New Stockholm city council vows to block unpopular Apple store plans
Apple's plans for its first store in the Swedish capital of Stockholm may have been dealt a fatal blow, as a newly-elected city council is promising to support residents opposed to a proposed site.
A concept render of Apple's plans.
At a press conference, the council assured residents that the intended location -- at the edge of the Kungstradgarden, a public park -- won't go ahead, according to Dagens Nyheter. The previous council had given the Apple the green light.
If built the store would replace a TGI Fridays, but take up more space, and residents have complained that it would not only block Kungstradgarden's north entrance but commercialize a public area often used for concerts and other events.
Apple has promised to hold its own park events, including performances, but this doesn't appear to have stopped a flood of negative public comments.
Under retail head Angela Ahrendts, Apple has tried to position its shops as "town squares" -- communal spaces where people can go for learning and entertainment through Today at Apple events. That marketing hasn't gained much traction, and is sometimes mocked or criticized given Apple's overriding goal of selling hardware.
The company has sometimes been willing to back down in response to public backlash. In July, for example, Apple ditched a pagoda-like store it had envisioned for Melbourne, Australia, which had been accused of clashing with surrounding buildings and resembling a Pizza Hut. The redesigned architecture is more subdued.
A concept render of Apple's plans.
At a press conference, the council assured residents that the intended location -- at the edge of the Kungstradgarden, a public park -- won't go ahead, according to Dagens Nyheter. The previous council had given the Apple the green light.
If built the store would replace a TGI Fridays, but take up more space, and residents have complained that it would not only block Kungstradgarden's north entrance but commercialize a public area often used for concerts and other events.
Apple has promised to hold its own park events, including performances, but this doesn't appear to have stopped a flood of negative public comments.
Under retail head Angela Ahrendts, Apple has tried to position its shops as "town squares" -- communal spaces where people can go for learning and entertainment through Today at Apple events. That marketing hasn't gained much traction, and is sometimes mocked or criticized given Apple's overriding goal of selling hardware.
The company has sometimes been willing to back down in response to public backlash. In July, for example, Apple ditched a pagoda-like store it had envisioned for Melbourne, Australia, which had been accused of clashing with surrounding buildings and resembling a Pizza Hut. The redesigned architecture is more subdued.
Comments
First of all it wouldn’t be one building replacing another building; there would be changes to the surrounding open park area.
Secondly, replacing a food business with a business selling tech hardware could easily be argued to further limit the availability of space for people to just relax and enjoy the open park area.
The truth is that I favor the plan, but tbh it’s only because it’s Apple… It’s all due to me liking the brand and style; and I’m not sure if that should be enough to like these plans.
On the whole, I'd rather be in an Apple Store than TGIF. But it's their neighborhood. I've seen what a couple of Apple Stores on the street (as opposed to in a mall) have done to car traffic in the areas, and it's not pretty. But I don't live in the area, and don't have to deal with it.
Just my $0.02
Back to geography school you go…
The park is long and narrow - the location is at one of the narrow ends.
You guys usually think that your declaration of independence happened a long time ago; but 5 five minutes by bike from where I live there's a building that was 150 years old already at that time. 5 minutes in the opposite direction and there's a mound created around the year 1000; and 15 minutes by bike in yet another direction there are burial mounds from the 5th and 6th centuries.
The student nation that I belonged to when at Uppsala University is something like 380 years old; and the university itself was founded in 1477. (Still not the oldest school in town though, the gymnasium/high school I attended dates back to 1246.)
It's not like everything is saved and "everywhere", but there's enough of it for it to be sort of a normal part of growing up here. You get more aware about history; and more aware about how parts of that needs to be saved instead of "developed" and commercialised.
LOL. Now I suppose you're going to try and convince us that Norway and Finland are different, too!
What if they served beer at the Genius Bar? Potato skins? Held celebratory dance lines at Thursday midnight as it became “Friday”?