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http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=1799
Apple Retail Stores: It's the Floorplan, Stupid
By Remy Davison, Insanely Great Mac
March 9th 2003
Steve gets free, unsolicited advice from an industry guru.
Why have Apple's Retail Stores been a foot-traffic success? Design. Aesthetics. Use of
space.
But are they any good? Business 2.0 asks professional store designer/troubleshooter
Paco Underhill what he thinks of Apple Retail Stores.
Apple's SoHo store occupies 15,000 square feet. The entrance to the store is bare.
Underhill says that "Apple breaks the rules by leaving the first 20 yards bare, but it
works. Look up and you see the top edge of a theater screen; people want to find out
what's up there."
Underhill has some criticisms of Apple's store layout, but not many. Take the SoHo
store's glass staircase: it's spectacular, says, Underhill, but older people might be
wary about tripping and falling; they need to know there's an elevator as well.
Signage isn't big enough, is another problem. More large "In stock now" signs would be
an improvement, says Underhill. Apple also needs more that iPods at the checkout while
people are standing in line.
The Retail Store Geniuses come in for much praise, both for their enthusiasm and the
fact that Apple has paid attention to gender balance, making both male and female
shoppers feel more comfortable.
How about coffee? Apple have a theatre running Photoshop and OS X classes, so why not
sell it?
Analysis: Free advice, we guess, is only worth the price of admission. How many are
buying though? Check out the product at Apple Retail, buy it at discount (with a free
printer and RAM) on the net? It reminds me of when the company gets the ad guru in
who, inevitably, brings the 'Creative Director' with them. They run though the
dazzling advertising/marketing campaign they have planned. The older guys' glaze over
and one murmers, "Just sell the damn thing."
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