4 ms·

I grew up in Plano; the Willow Bend location was the "main" one for my area. I think this will sting. On a map it looks like the new location is trivially clos

by _bxg1 8y ago

I grew up in Plano; the Willow Bend location was the "main" one for my area. I think this will sting. On a map it looks like the new location is trivially close-by, but the Galleria is in "Dallas proper", as opposed to the other locations which were deep in suburbia. In other words you have to brave Dallas traffic across the urban sprawl to get to it. It's not a mall people in the suburbs go to to just hang out; it's an outing. On top of that, Plano and Frisco are both relatively wealthy areas with lots of people who really really like their Apple devices. Hopefully this is a wake-up call.

kodablah 8y ago
True, the Galleria parking and 635 area are usually what turn people off (not that Stonebriar and Willow Bend don't have their own problems these days). There are no other upscale malls in the north Dallas region beyond those three, I don't see Apple ending up in the lesser Grapevine Mills or Music City (nee Vista Ridge) malls to serve the area assuming they are within the boundary. But in general, people in the metroplex don't rock the boat and aren't very squeaky wheels. It may hurt a bit, but it won't change anything.
- amyjess 8y ago
  > There are no other upscale malls in the north Dallas region beyond those three Well, there's also NorthPark, but I believe that already has an Apple Store. And I wouldn't really call Stonebriar "upscale". It's basically the only non-upscale mall here that isn't dead or dying.
  - kodablah 8y ago
    > Well, there's also NorthPark Not what I'd consider the north Dallas region. I mean "upscale" in mall-relative terms which is basically just not dead or dying.
    - amyjess 8y ago
      Eh, anything that's north of Loop 12 and west of 75 (and east of some nebulous line west of Inwood) is "North Dallas". NorthPark barely qualifies, since it's on the northwest corner of Loop 12 and 75. But it's all moot because I checked, and Apple already has a store at NorthPark.
- techsupporter 8y ago
  > I don't see Apple ending up in the lesser Grapevine Mills or Music City (nee Vista Ridge) malls to serve the area assuming they are within the boundary. FWIW, Vista Ridge would be out because Lewisville (well, Denton County) is in the Eastern District of Texas. Grapevine Mills is outside of the district but, upscale or not, Apple won't open a store there because it already has a store at Southlake Town Square, very nearby down highway 114.
stcredzero 8y ago
I think this will sting. Won't that create an opportunity for an independent local business? It won't be as convenient and nice as an Apple store. However, it will reduce the sting in exchange for some profit.
- thaumaturgy 8y ago
  Speaking as someone that's a fan of independent, local businesses and struggled with running one for 10 years: no business best described by the words "independent" and "local" can compete on all aspects of customer service with a megacorp. The resources just ain't there for it. It will have higher prices or poorer service, if one is opened at all.
  - Wowfunhappy 8y ago
    What do you mean by "all aspects"? An mom and pop shop in a small town can have better service than a megacorp by personally knowing its customer base and adapting its policies to individuals. Megacorp customer service, by comparison, always involves some level of bureaucracy.
    - hug 8y ago
      Since we’re talking about Apple stores, here’s an anecdote about competing on service: My iPhone was rebooting at random, in the middle of use, with some regularity. I was in an area with no Apple store, so I swung by an authorised Apple repairer/reseller. I explained my problem, and the guy around the counter, while very apologetic, explained there was no way I was having my phone swapped out. He didn’t have stock of my particular model, but even if he did, he said, if he swapped it out and Apple determined it to be non-defective, they’d make him eat the cost of the device, which he couldn’t afford. A week later when I was back home I took it to the nearby Apple store. The lady there looked at it, shrugged, walked out back and came out with a new phone. This isn’t because she cared more, it’s because she cared less.
      - jakobegger 8y ago
amyjess 8y ago
I work right across the Tollway from Willow Bend, and I regularly walk to that mall for lunch. There was one time that was really convenient: sick and tired of Lyft drivers using Apple Maps consistently going to the wrong location when attempting to pick me up at home, I went into the Apple Store at lunch, hopped on an iPad, and looked up my address. Sure, enough. It was in the right place. So I submitted a change request to put it where it's supposed to be. They eventually fixed it, but it took months, and by the time they did fix it, Lyft had already banned their drivers from using Apple Maps. Also, Willow Bend had the first Apple Store in Dallas, and for a few years, it was the only thing that mall had going for it as the original "upscale" concept of the mall flopped. What's really going to sting, though, is losing Stonebriar. Stonebriar is really far away from Dallas... I grew up a little bit north of where the Galleria is (closer, actually, to what used to be Prestonwood), and when Stonebriar first opened, going all the way up to Frisco of all places felt like a massive journey. I've been desensitized to it since, but that's still a pretty long trek. Of course, when I was a kid, development completely ended just north of Legacy (and in parts of Plano, just north of Parker), and everything in sight of 121 was farmland, so every time I go to Stonebriar I'm going someplace that used to be a no man's land when I was little. How things have changed... And from my personal experience going to the Galleria after work, the traffic turns into a nightmare at the drop of a hat. During rush hour, the southbound Tollway is completely clear until just before Keller Springs, and then the traffic becomes bumper-to-bumper until way past 635.
- _bxg1 8y ago
  Yeah; but Frisco is really the new Plano, and Plano is becoming the new Richardson. Frisco is where all the young executives with families are moving. Stonebriar isn't out-of-the-way anymore for lots of potential Apple customers.
  - amyjess 8y ago
    Well, what I meant was that if Stonebriar was out of the way for someone like me who grew up north of the Galleria, then the Galleria must be really out of the way for people in Frisco.
unexpected 8y ago
I grew up in Plano too! Closing the Willow Bend location could be a death knell for the mall - it brings substantial traffic to the property.

by _bxg1 8y ago

kodablah 8y ago

True, the Galleria parking and 635 area are usually what turn people off (not that Stonebriar and Willow Bend don't have their own problems these days). There are no other upscale malls in the north Dallas region beyond those three, I don't see Apple ending up in the lesser Grapevine Mills or Music City (nee Vista Ridge) malls to serve the area assuming they are within the boundary. But in general, people in the metroplex don't rock the boat and aren't very squeaky wheels. It may hurt a bit, but it won't change anything.

amyjess 8y ago
> There are no other upscale malls in the north Dallas region beyond those three Well, there's also NorthPark, but I believe that already has an Apple Store. And I wouldn't really call Stonebriar "upscale". It's basically the only non-upscale mall here that isn't dead or dying.
- kodablah 8y ago
  > Well, there's also NorthPark Not what I'd consider the north Dallas region. I mean "upscale" in mall-relative terms which is basically just not dead or dying.
  - amyjess 8y ago
    Eh, anything that's north of Loop 12 and west of 75 (and east of some nebulous line west of Inwood) is "North Dallas". NorthPark barely qualifies, since it's on the northwest corner of Loop 12 and 75. But it's all moot because I checked, and Apple already has a store at NorthPark.
techsupporter 8y ago
> I don't see Apple ending up in the lesser Grapevine Mills or Music City (nee Vista Ridge) malls to serve the area assuming they are within the boundary. FWIW, Vista Ridge would be out because Lewisville (well, Denton County) is in the Eastern District of Texas. Grapevine Mills is outside of the district but, upscale or not, Apple won't open a store there because it already has a store at Southlake Town Square, very nearby down highway 114.

stcredzero 8y ago

I think this will sting. Won't that create an opportunity for an independent local business? It won't be as convenient and nice as an Apple store. However, it will reduce the sting in exchange for some profit.

thaumaturgy 8y ago
Speaking as someone that's a fan of independent, local businesses and struggled with running one for 10 years: no business best described by the words "independent" and "local" can compete on all aspects of customer service with a megacorp. The resources just ain't there for it. It will have higher prices or poorer service, if one is opened at all.
- Wowfunhappy 8y ago
  What do you mean by "all aspects"? An mom and pop shop in a small town can have better service than a megacorp by personally knowing its customer base and adapting its policies to individuals. Megacorp customer service, by comparison, always involves some level of bureaucracy.
  - hug 8y ago
    Since we’re talking about Apple stores, here’s an anecdote about competing on service: My iPhone was rebooting at random, in the middle of use, with some regularity. I was in an area with no Apple store, so I swung by an authorised Apple repairer/reseller. I explained my problem, and the guy around the counter, while very apologetic, explained there was no way I was having my phone swapped out. He didn’t have stock of my particular model, but even if he did, he said, if he swapped it out and Apple determined it to be non-defective, they’d make him eat the cost of the device, which he couldn’t afford. A week later when I was back home I took it to the nearby Apple store. The lady there looked at it, shrugged, walked out back and came out with a new phone. This isn’t because she cared more, it’s because she cared less.
    - jakobegger 8y ago

amyjess 8y ago

I work right across the Tollway from Willow Bend, and I regularly walk to that mall for lunch. There was one time that was really convenient: sick and tired of Lyft drivers using Apple Maps consistently going to the wrong location when attempting to pick me up at home, I went into the Apple Store at lunch, hopped on an iPad, and looked up my address. Sure, enough. It was in the right place. So I submitted a change request to put it where it's supposed to be. They eventually fixed it, but it took months, and by the time they did fix it, Lyft had already banned their drivers from using Apple Maps. Also, Willow Bend had the first Apple Store in Dallas, and for a few years, it was the only thing that mall had going for it as the original "upscale" concept of the mall flopped. What's really going to sting, though, is losing Stonebriar. Stonebriar is really far away from Dallas... I grew up a little bit north of where the Galleria is (closer, actually, to what used to be Prestonwood), and when Stonebriar first opened, going all the way up to Frisco of all places felt like a massive journey. I've been desensitized to it since, but that's still a pretty long trek. Of course, when I was a kid, development completely ended just north of Legacy (and in parts of Plano, just north of Parker), and everything in sight of 121 was farmland, so every time I go to Stonebriar I'm going someplace that used to be a no man's land when I was little. How things have changed... And from my personal experience going to the Galleria after work, the traffic turns into a nightmare at the drop of a hat. During rush hour, the southbound Tollway is completely clear until just before Keller Springs, and then the traffic becomes bumper-to-bumper until way past 635.

_bxg1 8y ago
Yeah; but Frisco is really the new Plano, and Plano is becoming the new Richardson. Frisco is where all the young executives with families are moving. Stonebriar isn't out-of-the-way anymore for lots of potential Apple customers.
- amyjess 8y ago
  Well, what I meant was that if Stonebriar was out of the way for someone like me who grew up north of the Galleria, then the Galleria must be really out of the way for people in Frisco.

unexpected 8y ago

I grew up in Plano too! Closing the Willow Bend location could be a death knell for the mall - it brings substantial traffic to the property.