| Friday, October 15, 2004 |
15:07 - Apple Store mini
http://www.apple.com/retail/
|
(top)  |
So this is the new look for the Apple Stores—or, at least, the six new "mini" stores opening across the country tomorrow at 10:00.
Look at this. Look at this. There are no hanging lights—the ceiling is one big light. The floor is made of white epoxy. Every other surface is laser-cut, bead-blasted stainless steel panels. Like a big G5.
iPods along the left, Macs along the right; further back is iPod gear (left) and Mac gear (right), as well as a credit-card kiosk where you can check out your own purchases. Presumably this cuts way down on the number of employees they'll have to have per store; these mini-stores will be much less of a "hangout" kind of place, with no Genius Bars (or a much truncated version) and no theaters. These are a much more utilitarian, getcha-in-getcha-out sort of thing. Whisk you through the line to get your iPod, move along, next please! I guess that's a necessity in today's high times.
Oh, and best of all—one of the six new stores will be in the Oakridge Mall, just a few miles down the road from me! It's my own neighborhood Apple Store, and I'll be there with Kris at 10:00 tomorrow morning to see the thing for myself. As with most things Mac, photos just don't do 'em justice. (Trust me, you don't know what the new iMacs look like, if you haven't played with one up close.)
Oh, and there are other Bay Area locations opening up, including one at Stanford (just a few blocks from the existing Palo Alto store) and another in Santa Rosa, for me to stop off at on my way to visit my folks at home. The rest seem to be in the New York City area, primarily.
Dangitall, I can't keep up with this company anymore!
|
|
Brian Tiemann
