Roger Fingas
Apple's pop-up Watch store located in the Shinjuku ward of Tokyo will be closing on May 13th, according to recently-posted signage at the location.
"This is a notice that Apple Watch at Isetan Shinjuku will close as of Sunday, May 13," the message reads. "Thank you very much for your continuous patronage." The text was spotted by a Twitter user and shared by Kodawarisan.
The company only ever operated three Watch pop-up stores worldwide, the other two being at Selfridges in London, and Galeries Lafayette in Paris. Both closed in January last year.
The trio of stores first launched in tandem with the original Apple Watch in 2015, intended to catch the eye of luxury shoppers and position the product as a fashion item, not just an iPhone accessory. Initially they also served as some of the few third-party venues where the Watch was available.
Apple has since scaled back some of its fashion ambitions. Though Apple regularly cycles new bands in and out of circulation, it has increased its emphasis on health and fitness, and long-since abandoned any use of gold in Edition models, which pushed prices to $10,000 or higher. Modern Editions use ceramic cases and cost no more than $1,349 before cellular plans or extra bands.
The Isetan store was an unusual holdout, and is likely shuttering because of the full-scale Apple store that opened in Shinjuku earlier this month. The two places are in fact across the street from each other.
Wesley Hilliard
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Malcolm Owen
Andrew Orr
4 Comments
I thought Apple closed its Japanese pop-up store together with the British and French sites a year or so ago.
They served their purpose. Pop-ups, by definition, are temporary. It’s tricky establishing a smart watch as a luxury brand because its underlying technology is in flux. Traditional watch technology reached its nadir a century or two ago, and they are now all about refinement, craftsmanship, design, and materials. The original Watch had a gold luxury edition—but its guts are already outdated. Until the smart watch innovation curve levels off, making high priced versions will only appeal to those for whom “disposable income” REALLY means just that.
“Nadir” is the opposite of “zenith”. Did you mean “zenith”?
It's a bit of a shame as this may mean that the Apple Watch will forever be a "smart watch" (and at least a bit techie) rather than a "watch" (and thus a fashion accessory). I liked the idea of the Hermes Watch and the Nike Watch and looked forward to more brands using the "watch movement" that Apple provides for their own watches distinguished by watch faces, armbands, and special functionalities. I hoped for AW's by TAG Heuer; Ferrari, Baretta, Pomellato, for example. But I guess that ship sailed when Hermes armbands became available.... Does this also mean more watch faces on standard Apple Watches?