I was very impressed with the line waiting for the store to open an no one at the Dull stand - not even RC.

These Apple mini stores have a full-time squeegee man that wanders about spraying and wiping off fingerprints from the stainless steel walls. Wonder how long that's going to last. These stores are going to look trashy in a few days.

So, I guess that means the stores will look the way you post. At least will be trashy from being USED. What's your excuse?

But he has been used, that is why he hates Apple so much.

He bought M$ Windows, a Dell, a Packard Bell, and a host of other crappy fall-apart machines. So he has been used, and the makers of his product have thrown him away.

He is disgruntled, angry, and all out confused as to why we Apple users have such a grand time with our machines, and he has to spend the money he wants to use on a Macintosh to fix his poorly put together PC.

Seems like a waste to put up a whole store, and then not show off the cream of the crop. Doesn't it?

Mike

I think they should have EVERY product made by Apple on display. I mean the number of purely Apple products is limited enough that they should be able to do it. How about if they put some of the software in the back storage room and just have a catalog (real or one loaded on a computer) of all the software titles available on site but out of sight. If they are limited on storage space they could have the eMacs and Powermacs be display only.

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MTM wrote:
Seems like a waste to put up a whole store, and then not show off the cream of the crop. Doesn't it?

See Mike, Dual G5s are like Dick Cheney. Everytime you see it, its gone next time you blink.

I talked to a number of sales persons at the new mini store in Oakridge. They said the store will present their most popular consumer items. The dual G5s are targeted more at professionals and the mini stores cater more toward consumer.

Time to empty Reality Check's diapers - they're full.

powermac's and emacs arent nearly as popular as the laptops and imacs. go into any apple store and just count how many of each computer you see being sold per day. it makes perfect sense for them not to be displayed in the mini stores.

also aesthetically, all the machines they have on display are AIO's, very compact, and fitting for the store.

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Guest wrote:
I talked to a number of sales persons at the new mini store in Oakridge. They said the store will present their most popular consumer items. The dual G5s are targeted more at professionals and the mini stores cater more toward consumer.

Sorry. Still doesn't make any sense to me. I assume the "Mini Stores" are going to be in smaller markets, but that is no indication of the kind of users there might be there. What if the world's best graphic designer lives in Elks Mistake, Saskatchewan? Shouldn't the Mini Store there be able to deal with her properly (ignoring for the moment that there are no brick and mortar Apple Stores of any kind in Canada [population about 30 million, Apple Stores = 0, California, population about 30 million, Apple Stores = 23 and rising {but perhaps I am grumpy today}])?

Besides, I know a couple of things about retail, and the very best way to make the $1300-$1900 dollar units move out the door in droves is to show off the $2000-$3000 dollar machinery.

Mike

I think its evry smart move on Apple's part. They are making these smaller stores to ease folks who may only be interested in the iPod for now. Well in that small space maybe on their way out they'll see an iBook or the iPod's big brother the iMac G5 and at least ask about it. I think it makes perfect sense and once again only proves Apple can predict it's customers and now even prdict what switchers will want to see and in what surroundings they'll want to see it. Bravo.

rh ~etrns rty

First off, I am a huge Mac guy, my first mac a IIcx, it was first of my seven macs... blah, blah, blah. So I'm not hating, don't flame on me...

But I have to say, that floor is most likely a poured-resin surface, like the one the NYC SoHo MAC make-up store (not to be confused with the Apple store) has... And it does scuff and discolor a small bit. And it is hard to keep the shiney white surface...

But I think the reletively small size will allow Apple to redo it when they need to -

The new mini stores had no emacs. odd. interestingly enough, there was an intel booth in the mall. no a soul in site of that thing.

I like what I see from the photos of the new store design. Very cool. I do have one concern: The lack of machines on display and the lack of shelf space for product may only help to reinforce Windows user's misconception that the Mac market is synonymous with a poor selection of software, peripherals and accessories.

I say get rid of the software from the front altogether, devote both sides to accessories/peripherals and have interactive catalogues installed on all the demo Mac machines that allow people to browse all the software titles carried, show which ones are in stock (in the back room) and which can be ordered or transferred from another location.

The benefit of this approach is they can keep a lot more software in stock without having to worry about shelf space to display it and the catalogue will do a lot more to show off the great selection of software available. At the same time, there will be no theft of software (which is getting easier with the smaller packaging these days) and will allow for twice as much space for displaying accessories and peripherals which sell better when people can hold it in their hands. People don't care about holding software, as long as they can read the description and system requirements and see screenshots. A software based catalogue can do a much better job of providing this info than the back of a box.

My 2¢...

Andy C.
Brampton, ON Canada

P.S. Still waiting for Apple Stores and iTMS in Canada.

There are rumors floating around regarding new eMacs. Lets hope THOSE at least make it into these stores. Maybe the current eMacs aren't classy enough for the mini stores.

I like the software display as it is. It will help catch peoples eye and they might then realize there is a program for basicly anything they need/want to accompolish on a comp, dispelling the "no software" myth. I think they should display ALL there products, and I see alot of wasted space in the middle of the store which could easily contain a stylish island to hold them. There could be a 30" monitor right in the front/center playing DVD's or something. That would DRAW in the CROWDS. Even if they kept a very small inventory
The stores are very cool, but they could have "had it all" in them.

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NoVaMac wrote:
...There could be a 30" monitor right in the front/center playing DVD's or something. That would DRAW in the CROWDS...

I don't know how good of an idea this is.... that's $3,200 of lost revenue that Apple is wasting by essentially putting up a big profit maker they can't sell.