One of Apple's tiniest retail stores, at the WestQuay shopping center in Southampton, UK, is getting a much-needed expansion this weekend.
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The current store, which recently turned 10 years old, will close on Friday evening for the final time, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. On Saturday, a larger store will open down the hall, taking over two units previously occupied by British retailers Sports Direct and Monsoon, the people said.
Lending credence to our report is a WestQuay floor plan with two vacant units—SU41 and MSU2—just steps away from Apple's current location in the shopping center. In addition, when we searched for Today at Apple events in the Southampton area, the WestQuay store had no workshops scheduled until Saturday.
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Apple and WestQuay shopping center management did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Apple retail stores have seen a significant increase in foot traffic since the WestQuay location opened in February 2007, prior to the original iPhone launch. The larger store will be a welcomed change for both Apple retail employees and customers, and it should benefit from an updated appearance as well.
Apple's financial chief Luca Maestri recently said Apple collectively welcomed over 300 million visitors to its retail stores last quarter.
"It was a very busy quarter for our online and retail stores, which collectively welcomed over 300 million visitors," he said. "In addition to our spectacular new store at the Dubai Mall, we opened our first stores in Singapore and in Taiwan during the quarter, expanding our total store footprint to 497 stores."
"In May, we kicked off Today at Apple, with new in-store programming from music to photography to art and coding, and our stores collectively hosted 87,000 sessions during the quarter," he added. "We have entered a new chapter in retail, with unique and rewarding experiences for our customers."
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(View all)Cue the "sheeple" hate comments.
This isn't about Apple specifically, obviously, but they all have the same brands of shops / restaurants / cinemas, often run by the same companies, with the near exact same interiors (for apparent 'familiarity' reasoning). Eg. the Spanish massive Zara group brands: Zara, Massimo Dutti ('https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massimo_Dutti'), Pull and Bear ('https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pull_and_Bear'), Bershka ('https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bershka'), Zara Home ('https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zara_Home'), et al. Or the same restaurant chains: Jamie's Italian, Bill's, Byron, Carluccio's, Starbucks, Costa, etc.
The opportunities for small and interesting independent's are often left for dust for various reasons (rent costs, business rates, market forces of malls, etc.), but the interest for us, the customer, is seemingly the last thing decent malls are bothered about.
One has to look no further than the US Westfield 'brand' of malls. I mean why do they all have to share the same name for starters. In London, you say to a friend 'I went to Westfield', and then have to qualify it with 'sorry to be precise, I mean Westfield London in west London, not Westfield Stratford in east London'?! (Could they not have just given them distinctive names to start with?!)
Of course, it's like a self-fulfilling prophecy. For if we as customers are forced or chose to patronise these mono cultured places, then they in turn think this is 'what the people want' and repeat the exercise. Somewhat of a conundrum.
...One has to look no further than the US Westfield 'brand' of malls...
Oddly enough, you can't blame us in the US for Westfield; it started out as an Australian company and didn't get over to the states until the 70's. But I certainly get your point, you really couldn't tell what city you were in, or country, in the middle of a Westfield mall.