I do agree with those who are argueing that the retail design may be cold or impersonal--I can totally dig that.
BUT, the folks who want dimmer lighting...SEATS...COFFEE?
It's a retail space--not Club Mac. It should make people feel like they have access to the machines, can check them out and see what's there.
It is NOT a gaming center, hang-out spot, clubhouse or 3rd party Mac vendor spot. It's a very specifically designed place for retail sales, aimed at people who obsess over Macs A LOT LESS THAN WE DO.
The longer people stay in a store the more they buy.
What would really work is to make the Genius bar a real bar with free drinks. After a few shots a sales associate could start explaining the benifits of buying multiple Macs at the same time.
People would wake up the next morning only to realize that in return for a free night of drinking they just ordered ten G5s that have a no return policy on them. Thinks of the sales opportunities!
Even more outrageous would be to install an Mac Classic iBong in every store to releave the pressure when dealing with the AppleCare people.
Every time I end up making the hour drive out to Buffalo I get all excited that I get to stop by the Apple store. Then I get there and always end up walking around looking for a reason to stay, I don't want to leave but I made my rounds and saw it all in under 15 minutes. I have seen all the hardware before, so I can't spend too long at that, when I need software I go out and get it, I don't just go browsing through and on a whim pick up some $300 software... and other than that, I just enter the store and the next thing I know I'm back at the entrance. I love Apple's stores, I just get let down every time I go to one. I know there shouldn't be any real reason to go there and have a great time or anything, and it isn't their job to entertain me, but when I go into Target for windshield washer fluid I end up being in there for 2 hours looking at stuff I don't care about. I wish when I went somewhere that specialized in something I did care about it took me more than 10 minutes to get bored there.
Yeah I agree, that store is just a little too small, the bigger ones are probably better. Still fun to go visit though.
The longer people stay in a store the more they buy.
This is not true. It depends on the atmosphere. The more a store starts to become like a hangout, the less likely those customers are going to buy, unless you're talking about consumables like food.
A little small??? Square-footage wise the Buffalo store is one of the larger stores.
Except for SOHO, which stores are significantly bigger??
The LA store at the Grove is larger than SoHo location. Chicago is also one of the largest. Buffalo and all the 1.0 stores are basically the same size...much smaller than the three existing two-story flagship stores in LA, NYC and Chicago.
It's a very specifically designed place for retail sales, aimed at people who obsess over Macs A LOT LESS THAN WE DO.
I agree.
I just came from the Apple Store at Palisades Center in West Nyack, NY. I don't know how you could walk by the place and not go in. It is so inviting. The big glowing Apple icons just beckon me. The store is always packed with customers, and I've noticed a lot of Apple converts looking at machines, too. Not just us, the already devout.
They seem to be selling a lot of merchandise, too.
It's the only Apple Store I've been to, so I can't say how big it is compared to others. But it seems a good size to me. I can stand in the middle and twirl around and point out all the stuff I would buy if I won the lottery!
And it's great that the computers are all hooked up and ready for actual use. At CompUSA or other places, there's never much software installed on the demos, if any.
You know what (I hate this stuff), but if Apple - starting in 2004 - opening up a new wave of stores with a cozier vibe (yes, "dimmer" *gasp* and maybe with some seating *eek!* or whatever) I'll wager my spleen that those of you currently poo-pooing the notion - coming from myself and others here - will be among the "Apple ROCKS...their new stores kick total ass!" crowd.
Just like those of you making fun of that gPerch aluminum iPod holder that came out last week. Everyone ragged on it hardcore, calling it a "cheese grater" and everything else, because some third-party company did it. Had Jobs unveiled it at WWDC, those same people would've praised him for his "style and vision".
I've learned to politely ignore a few of you during my time here because you haven't been right yet about much...
... after about 10-15 minutes of taking a lap or two around the joint, I'm ready.
Wow, I'm impressed. I'm done after about five minutes
It's a store, not a social gathering place. Maybe if I were a woman I could get into going to the mall and "shopping", but my definition of shopping is that it is something I do when I want to go buy something
Just like those of you making fun of that gPerch aluminum iPod holder that came out last week. Everyone ragged on it hardcore, calling it a "cheese grater" and everything else, because some third-party company did it. Had Jobs unveiled it at WWDC, those same people would've praised him for his "style and vision".
hahaha...I called it a cheese grater...because...it actually looks like a cheese grater!
If jobs' had unveiled it, I would have said "well...now that I think about it, I've been needing a new cheese grater
play around with the computers (I dont have my own OS X machine)
addicting was a bad word for it
Yeah, playing around with OS X is fun, I could see spending some time messing with it...but do they let you just do whatever on their computers? or do you have very limited access?
ya, you can do whatever, i worked on some photoshop stuff there, i was even checking out Apple Insider, they have like every program imaginable loaded on them, final cut pro, dreamweaver, photoshop, keynote, ichat av, exc...
I just came from the Apple Store at Palisades Center in West Nyack, NY. I don't know how you could walk by the place and not go in. It is so inviting. The big glowing Apple icons just beckon me. The store is always packed with customers, and I've noticed a lot of Apple converts looking at machines, too. Not just us, the already devout.
They seem to be selling a lot of merchandise, too.
I was at the mall today because I blew one of the speakers in my car so I went to Best Buy to get new ones and when I walked past the Apple Store, you're right, it was crowded. But usually wheen I'm at the mall the Apple Store's pretty empty. I don't know about the other stores, but the Palisades store doesn't seem to be doing great business.
Oh really? I was going to ask someone a question behind the counter, but they were too busy checking two people out. As with any retail store, it'll be busy one moment, dead the next.
I don't live near the Palisades Center, so I don't get there very often, and only on weekends when I do. I can believe it's totally dead in there on weekdays.
The stores are kind of clean looking. Like that lobby room in Men in Black with the guy that sits there reading the newspaper. That was weird. Anyway... They should just add some furniture. Good lighting is nice and no it's not a coffee house, sheesh. I think the atmosphere also depends on the people there. MacUsers has his own user group so he's a people person. When I went to the Salem one it was jumping and the people there were cool and the Geniuses were helpful (wrt MIDI.)
More gadgets (non Apple ones that are cool) would be nice. However I walked in and noticed the Keyspan remote went from 80 to $49 and grabbed it. Apple Stores are great but they are kind of weird feeling. For example, I went to use the bathroom. There was a room before the bathrooms. You know, one of those rooms. With nothing in it. Just an empty room. It was weird. All they need is that guy reading the newspaper and a huge fan in the wall...
Small retail stores shouldn't have restrooms. That's a little weird. It makes sense in the flagship stores, but not the mall stores.
Another thing... I'm not too big on the video wall in the back. It gives me a Disney Store vibe. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if it didn't repeat so often. It makes me want to leave. After I've heard the same message twice, I know it's time to go.
Small retail stores shouldn't have restrooms. That's a little weird. It makes sense in the flagship stores, but not the mall stores.
I agree. The mall itself provides restrooms anyhow. Right?
Quote:
Another thing... I'm not too big on the video wall in the back. It gives me a Disney Store vibe. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if it didn't repeat so often. It makes me want to leave. After I've heard the same message twice, I know it's time to go.
I agree, I think it is too much of a focal point in the store. It would be nice if they could move it off to the side somewhere. I think it might actually create better flow, but hey, what do I know.
I went to a store's grand opening with my ex, spent about ten minutes in there, and we just looked at each other and felt it was about time to go. The general reaction could be summed up in one word: Meh.
Aint one of the new stores going to be offering 'net browsing and coffee?
For the 'bigger' stores, I could see that as a nice variation. Paying a small fee for 'net access. It's all adding to the Apple rev' streams.
Personally, I find Apple UK 'apple centres' quite addictive. I spend ages looking at the new kit I don't have or can't afford. Look at the software I don't have and think I 'need'. Look at gorgeous sound sticks and isub and wonder why I aint bought them yet. I look at the adequate Mac games software and wonder why it's so much dearer for a game brought out a year later and little development cost (hey, it's just a port...they didn't have to create it from the ground up, eh?) Then leave without buying anything wishing the G5 would be here. Well, that describes my Apple 'centre' experience for the last four years. But I did succumb to buying an iBook for my wife. Hey, she said she liked it...
Say...wait...the G5 is now available? Really? What am I waiting for...better get down to the store right now...why didn't somebody say so...
Personally, I don't know what you Americans are carping about. Ya got yer Apple Stores didn'tcha? Ya got over 50 of the bleeders, didn'tcha? So what's with the 'waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah' it aint got sofas? What's wid da (WAAAHHAHHHHH!) it aint pitch black so I can get lost in the dark? Wuts wiv duh (BLEATING WAHAHAHHAHH!) genius bar is an operating table, crap? We aint all programmers, yer know? Maybe we want to ask questions in a clear and uncluttered environment. We can't all be uber-geeks. The Mac. It's a computer for all us thickos, remember? Besides, where else are you going to operate on the sad PC case who's got terminal XP? Sterile. No XP bacteria...
Maybe it's clean and tidy to stop you timewasters!!! (Yeesh, seen those guys on couches? They hog the couch all bleedin' aftanooon. Can't get rid of them. ANd they make their coffeeee last alllllllllllllll day! Yeesh!)
Whinge? Whine? Get yerself over here to the UK. We dont'have freakin' Apple stores. We don't have iPhoto printy book options...we don't have isherlock with freakin' yella pages or cinema ticket buying facilities yet...where's our iTunes Music store fer cripes sake. And it rains all the time over here. WHAT KIND OF PLACE IS THIS?!??!
Say...maybe we aint as good at complainin' as these yanks are afterall...
Comments
Originally posted by mrmister
Some of these posts are crazy.
I do agree with those who are argueing that the retail design may be cold or impersonal--I can totally dig that.
BUT, the folks who want dimmer lighting...SEATS...COFFEE?
It's a retail space--not Club Mac. It should make people feel like they have access to the machines, can check them out and see what's there.
It is NOT a gaming center, hang-out spot, clubhouse or 3rd party Mac vendor spot. It's a very specifically designed place for retail sales, aimed at people who obsess over Macs A LOT LESS THAN WE DO.
The longer people stay in a store the more they buy.
What would really work is to make the Genius bar a real bar with free drinks. After a few shots a sales associate could start explaining the benifits of buying multiple Macs at the same time.
People would wake up the next morning only to realize that in return for a free night of drinking they just ordered ten G5s that have a no return policy on them. Thinks of the sales opportunities!
Even more outrageous would be to install an Mac Classic iBong in every store to releave the pressure when dealing with the AppleCare people.
http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,50820,00.html
Originally posted by iBrowse
Every time I end up making the hour drive out to Buffalo I get all excited that I get to stop by the Apple store. Then I get there and always end up walking around looking for a reason to stay, I don't want to leave but I made my rounds and saw it all in under 15 minutes. I have seen all the hardware before, so I can't spend too long at that, when I need software I go out and get it, I don't just go browsing through and on a whim pick up some $300 software... and other than that, I just enter the store and the next thing I know I'm back at the entrance. I love Apple's stores, I just get let down every time I go to one. I know there shouldn't be any real reason to go there and have a great time or anything, and it isn't their job to entertain me, but when I go into Target for windshield washer fluid I end up being in there for 2 hours looking at stuff I don't care about. I wish when I went somewhere that specialized in something I did care about it took me more than 10 minutes to get bored there.
Yeah I agree, that store is just a little too small, the bigger ones are probably better. Still fun to go visit though.
Originally posted by Mac Man 020581
Yeah I agree, that store is just a little too small, the bigger ones are probably better. Still fun to go visit though.
A little small??? Square-footage wise the Buffalo store is one of the larger stores.
Except for SOHO, which stores are significantly bigger??
Originally posted by jante99
The longer people stay in a store the more they buy.
This is not true. It depends on the atmosphere. The more a store starts to become like a hangout, the less likely those customers are going to buy, unless you're talking about consumables like food.
Originally posted by Dave K.
A little small??? Square-footage wise the Buffalo store is one of the larger stores.
Except for SOHO, which stores are significantly bigger??
The LA store at the Grove is larger than SoHo location. Chicago is also one of the largest. Buffalo and all the 1.0 stores are basically the same size...much smaller than the three existing two-story flagship stores in LA, NYC and Chicago.
Originally posted by mrmister
It's a very specifically designed place for retail sales, aimed at people who obsess over Macs A LOT LESS THAN WE DO.
I agree.
I just came from the Apple Store at Palisades Center in West Nyack, NY. I don't know how you could walk by the place and not go in. It is so inviting. The big glowing Apple icons just beckon me. The store is always packed with customers, and I've noticed a lot of Apple converts looking at machines, too. Not just us, the already devout.
They seem to be selling a lot of merchandise, too.
It's the only Apple Store I've been to, so I can't say how big it is compared to others. But it seems a good size to me. I can stand in the middle and twirl around and point out all the stuff I would buy if I won the lottery!
And it's great that the computers are all hooked up and ready for actual use. At CompUSA or other places, there's never much software installed on the demos, if any.
Originally posted by MacUsers
I love the Apple Stores, they are awesome, i can never leave! It is an addicting store
I'm curious, HOW they are addicting, what do you do there?
Just like those of you making fun of that gPerch aluminum iPod holder that came out last week. Everyone ragged on it hardcore, calling it a "cheese grater" and everything else, because some third-party company did it. Had Jobs unveiled it at WWDC, those same people would've praised him for his "style and vision".
I've learned to politely ignore a few of you during my time here because you haven't been right yet about much...
Originally posted by pscates
... after about 10-15 minutes of taking a lap or two around the joint, I'm ready.
Wow, I'm impressed. I'm done after about five minutes
It's a store, not a social gathering place. Maybe if I were a woman I could get into going to the mall and "shopping", but my definition of shopping is that it is something I do when I want to go buy something
Originally posted by Wrong Robust
I'm curious, HOW they are addicting, what do you do there?
play around with the computers (I dont have my own OS X machine)
addicting was a bad word for it
Originally posted by pscates
Just like those of you making fun of that gPerch aluminum iPod holder that came out last week. Everyone ragged on it hardcore, calling it a "cheese grater" and everything else, because some third-party company did it. Had Jobs unveiled it at WWDC, those same people would've praised him for his "style and vision".
hahaha...I called it a cheese grater...because...it actually looks like a cheese grater!
If jobs' had unveiled it, I would have said "well...now that I think about it, I've been needing a new cheese grater
Originally posted by MacUsers
play around with the computers (I dont have my own OS X machine)
addicting was a bad word for it
Yeah, playing around with OS X is fun, I could see spending some time messing with it...but do they let you just do whatever on their computers? or do you have very limited access?
Originally posted by SuperGrover
I agree.
I just came from the Apple Store at Palisades Center in West Nyack, NY. I don't know how you could walk by the place and not go in. It is so inviting. The big glowing Apple icons just beckon me. The store is always packed with customers, and I've noticed a lot of Apple converts looking at machines, too. Not just us, the already devout.
They seem to be selling a lot of merchandise, too.
I was at the mall today because I blew one of the speakers in my car so I went to Best Buy to get new ones and when I walked past the Apple Store, you're right, it was crowded. But usually wheen I'm at the mall the Apple Store's pretty empty. I don't know about the other stores, but the Palisades store doesn't seem to be doing great business.
I don't live near the Palisades Center, so I don't get there very often, and only on weekends when I do. I can believe it's totally dead in there on weekdays.
Maybe if I were a woman...
The stores are kind of clean looking. Like that lobby room in Men in Black with the guy that sits there reading the newspaper. That was weird. Anyway... They should just add some furniture. Good lighting is nice and no it's not a coffee house, sheesh. I think the atmosphere also depends on the people there. MacUsers has his own user group so he's a people person. When I went to the Salem one it was jumping and the people there were cool and the Geniuses were helpful (wrt MIDI.)
More gadgets (non Apple ones that are cool) would be nice. However I walked in and noticed the Keyspan remote went from 80 to $49 and grabbed it. Apple Stores are great but they are kind of weird feeling. For example, I went to use the bathroom. There was a room before the bathrooms. You know, one of those rooms. With nothing in it. Just an empty room. It was weird. All they need is that guy reading the newspaper and a huge fan in the wall...
Another thing... I'm not too big on the video wall in the back. It gives me a Disney Store vibe. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if it didn't repeat so often. It makes me want to leave. After I've heard the same message twice, I know it's time to go.
Originally posted by SuperGrover
Small retail stores shouldn't have restrooms. That's a little weird. It makes sense in the flagship stores, but not the mall stores.
I agree. The mall itself provides restrooms anyhow. Right?
Another thing... I'm not too big on the video wall in the back. It gives me a Disney Store vibe. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if it didn't repeat so often. It makes me want to leave. After I've heard the same message twice, I know it's time to go.
I agree, I think it is too much of a focal point in the store. It would be nice if they could move it off to the side somewhere. I think it might actually create better flow, but hey, what do I know.
I went to a store's grand opening with my ex, spent about ten minutes in there, and we just looked at each other and felt it was about time to go. The general reaction could be summed up in one word: Meh.
For the 'bigger' stores, I could see that as a nice variation. Paying a small fee for 'net access. It's all adding to the Apple rev' streams.
Personally, I find Apple UK 'apple centres' quite addictive. I spend ages looking at the new kit I don't have or can't afford. Look at the software I don't have and think I 'need'. Look at gorgeous sound sticks and isub and wonder why I aint bought them yet. I look at the adequate Mac games software and wonder why it's so much dearer for a game brought out a year later and little development cost (hey, it's just a port...they didn't have to create it from the ground up, eh?) Then leave without buying anything wishing the G5 would be here. Well, that describes my Apple 'centre' experience for the last four years. But I did succumb to buying an iBook for my wife. Hey, she said she liked it...
Say...wait...the G5 is now available? Really? What am I waiting for...better get down to the store right now...why didn't somebody say so...
Personally, I don't know what you Americans are carping about. Ya got yer Apple Stores didn'tcha? Ya got over 50 of the bleeders, didn'tcha? So what's with the 'waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah' it aint got sofas? What's wid da (WAAAHHAHHHHH!) it aint pitch black so I can get lost in the dark? Wuts wiv duh (BLEATING WAHAHAHHAHH!) genius bar is an operating table, crap? We aint all programmers, yer know? Maybe we want to ask questions in a clear and uncluttered environment. We can't all be uber-geeks. The Mac. It's a computer for all us thickos, remember? Besides, where else are you going to operate on the sad PC case who's got terminal XP? Sterile. No XP bacteria...
Maybe it's clean and tidy to stop you timewasters!!! (Yeesh, seen those guys on couches? They hog the couch all bleedin' aftanooon. Can't get rid of them. ANd they make their coffeeee last alllllllllllllll day! Yeesh!)
Whinge? Whine? Get yerself over here to the UK. We dont'have freakin' Apple stores. We don't have iPhoto printy book options...we don't have isherlock with freakin' yella pages or cinema ticket buying facilities yet...where's our iTunes Music store fer cripes sake. And it rains all the time over here. WHAT KIND OF PLACE IS THIS?!??!
Say...maybe we aint as good at complainin' as these yanks are afterall...
LeMon Bon BOn