Daniel Eran Dilger
Apple's smallest retail store in San Francisco is preparing to get three times bigger, as part of the company's $1 billion retail expansion plans for 2013.
The Stonestown Galleria site, located near SF State University in the City's southwest corner, is currently just 3,160 square feet, with less than half of that open to the public as retail space, according to a report by IFOAppleStore.
Apple has already identified a new location in the mall to accommodate a 10,641 square foot replacement; the new space was formerly occupied by three different retailers and is now covered in black plywood as construction plans move forward.
New location for Apple's expanded SF Stonestown store. Source: ifoAppleStore
The new space, expected to open for the holiday season, will replace the current, simple small box store with an expansive storefront using curved glass, similar to other stores the company has already built (below is Apple's storefront in Dresden, Germany).
The expansion will bring the location inline with Apple's other two San Francisco stores (on Chestnut St and near Union Square), which range from 9,500-15,000 square feet.
The project is among 20 expansion projects Apple plans to finish within 2013, along with 30-35 new stores it will open this year, about three-quarters of which will be located outside the U.S.
Each of Apple's retail stores contributes an average of $51.5 million in revenue, suggesting that the addition of 30 new stores could increase Apple's revenues by over $1.5 billion.
IFOAppleStore provides additional details on Apple's retail stores, including interactive maps showing the location of existing (red) and planned (blue) stores around the world.
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8 Comments
Hate to be the "Debby-Downer", but I wonder if Apple's plans are still calling for the 30-35 new stores as stated for going forward last year. As an avid apple store traffic watcher in NYC, I see pretty significant drop in crowds these days. Yeah I know that ALL retailers ebb and flow, but traffic looks as thin as I've ever remember seeing it in this town lately. I dunno.
My favorite mall when I used to live in San Fran. Nice to see it again, even if through a few photos.
Hate to be the "Debby-Downer", but I wonder if Apple's plans are still calling for the 30-35 new stores as stated for going forward last year.
As an avid apple store traffic watcher in NYC, I see pretty significant drop in crowds these days. Yeah I know that ALL retailers ebb and flow, but traffic looks as thin as I've ever remember seeing it in this town lately. I dunno.
with such robust website and access to lots of advices and macs every day, it's strange to see the need for retail stores. But it's Apple, expanding their footprint is only good.
oh... you have every single metric saying that Apple stores are the most lucrative (m^2), so why not make more?
It's about time they made it better. I go to Stonestown when I don't want to deal with the crowds, parking, and mugging problems with downtown SF. This mall is imho the big player of the northern peninsula outside of downtown SF.
Hate to be the "Debby-Downer", but I wonder if Apple's plans are still calling for the 30-35 new stores as stated for going forward last year.
As an avid apple store traffic watcher in NYC, I see pretty significant drop in crowds these days. Yeah I know that ALL retailers ebb and flow, but traffic looks as thin as I've ever remember seeing it in this town lately. I dunno.
Apple built 41 new stores in 2012. It is clearly building stores as fast as it can. Given the uncertainties involved in setting up locations and finding new sites that will work, outpacing its own projections is pretty impressive.
"Crowds" are not a good metric for success. They are a sign of overcrowding and/or inability to handle customers. Apple has done a number of things to reduce crowds, including having employes walk around checking people out with mobile devices, and an app that lets customers place orders for quick pickup.
Microsoft has billions of dollars but only built 17 new stores in 2012. It stated plans in 2011 to build 75 stores over the next 3 years. It currently has 34 stores. They don't generate real revenue, and they need to give away concert tickets to get anyone to stand in line for something.
Microsoft is not stupid, it just has less to sell and it's a good baseline for demonstrating that it's really hard to open new stores, even if you have tons of money and really want to get stores open.