AppleInsider Staff
Apple on Thursday announced it will officially open three international Apple Watch store-within-a-store locations on April 10, offering customers shopping at high-end department stores the chance to try on and preorder the device before it goes on sale.
Dubbed simply "Apple Watch," the upcoming retail shops are popping up at locations previously known to be undergoing construction for Apple's wearables effort, including Selfridges in London, Galeries Lafayette in Paris and Isetan in Toyko. All three department stores cater to upper crust clientele.
As with Apple Stores, Apple Watch outlets will be manned by Apple retail staff, who will field questions and help pair customers with their desired model. It appears that Geniuses are not part of the deal, however, as Apple's regional retail webpages direct visitors to nearby Apple Store locations for product support inquiries.
A report on Wednesday said potential buyers can make reservations for a 15-minute demo of Apple Watch Sport and Apple Watch models, while those interested in the $10,000 Apple Watch Edition get 30 minutes of hands-on time. It is unclear how the small pop-up shops plan to handle demos, but they are likely to have all models available — even the limited gold versions — given the pedigree of their host stores.
All Apple Watch shops are scheduled to open their doors on Friday, April 10 at 10:30 a.m. local time, the same date Apple intends to roll out Apple Watch previews and preorders in its permanent stores. The device will become available two weeks later in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, and Japan.
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56 Comments
Is this going to be all Apple Stores or only select Apple Stores on April 10th?
[quote name="SolipsismY" url="/t/185442/apple-watch-shops-set-to-open-on-april-10-in-london-paris-and-tokyo#post_2698864"]Is this going to be all Apple Stores or only select Apple Stores on April 10th?[/quote] All stores but only certain stores will carry the Edition watch. So my guess is smaller Apple stores or ones inside malls won't get the Edition watch. I love that Apple is driving people crazy with this though. While people complain about Apple selling a $10,000 watch, Tim Cook tells Fortune magazine he's going to pay for his nephews college education and then give the rest of his money away to charity.
Products and hardware can be commoditized, brand power cannot. This product is an absolutely genius move, as it will expand Apple's sphere of influence, enhance their brand power, and take them places they could never hope to go by only selling purely technology products. Yes, the Apple Watch is technology, but it also crosses other lines, and overlaps other industries. It will only serve to increase Apple's mindshare and exposure to even more people that do not already own their products.
Selfridges is the safe choice in London. It's not the classiest of department stores but it's in a great location and has plenty of space.
The Apple Watch is fully an iPhone accessory. Not only does it access the Internet through a paired phone, but as noted on AppleInsider earlier today, the way you install apps on it is to install an app on your iPhone that comes with an Apple Watch "extra," that is pushed to the watch next time it is in Bluetooth range.
So I'm not sure it should really be sold at a place that doesn't also sell the phone.