population of 126k (circa 2014) not being able to keep an Apple Store in business.

     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simi_Valley,_California
    You obviously don't live in California or Simi Valley.  The Simi Valley Mall was the biggest mistake in Simi's history.  It has been a failure since it opened 10 years ago.  Apple is not the only store that has pulled out of that location.  You can walk through the mall and hear crickets chirping.  Even the Simi residents know it was a mistake and a failure from day one.  It is surprising Apple stayed for that long, but maybe they had a 10 year lease and can now finally get out of it.
    randominternetpersonbb-15watto_cobraronncornchipradarthekat
  • Reply 10 of 25
    larryjwlarryjw Posts: 1,031member
    Soli said:
    I plotted them in Maps. The closest looks to be The Oaks at about 17 miles and a 21 minute drive. Northridge and d Topanga bring it to 16 miles/24 minute drive and 17 miles/30 minute drive, respectively. Not a big inconvenience for those in Simi Valley, but I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around that area with a population of 126k (circa 2014) not being able to keep an Apple Store in business.

     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simi_Valley,_California
    You obviously don't live in California or Simi Valley.  The Simi Valley Mall was the biggest mistake in Simi's history.  It has been a failure since it opened 10 years ago.  Apple is not the only store that has pulled out of that location.  You can walk through the mall and hear crickets chirping.  Even the Simi residents know it was a mistake and a failure from day one.  It is surprising Apple stayed for that long, but maybe they had a 10 year lease and can now finally get out of it.
    Why?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 25
    bolen mac said:
    The outdoor mall at Simi has been losing tenants almost as soon as it open 10 years ago. There is almost no foot traffic for any of the stores. I have been surprised Apple stayed as long as they did. 

    The Northridge and Topanga locations are always very busy.
    Thanks for the perspective. Makes me feel OK as an investor.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 25
    Soli said:
    I plotted them in Maps. The closest looks to be The Oaks at about 17 miles and a 21 minute drive. Northridge and d Topanga bring it to 16 miles/24 minute drive and 17 miles/30 minute drive, respectively. Not a big inconvenience for those in Simi Valley, but I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around that area with a population of 126k (circa 2014) not being able to keep an Apple Store in business.

     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simi_Valley,_California
    You obviously don't live in California or Simi Valley.  The Simi Valley Mall was the biggest mistake in Simi's history.  It has been a failure since it opened 10 years ago.  Apple is not the only store that has pulled out of that location.  You can walk through the mall and hear crickets chirping.  Even the Simi residents know it was a mistake and a failure from day one.  It is surprising Apple stayed for that long, but maybe they had a 10 year lease and can now finally get out of it.
    And here it is a year from now:

    https://youtu.be/IIdGxR-aU6o 
  • Reply 13 of 25
    I will truly miss my hometown Apple Store. This store served me well over the years.

    It's truly sad to see it go. 

    Bye Bye Simi Apple Store!
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 25
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    Soli said:
    I plotted them in Maps. The closest looks to be The Oaks at about 17 miles and a 21 minute drive. Northridge and d Topanga bring it to 16 miles/24 minute drive and 17 miles/30 minute drive, respectively. Not a big inconvenience for those in Simi Valley, but I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around that area with a population of 126k (circa 2014) not being able to keep an Apple Store in business.

     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simi_Valley,_California
    You obviously don't live in California or Simi Valley.  The Simi Valley Mall was the biggest mistake in Simi's history.  It has been a failure since it opened 10 years ago.  Apple is not the only store that has pulled out of that location.  You can walk through the mall and hear crickets chirping.  Even the Simi residents know it was a mistake and a failure from day one.  It is surprising Apple stayed for that long, but maybe they had a 10 year lease and can now finally get out of it.
    This should be interesting. Explain to me how I can't possibly live anywhere in CA if I'm not familiar with a failing mall in Simi Valley?
    edited September 2017 watto_cobrabaconstang
  • Reply 15 of 25
    macguimacgui Posts: 2,350member
    You obviously don't live in California or Simi Valley.
    Ok, that statement makes no sense. What would living in California have anything to do with knowing what goes on in Simi Valley? I've lived in CA all my life (several decades) and know nothing of the crisis of which you speak.


    disneylandman said:
    The Simi Valley Mall was the biggest mistake in Simi's history.  It has been a failure since it opened 10 years ago.  Apple is not the only store that has pulled out of that location.  You can walk through the mall and hear crickets chirping.  Even the Simi residents know it was a mistake and a failure from day one.  It is surprising Apple stayed for that long, but maybe they had a 10 year lease and can now finally get out of it.
    Since you obviously have detailed knowledge of this failure, how about explaining your remarks for those of us who lack this intimate knowledge. Apple has been pretty good about scouting locations, so it seems unlikely that they would have moved into a mall that was a failure before then even got there. I guess they were lucky to last ten years.

    It makes sense that they might have had a lengthy lease so mall owners couldn't ransom the space to Apple. But I think if Apple really wanted out, they could have left anytime they wanted. Any penalty would be tip jar money.



    From the pic, it was a tiny store, and lack of traffic would have made renovation a poor ROI. One of the Apple Stores near me looked just like the Simi Valley layout. Almost a hole in the wall, but an elegant hole in the wall. Apple moved the store to another location within the mall with maybe eight times the customer floor space or more, and no Genius Bar but roving techs instead.

    And it's still packed 95% of the time.
  • Reply 16 of 25
    nhtnht Posts: 4,522member
    Geez people it's 2017.  There'a this thing called Google.  Maybe you've heard of it?  Typing "Simi Valley Mall failing" gets you a couple articles from a few years ago about how stores were closing and a link to the yelp page where locals describe a mall that was too upscale to fit the town, doesn't like teens and was a weirdly designed open air mall to begin with that's now a ghost town except for the restaurants.

    A decade ago it had a bunch of higher end boutiques including stores like Coach. Apple fit right in.  Those stores are gone and so is Apple.

    There's no mystery or involved backstory. Just yet another poorly planned mall that never got traction and is in the process of failing.
    Rayz2016ravnorodomradarthekat
  • Reply 17 of 25
    welshdogwelshdog Posts: 1,897member
    macgui said:


    From the pic, it was a tiny store, and lack of traffic would have made renovation a poor ROI. One of the Apple Stores near me looked just like the Simi Valley layout. Almost a hole in the wall, but an elegant hole in the wall. Apple moved the store to another location within the mall with maybe eight times the customer floor space or more, and no Genius Bar but roving techs instead.

    And it's still packed 95% of the time.
    The Barton Creek mall store in Austin did the same.  Went from a too small space to a much, much larger location in the mall.  The new space, even though it is several times larger, is now jammed with customers seemingly around the clock.  Busy times are downright claustrophobia inducing.
  • Reply 18 of 25
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    nht said:
    Geez people it's 2017.  There'a this thing called Google.  Maybe you've heard of it?  Typing "Simi Valley Mall failing" gets you a couple articles from a few years ago about how stores were closing and a link to the yelp page where locals describe a mall that was too upscale to fit the town, doesn't like teens and was a weirdly designed open air mall to begin with that's now a ghost town except for the restaurants.

    A decade ago it had a bunch of higher end boutiques including stores like Coach. Apple fit right in.  Those stores are gone and so is Apple.

    There's no mystery or involved backstory. Just yet another poorly planned mall that never got traction and is in the process of failing.
    Retail stores, especially in malls, are failing all over the country. You might as well say that water is wet and too much is bad for Houston. 



  • Reply 19 of 25
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 7,625member
    karmadave said:
    At some point, I believe Apple will need to revisit it's retail strategy. Large malls are declining, in many areas, as online takes a larger share of consumer's wallets...
    I probably pioneered the push for Apple Retail Stores long before they ever became a reality, having direct communication with both the head of one of Apple's subsidiaries and indirect contact with the then head of Apple Europe.

    I saw them as an absolute necessity for Apple to succeed at a time when they were losing mindshare and Apple resellers were closing all over the place. There were a heap of reasons, many of which do not exist today, but the most important one was for Apple to offer direct contact with its clients. At the time, many Apple resellers were losing their reputations as complaints from customers against them rose and Apple was increasing pressure on resellers to increase sales and including more contractual obligations that made it more difficult to return unsold stock.

    It was a terrible situation to be in and one of Apple's reasons for not opening their own stores was to not compete directly against the resellers.

    In the end, Apple opened up its channel to include more larger, non-specialist stores, many of which later became mini Apple Stores within a store and then finally opened up it official retail stores.

    Perhaps the single most important aspect of Apple retail isn't actually sales (as you correctly state, online will only increase) it is the one on one service offered to the customer (actual or potential) and the direct nature of that contact, be it product demos, repair evaluation, the possibility to hold and use the product etc.

    No doubt Apple Retail could downsize the actual square metre count but they should never disappear although, shopping centres by definition do have their own problems (global foot traffic), today Apple has sufficient mindshare for customers to seek them out and casual traffic is far less important than it was years ago.
  • Reply 20 of 25
    karmadave said:
    At some point, I believe Apple will need to revisit it's retail strategy. Large malls are declining, in many areas, as online takes a larger share of consumer's wallets...
    Don't forget that Apple stores are the most profitable physical retail stores of any company in the USA. The most profitable single store in the country is the 5th ave NYC store.
    (Not in a mall but still not an online store) Even in our large malls in NY however, the apple stores are always the most crowded stores in the mall typically. If you want an appointment at the Genius Bar, you are going to have to pic a time a week in advance or more during weekend hours. I am most familiar with my local store near me in Manhasset Long Island, which gets zero out-of-town tourists,  and it seems more crowded than ever, even on weekdays.
    cornchip
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