London store Nov 20
Apple CEO Steve Jobs has confirmed
the company’s plans to open a
flagship retail store on London’s
Regent Street on November 20 – the final
day of the UK MacExpo show running in
Islington, North London.
Jobs made the announcement while
unveiling new iPods (see pages 16 and 18).
“It will be a fantastic store, and we think
our London customers will love it,” said Jobs.
As reported in recent months, Apple
has begun hiring staff for a second outlet in
Birmingham, and industry insiders speculate
that the company is considering several others,
in Manchester, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Cardiff,
Oxford, Cambridge, Brighton and Southampton.
The London store will offer the largest
Genius Bar yet, measuring 14 metres. Apple
hasn’t clarified if this means it expects to meet
a steep learning curve among UK residents.
It also offers a 64-seat theatre for free
workshops and presentations, and introduces
The Studio, an area staffed by Mac users with
skills in photography, movie-making, music
and others areas. With an eye on London’s
cosmopolitan status, staff include
multi-lingual specialists.
Apple plans “over 250 special events”
in November to promote the store, including
giveaways, music events, special workshops
and guest appearances from well-known
members of the Mac community. The company
will give away a free Apple T-shirt to the first
2,500 customers coming through the door
on the opening day.
A ‘digital lifestyle’ collection worth £2,000
will be available as a prize, and the company
will be selling Lucky Bags (estimated value
£700) for just £249 on the day.
The company sold Lucky Bags in Japan
when it opened its Tokyo store. These contained
an iSight camera, Bluetooth USB adaptor,
Bluetooth mouse, Keynote, a .Mac subscription
and a 10 per cent store discount-card. Some
bags also contained iPod minis.
Events
Other events include a performance by
Steriogram in-store on November 21; Made
on a Mac presentations at 7pm on November
22 and 23; and the introduction of a series of
Creative Community Events from December 1.
“We’ll be hosting free talks and workshops
from leading names across a variety of
industries. Learn useful knowledge about the
industry, discover the latest news and trends,
and pick up valuable tricks of the trade,”
Apple said.
The company has seen success with its
stores worldwide. It now has 93 outlets open
across the US and Japan. These have attracted
24 million in-store visitors, and accrued
$1.2 billion in revenues. Jobs says they offer
“the best buying experience for any personal
computer or any product we know of”.
Apple previously revealed that just
over 50 per cent of its retail store customers
are first-time computer buyers or Windows
switchers, and believes it is benefiting
from the ‘iPod halo effect’, which
