Earlier today, Apple announced a series of news for its official stores that will take them to the next level of the retail experience or, at least, we hope. And, as it could not be otherwise, the boss behind the change has already tried to give a long interview to a large media vehicle to personally explain the decisions and, of course, to throw a little more visibility on the subject.
In a rare interview, Angela Ahrendts, Ma's senior vice president of retail, appeared on the newspaper CBS This Morning talking about the changes at Apple Stores, and what she believes will make the company's stores become a landmark of sales experience around the world. Below, we confirm some highlights of the interview.
Ahrendts began by talking about the reasons behind the renovation at Apple Stores, which were introduced 16 years ago in a collaboration between two geniuses in their respective fields: Steve Jobs, in technology, and Ron Johnson, in retail. Now, with neither of the two in Cupertino to oversee the progress of his creation, there remains the challenge for Apple's “new faces” to maintain and expand its legacy.
Probably the best way to describe it (the Apple Store) because at Apple everything always has to be simple the way we talk about it internally. We say, "this is the biggest product that Apple produces". So if you think about it, architecture is the hardware of the store. The software is what happens inside the store and as we basically connect Apple Music and the App Store, then we start with the hardware.
Presenter Nancy O’Donnell then asked Angela if the idea of the “Today at Apple” program (“Today at Apple”) would be to bring more people to Ma's spaces, this was a starting point for the executive to pull one of her main motivations behind the initiatives: attract the so-called “generation Z” and transform Apple stores into true “reference points” in a city.
Many of the big names online are opening stores. Amazon is investing in stores, Google is investing in stores, Starbucks has figured out how to do that, you know? Being a meeting place "meet me at Starbucks". And you know, I say to my teams, “I will know that I did a really, really good job if the next generation, if Generation Z says‘ find me at Apple. Did you see what's going on at Apple today? '”
Then, the executive, who, by chance, is one of the 50 most powerful women in the world of technology, spoke a little about why she was chosen by Tim Cook to lead the expansion of the company in the retail area. Spoiler: it wasn't because she was a tech savvy.
I said to Tim when he was interviewing me, “I’m not a techie. Like, wrong person. ” You know? And he, you know, replied very kindly: "I think we already have many like this". (The interviewer then asks why Cook wanted her, even though she is not a techie.) I think it all comes down to the fact that our teams are so big and so global I think a lot of that has to do with leadership.
Other highlights of the interview can be seen on the official website of CBS This Morning; the full video was posted on the journalistic channel on YouTube where some highlights of the executive's speech are also available and can be seen at the beginning of this post.
(via 9to5Mac)
