AppleInsider Staff
The store is located at Broadway and 67th, and Apple recently began hyping its impending opening by shrouding the glass-front store with a graphic depicting a red curtain. That same red curtain has appeared on the retail store's official Web site and on invitations sent to members of the press for the grand opening.
The company had promised the location at 1981 Broadway, which used to be home to a Victoria's Secret, would open by the end of 2009. It was originally expected to finish by Thanksgiving, but as of September that deadline was pushed back.
According to Gary Allen at ifoAppleStore, the store's unique curved glass roof design cover the rear three-quarters of the new store. The store's huge glass storefront is said to be 54 feet tall, 75 feet wide and 30 feet deep. It has been covered with black plastic, concealing the inside. Permits show that the Apple Retail outlet will include one level above ground and two below.
The sidewalk in front of the store is currently blocked off, and is under watch by security guards.
Broadway photos courtesy Gary Allen, ifoAppleStore
The location was first revealed in late 2007. The city required Apple to retain at least half of the original exterior wall for the new location. The construction reportedly cost $37.9 million.
The Broadway location will be Apple's fourth Manhattan retail outlet. Existing stores exist on Prince Street in SoHo, on West 14th Street in the Meatpacking District, and at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street. This year, the Fifth Avenue store was revealed to be the most profitable per square foot in the expensive shopping district. The store is estimated to have annual sales of more than $350 million.
In other retail news, opening this weekend is the new Apple Store at the Carrousel de Louvre in Paris, scheduled for 10 a.m. on Saturday. MacGeneration was in attendance at a press briefing at the new location, where Ron Johnson, senior vice president of Apple Retail, reportedly said that France is poised to have the fastest opening rate of stores, with the Montpellier location to open Nov. 14 and one near the Opera Ganier to debut in the summer of 2010.
More photos from the event are available from MacGeneration.
Finally, an AppleInsider reader sent word that the Apple retail store in the Mission Viejo Mall in Orange County, Calif., is set to re-open on Nov. 27. That store closed for renovations in September, after Microsoft announced it would open its own retail outlet in the same mall.
Andrew Orr
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23 Comments
Give my regards...
woohoo i really want to see what this looks like.
The Apple Store in Woodfield Mall (Schaumburg, IL) that I go to is so boring compared to all these new ones I see opening!
MS copies Apple’s design just as Apple does a revamp of their stores? What can we expect with the decor? Usually Apple goes thinner, but to make their products look thinner they need to stick with thicker tables and countertops. The natural wood is warm. I can’t imagine what else they’d use. Anyone?
What other modern phenomenon can compare with Apple, Inc's success and expansion?!
Investing many millions to make many more millions only works when the company's products are in high demand, are of substantial quality, and can be delivered in quantity.
It's interesting to see that this works in spite of so many "bad economy"-type excuses being proffered by others, and that people will happily spend money no matter how supposedly "hard" the times are.