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Apple Shifts from Genius Bars to Genius Groves, Hoping Patrons Linger
- alexnewman 10y agoDoom!
- cmdrfred 10y agoI wonder if this move is to suit a new class of products. "... 42-foot-tall glass doors that slide open to expose the interior to the street" A car dealership perhaps?
- jon-wood 10y agoIt's for the iPad Pro 2.
- williadc 10y ago42' tall is quite excessive for a car.
- Razengan 10y agoAn iMech?
- nickpsecurity 10y agoI'll buy from Apple if it's an iMech. You know it will look stylish and unlike almost every other robot movie around. Because that's what they do best.
- theoh 10y agoMaybe it's 42 1-foot tall doors.
- smitherfield 10y agoI suspect this is more of a response to demand—the genius bar at my local mall is typically booked days in advance.
- jbverschoor 10y agoSame here And even if you have an appointment, you have to wait.
- JumpCrisscross 10y ago> even if you have an appointment, you have to wait Am I the only one who finds this vain and disrespectful? I'm on time to my meetings. I'm on time to dinner after boozy brunch. Yet Apple can't help but overcommit when I take the time to schedule with them? Go ahead and charge me a $20 cancellation fee for a "premium appointment". But don't present your brand with all the poise and discipline of a teen Hollywood wannabe.
- pkaye 10y agoDo you think they can estimate ahead of time how long each appointment will take?
- DasIch 10y agoI don't see how any redesign could help with that. There is only a single Apple Store in Berlin and it's probably similar elsewhere in Europe. The only way to get an appointment is to get one immediately once they make new ones available at midnight.
- onion2k 10y agoIf they put in a bar to serve drinks then they can go full circle.
- ghostDancer 10y agoThe can call them iTemples.
- digi_owl 10y agoWhere one go to get ones iD stroked?
- skbohra123 10y agoSurprised to see an Apple related thread with so few comments!
- auggierose 10y agoThe next generation just wants to flow. What does that mean?
- smsm42 10y agoNothing really, except expressing the desire of whoever invented that phrase to be perceived as possessing some deep insight into the thoughts of "next generation".
- pekk 10y agoWhich is like saying "for humans" meaning that you want to be perceived as possessing some deep insight into what all people want products to be like.
- cr3ative 10y agoWander in, get service, wander out. Scheduling is an interruption.
- WayneBro 10y agoApple is probably the most pretentious company that I've ever had the displeasure of knowing about. I'll never meet anybody "at Apple". I may meet them at an Apple store but if anyone says the words "at Apple" then the meeting is off because I never want to speak to you again.
- function_seven 10y agoSo you'll meet someone at a Best Buy store, but snub them if they say "at Best Buy"? Or a Starbucks coffee shop is OK, but "at Starbucks" is not? I'm not understanding here.
- noonespecial 10y agoHe went overboard with the "never want to speak to you again" bit but he's not wrong. We say "at McDonalds" or "at Starbucks" because these places have a sort of casual ubiquity that's inserted them into our daily lives. We say "at the Apple store" because that's what feels right based its place in our daily experience. A marketing guy trying to goad us into giving the Apple store that same casual ubiquity without "earning" it just by dropping some leather couches and potted plants into a store is pretentious. It feels wrong and we know it in an uncanny valley sort of way.
- pbreit 10y agoI don't think you should be down voted but I think you're wrong. The comment is clearly aspirational and reasonable. To get all uppity (the op) about it is kinda ridiculous.
- WayneBro 10y agoUppity, like Apple? I don't think I can reach those heights. (Remember those Mac vs PC commercials? You can't get much more uppity than that.)
- ghshephard 10y agoIn Vancouver we would always say, "Let's meet at Eatons", or, "VPL", or, "The Bay", or heck, even, "Let's meet at Mickey Dee's" (Mcdonalds). Do a good enough job creating an inviting public space, that people frequent, then yes, I think it's a reasonable goal to say, "Let's meet at Apple" - you've got to aspire to something, and that seems like a pretty worthwhile goal.
- owly 10y agoReal leather? Sounds like some Burberry BS.
- jackgavigan 10y agoThe flagship Apple store in London is getting a similar makeover: http://idoxpa.westminster.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=NNCZXQRPFR000 http://idoxpa.westminster.gov.uk/online-applications/applica... They're taking away the mezzanine floor at the front of the store to turn the main section just inside the entrance into a big, open two-storey high square space (which sounds similar to the glass-roofed space at the existing Covent Garden store). Adding more space to sit sounds like the approach taken by luxury boutiques, which often have chairs and sofas for customers (or, more likely, their spouses) to sit and relax.
- tmacro 10y agoWith the "wooden cubes and real leather medicine balls" it's sounds like they're taking a page from the fast food restaurant design manual, and completely misunderstanding it. Uncomfortable places to sit don't say, linger a while, they say, get your stuff and get out.
- CM30 10y agoSo I guess they're aiming these stores at the (fairly large) group of visitors that use the Apple Stores to mess around with the technology and use it in their social gatherings rather than for buying any products from.
- ibash 10y agoThis article is nonsense -- but if you're in SF visit the store, the space feels good to walk through.