Apple leads brick-and-mortar retail with $5,546 in sales per square foot

Apple remains one of the most successful brick-and-mortar retailers in the world with sales of $5,546 per square foot, according to recent research.

By comparison, the leading food service retailer, Reis & Ivy, has $3,970 per square foot, while gas/convenience chain Murphy USA has $3,721, eMarketer noted. Even the top jeweler, Tiffany & Co., is sitting at $2,951.

Apple has nearly 500 stores worldwide, with some of its bigger locations — like Union Square in San Francisco — taking up multiple floors. Its per-foot performance is likely due to a combination of online and offline sales, plus the value of its electronics. An iPhone 7 starts at $649, and most Macs cost well over $1,000.

Apple has achieved higher rates in the past, such as in 2011, when it reached an estimated $5,600. The dip may be linked to an overall decline in physical retail, as CoStar research suggests the average take has fallen from $375 in the early 2000s to $325.

One of Apple's next stores will be located inside Washington, D.C.'s Carnegie Library, taking up a sizable 63,000 square feet once renovations and general construction are complete.

31 Comments

Soli 9981 comments · 9 Years

About 7 years ago

I had to look up Reis & Ivy. Froyo seems like a huge money maker as I assume there's a general low overhead, start up fees, can operate quickly from a small location, and you can hire minimum wage staff that need very little instruction.

lkrupp 10521 comments · 19 Years

I always have trouble reconciling seemingly contradictory reports. Apple "remains one of the most successful brick-and-mortar retailers in the world with sales of $5,546 per square foot, according to recent research." But Mac sales are slumping, iPad sales are slumping, the Watch is a flop, iPhone sales are declining and losing market share according to analyst reports and market survey results. I guess I don't get it.

gmgravytrain 884 comments · 8 Years

I'd always thought Wall Street treats Apple's retail stores as if they didn't exist. Certainly, Apple's share price doesn't go up whenever they open a new store. I always considered Apple stores as a moat for Apple which no other consumer tech company can touch or cross. I've never heard Wall Street praising Apple for the number of global retail stores like they praise Amazon for Prime membership or Netflix for subscriber membership. I would have thought Apple retail stores definitely help Apple maintain customer loyalty and work as a magnet for pulling more consumers into the Apple fold. Yet retail stores are never talked about as being such a great thing that Apple has. Apple is definitely unique in having these retail stores (well, Microsoft does have a few stores).

LoneStar88 325 comments · 9 Years

"$5,546 per square foot". . .over what period of time? I don't see where it says that.

lkrupp said:

I always have trouble reconciling seemingly contradictory reports. Apple "remains one of the most successful brick-and-mortar retailers in the world with sales of $5,546 per square foot, according to recent research." But Mac sales are slumping, iPad sales are slumping, the Watch is a flop, iPhone sales are declining and losing market share according to analyst reports and market survey results. I guess I don't get it.

No, I also don't get it. Wall Street sees Apple retail stores as having zero value. When Amazon opens up a new fulfillment center, BOOM, Amazon is awesome so let's pump up that share price. When Apple opens up a new retail store in a high-status location, YAWN, who cares, just more overhead, time to dump Apple stock. I really must be stupid because I'm missing how value can be measured. How something works for some companies but not others. Apple retail stores are practically the face of Apple, so they should have high value but Wall Street apparently doesn't think so.