AppleInsider Staff
The 15 pounds worth of plans for the store on Fourth Street in Berkeley, Calif., were discovered by Gary Allen of ifoAppleStore.com. Based on the documentation, the store could open in less than a year, by Fall 2011.
Apple plans to occupy the property at 1823 Fourth St., which was previously used by an animal adoption agency to display animals. Apple's plans call for it to retain the general appearance of the current structure, with 15-foot tall glass windows on the building's front.
Apple plans to expand the ground floor for retail, as well as add a partial second level at the rear of the property for back-of-house operations. Apple will also add an elevator, two stairways, bathrooms, and upgraded electrical and heating-air conditioning systems.
In the retail floor, the Berkeley store will sport the standard tables for products and training, as well as a 17-seat Genius Bar. The architect for the $1.7 million project is listed as MBH Architects of Alameda, Calif.
The plans, filed in mid-November, give a glimpse at one of Apple's upcoming stores planned to open in 2011. In October, the Mac maker revealed that it plans to dramatically expand its retail operations in its 2011 fiscal year.
Apple plans to open between 40 and 50 new locations worldwide in the next year, half of which will be located outside of the U.S. Currently, Apple operates 317 stores, 84 of which are overseas.
In addition to building new stores in the coming year, Apple also has plans for a wave of replacements for some of the company's existing, aging stores in the U.S.
For more on the upcoming Berkeley store, see the full story at ifoAppleStore.com.
William Gallagher
Malcolm Owen
Charles Martin
17 Comments
I know that location well, living in Oakland as I do.
Fourth street has been around for years-- It's actually one of the first upscale "urban malls" that uses a unified architectural theme and a calibrated mix of retailers along a stretch of preexisting road to create a "destination" shopping area.
It's a bit more upscale and local that the usual premium mix-- along with the usual stuff like Pete's Coffee, Sur la Table and a Crate and Barrel outlet there's a Japanese bedding store, an architectural book store, local high end gardening, toy and lighting stores, and a few nice restaurants.
My one concern would be that Apple add a parking structure-- parking is very tight over there as it is and the kind of traffic an Apple Store can generate could make it horrible, without some kind of mitigation.
I see it's down at one of the street, at the site of the former Slater/Marinoff furniture store-- guess there's not quite the demand for super expensive home furnishings as there once was. In fact, I could see how the property managers of Fourth Street would be keen to attract a tenant like the Apple Store, since their mix is possibly no longer viable, given the economy (not much for the super-rich, not much for the average wage earner). They need a little more mid-tier upscale, I would think, and an Apple Store certainly fits the bill-- plus it will generate tons of foot traffic.
Not really any place for new parking, although there is a big lot across the way that might be in play. Hope so.
Very odd location for an Apple store.
Terrible parking, and not that far from the existing Emeryville store. I wonder if that one will be closed?
I live in Berkeley, and this is a very pleasant surprise! There is another Apple store a couple miles away in Emeryville, but I'll be able to ride my bike to the new one. Soon Apple stores will be as numerous as Starbucks?!
Very odd location for an Apple store.
Terrible parking, and not that far from the existing Emeryville store. I wonder if that one will be closed?
The Emeryville location is kind of sucky. It's next to an IKEA and the access road is a shortcut between a big box development and the freeway, so getting to and from is a bit trying. No free parking, plus the AMC anchor theater means its always overrun by bored kids killing time.
I think the whole development is poorly designed, with a penned in claustrophobic feel arising from th very narrow main street and the multiple stories of residential development above the retail. It's a popular model for urban shopping, but the execution here is less "European retail district" and more "Pottery Barn nightmare."
Very odd location for an Apple store.
Terrible parking, and not that far from the existing Emeryville store. I wonder if that one will be closed?
Maybe not far as the crow flies, but for Berkeley and points north it's a pain in the ass to get to and from, so I reckon they'll have plenty of customers.
I could see Apple closing the Emeryville, location, however. The Bay Street shopping thing was obviously intended to be the usual upscale mix, but somehow has become the roaming grounds of urban youth (which is actually sort of hilarious). I imagine a lot of the tenants over there (not to mention the residents of the expensive condos up top) are scratching their heads as to how the foot traffic got so utterly un-Williams Sonoma. I'm actually surprised that there hasn't been a move to tenants more in line with who actually shows up-- it might mean adjusting the prevailing lease rates.