Daniel Eran Dilger
The new real property is one of the two new stores opening in Shanghai this summer and counts among the 25 new Apple Stores that the company's chief operations executive Tim Cook said would open in China by the end of 2011.
The new store's design is reminiscent of Apple's iconic flagship New York City store on Fifth Avenue, which is similarly located entirely underground and features a dramatic giant glass cube entrance.
The new Shanghai store has an equally prominent location at the foot of the International Finance Center (and is part of the surrounding IFC Mall next to retail boutiques including Armani, Cartier, Chanel, Ferragamo, Gucci, Hermes, Prada, Vuitton, and Tiffany), and lies in the shadow of Shanghai's signature Oriental Pearl TV Tower landmark.
Earlier spy pictures published by MacGeneration indicated a cylindrical glass entrance for the new store wrapped in grey plastic, with a giant Apple logo suspended within the structure.
New pictures captured by reader dombi of the Hungarian-language BeszeljukMac site show the tower now decked in faux red curtains, similar to the launch of other Apple Stores. (A report by ifoAppleStore also published shots of the new store's red curtains.)
"When we walked down to stairs to the bottom of the structure," the BeszeljukMac photographer told AppleInsider, "a guy stepped in front of the camera and told us that we could not take shots of 'his work.' He said that we were not in a 'public area.' I asked him if he could tell me what was happening there, or when was it going to be unveiled, but he refused to say anything."
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
39 Comments
Wow. What a location... and what presentation. The red curtains really look stunning. Apple certainly knows how to create hype.
Cool, another reason to go visit Shanghai
Wow. What a location... and what presentation. The red curtains really look stunning. Apple certainly knows how to create hype.
It's not hype. It's called showmanship, presence, and CLASS.
Hey MS, might as well cash in your chips now while they're worth anything at all.
Wow. What a location... and what presentation. The red curtains really look stunning. Apple certainly knows how to create hype.
An underground store, although done before, still strikes me as an unusual design. I've not been in one before and would like to see what it's like. Maybe when I visit New York some time...
It's not hype. It's called showmanship, presence, and CLASS.
Hey MS, might as well cash in your chips now while they're worth anything at all.
Wait--MS has worthwhile chips? When did that happen?
Seriously though, the best thing Microsoft would do right now is fire Ballmer, pick up an intense visionary who can whip things into order, quickly push out some of the basic products they've been working on, cut loose unneeded projects, focus on only the best ideas, and go underground for around two years rebuilding Windows and all of their projects, one by one. If they could strip out the fat and waste, burn the red tape, fire the incompetent managers and employees, hire good people of taste, and focus without looking back...they might again be great.
Of course, if only pigs could fly...