Mikey Campbell
Apple will more than double the space of its popular Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan as part of ongoing renovations at the site, with the company promising "new services and experiences" once the outlet reopens.
Douglas Linde, president of Boston Properties, in an earnings conference call on Wednesday said that the glass cube-topped underground Apple store will grow from about 32,000 square feet to 77,000 square feet, reports Bloomberg. The Boston-based company is co-owner of the General Motors Building and acts as Apple's landlord for the Fifth Avenue location.
Linde also confirmed Apple as the "mystery" tenant Boston Properties has been discussing for the past year. The Cupertino, Calif., tech giant was for months rumored to expand its flagship New York City operation, but plans for a supposed mass expansion were left unconfirmed until today.
While construction workers build out Apple's new digs, the company is operating out of a temporarily location in what used to be FAO Schwarz. Reports last year claimed Apple was negotiating a permanent expansion into the former toy store, a spot the company supposedly felt "entitled" to for drawing in foot traffic with its main Fifth Avenue outlet.
The iPhone maker apparently abandoned those plans, allowing Boston Properties to lease the space to athletic clothing purveyor Under Armour.
Neither Apple nor Boston Properties has released an estimated timeline for project completion, but Apple spokesman Nick Leahy said the company expects an "incredible" new Fifth Avenue store "where our customers will enjoy new services and experiences in a much larger space," the report said.
Renovations at Apple's Fifth Avenue store began on Jan. 20.
Outside of Manhattan, Apple is rumored to have signed a 10-year contract for a new retail location in Fort Greene, near downtown Brooklyn. The company opened its first Brooklyn store last year in Williamsburg, just north of the borough's population center.
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18 Comments
77,000 is pretty large.
When you sell 10 iPhones per second 24 hours a day you can build anything you like I guess.
Seems like a massive increase, where is the extra space coming from?
Now the Regent Street store has reopened it seems like there's less floor space overall, but it's much more open and prettified.
As far as I can tell, the only way they can double the space is to have space on multiple levels, unless there's additional basement space adjacent to the east wall of the current store that they can expand into. (Or possibly the south wall, although that would probably be the FAO Schwartz basement.)
Frankly, I don't see additional space increasing sales. It will just make the store less crowded and the machines more accessible. The store tends to attract tourists who spend long periods of time checking email, etc., although you'd think this wouldn't be as necessary since they're carrying smartphones. But maybe many don't bother to buy roaming data plans and they use the store instead.
That store is open 24/7, but it looks like the temporary store closes at midnight.
That's big enough to drive a truck through... or maybe an electric car. (... in a few years)
My local store, Brea Mall in Cali, is crowded even on light days. During holiday seasons and release events it's jammed. More floor space would be great, though they just updated and moved spaces a couple of months ago. But what is really needed, even more than that, is some sound deadening materials. You literally cannot hear yourself think in there. Perhaps this is intended to create a sense of excitement, but conversations with staff are difficult.