A new Apple store will open in New York this Saturday, June 13, at 9 am (local time). THE Apple Retail Store – Upper East Side It is located on the corner of Madison Avenue and 74th Street, exactly 16 blocks from the famous Fifth Avenue store.
The building, from 1920, was a bank (Mortgage & Trust) and was fully recovered by Ma; the front door, stairs and other parts of the architecture are made of Botticino marble, the same Italian marble used at Grand Central and Penn Station in New York (and which was originally used in the bank). Six metal chandeliers reproduced to match the originals of old photographs adorn the ceiling; underground, the heavily armed safe, with a soft steel door behind a set of steel bars, leads to a room for VIP customers, meetings, etc.
The interior of the store is very different from those in the mall that we are used to seeing. More than that, in addition to the differentiation in architecture as a whole, the very way Apple decided to make its products available for customers to taste is well differentiated (note the photos shared by TechCrunch as the cases and the headphones are arranged in a much nicer way).
But do not think that this in any way indicates a new standard that will be followed in all stores. According to the Associated Pressit is all part of Apple's effort to keep its stores distinct from not just other retailers, but one from the others. According to Angela Ahrendts (senior vice president of Apple's physical and online stores), this is no different than the way Apple users download different applications and personalize their phones in different ways.
In shopping malls, as we said, things tend to be a little more standardized; already in some establishments Apple tries to blend with the architecture of the place to the maximum, see this store, Grand Central (also in New York, USA), Brisbane (in Australia), Opra (in Paris, France), Kurfrstendamm ( Berlin, Germany), Amsterdam (in the Netherlands), Passeig de Grcia (in Barcelona, Spain) and so on.
Although beautiful, the store is about half the size of most others and was designed primarily for local residents and businesses in need of repair or training.
Fifth Avenue Renovation
While it opens, the Fifth Avenue store will close for renovation and be temporarily transferred to the famous FAO Schwarz toy store, very close, which will close its doors. She and about 20 others (in the US) will undergo this type of intervention or leave their current location, moving to a larger one (such as the Apple Retail Store – San Francisco). According to Ahrendts, 60% of American stores precede the iPhone and currently do not support the number of visitors. So some will double in size and this change is still a great opportunity to rethink their design.
As a curiosity, Apple published a gallery of photos taken with iPhones of the neighborhood where this new store opens its doors on Saturday. It is worth strolling through them.
(via 9to5Mac)