Apple Plans 25 New Stores, Revamps Services

· by · News

While other retailers are cutting back because of economic concerns, Apple has 25 more stores in the works, including locations in New York, Paris, Italy and Germany. The company is also planning remodels for some of its older stores and will be changing up its One to One program in June, according to USATODAY.

Ron Johnson, Apple's senior vice president of retail "We know that a lot of people are cutting back, but we're doing the opposite. We're investing in the downturn."

The Mac and iPod maker has remodels planned for 100 of its retail locations to make room for twice as many Macs and to increase the size of the Genius Bar areas. The changes are designed to help highlight in-store customer service programs and better show off the company's computer offerings.

Apple's One to One service will be getting a face lift, too. Starting on June 2, the training program will be limited to customers that purchased their Mac at an Apple retail store or on the company's Web site. Current One to One users, however, will still be able to renew their subscription.

One to One sessions will be extended to three hours from one hour, but they may include up to three participants, making them seem more like "One to Maybe Three" instead of "One to One" sessions.

"We originally set up One to One to get people to switch to the Mac," Mr. Johnson said. "Now we want to expand it to make it even more relevant to people who have bought their Mac."

While the changes to the One to One program may not please current subscribers, the new stores and remodels should make the company's retail locations even more accessible to PC users switching to the Mac and current Apple customers, too.

Jeff Gamet

Jeff Gamet

Jeff is the Mac Observer's Managing Editor, and co-host of the Apple Context Machine podcast. He is the author of "The Designer's Guide to Mac OS X" from Peachpit Press, and writes for several design-related publications. Jeff has presented at events such as Macworld Expo, the RSA Conference, and the Mac Computer Expo. In all his spare time, he also co-hosts the We Have Communicators podcast, and makes guest appearances on several other podcasts, too. Jeff dreams in HD.

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1 Comments

Tiger

Think: Different.

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