The Street:
Apple Stores turn out to be very good neighbors, and have become the new mall anchor store, a role once held by department stores, because they draw lots of foot traffic, which also benefits the smaller stores.
The presence of an Apple Store in a mall also increases the value of a mall and allows mall owners to raise square-footage rates for other tenants.
While it’s not all sunshine and lollipops for fellow tenants, an Apple store in a mall at least gives those retailers a fighting chance to capture some of the dollars those customers are bringing to the mall. I’d be curious to know if, like the prime spots near Apple during Macworld Expos, whether mall owners charge more for stores the closer they are to Apple.
It seems like a lifetime ago that the Apple store was a “store within a store” at CompUSA.
After you’re done shopping at Apple, walk down and check out the Microsoft store with 3 customers roaming around.
You actually saw 3?!!
One of Jobs’ best decisions, but the execution was nearly flawless too.
I think is analysis is pretty spot on. Whenever my wife has dragged me along with my son to the mall, we often end up killing time at the Apple Store. It’s typically the busiest store in the mall, and I’ve often wondered, as other retailers have come and gone, how much that traffic has kept other mall retailers in business. I can tell you that the kiosk vendors right outside the apple store are doing well, based on my anecdotal observations and random conversations, but I’m not sure the typical mall anchor stores are realizing any benefit and capturing of the wallet.
Nice try, Apple. However, the big investors want Amazon to kill American malls by putting all the major anchor retail stores out of business. I’m sure Amazon will have its way as it’s backed by some of the wealthiest investors in the U.S. who have no interest in shopping at malls. If the malls close down due to Amazon ruining their businesses, then those employees who worked at the malls will just have seek employment elsewhere. Wall Street seems quite happy to see Amazon put other companies out of business. Jeff Bezos will eventually become the wealthiest man in America and unemployment will be at an all-time high as the major retailers fold and close up shop. Apple can’t stop it. Amazon is already seen by Wall Street as being more powerful than Apple ever will be.
Ugh. I remember that time. It mostly coincides with our year in the worst apartment we ever had, during the aftermath of the dot-com bust. Poorly-maintained Macs in a department store was just icing on the cake.
Wall Street doesn’t care about the consequences of what you’re describing.
I can believe this.
Bezos already is the wealiest man in america.
Yup, I was always trying to fix them. Remember MUG members helping customers voluntarily? Amazing.
I was never part of a MUG, but if I was within earshot of a store clerk who couldn’t answer a customer’s question, I sure as hell would try.
I wasn’t part of a MUG either.
I did the same though, unfortunately it was all too often that I had to correct some mis-information being doled out by someone who barely knew Windows.
Yep. It got better at one point, though. After Apple heard enough about what a crappy job CompUSA was doing, they put their own people into the store-within-a-store. My last conversations with one (in his Apple-logo polo) was something of a relief.
Too bad he didn’t get there soon enough to prevent them from selling me an iMac (at full retail price) that had already been returned by someone else for multiple defects.
I’ve never been in one, but I’m still enormously curious. Next time, for sure.