Apple stores are the highest grossing retail stores in the world by a significant margin. Apple Stores produce over $5,600 per square foot. The next highest r

Apple stores are the highest grossing retail stores in the world by a significant margin. Apple Stores produce over $5,600 per square foot. The next highest retailer is Tiffany, at a little under $3,000. The median for the top 20 retailers is well under $1,000 per square foot. It's important to keep in mind that going into retail looked absolutely ridiculous when Apple announced their first retail store, for some of the reasons you have enumerated. Gateway was what people thought of as a computer retailer, and they were dying. Execution matters.