My sister and I went to the new mini Apple Store that opened in San Jose this weekend (yes, we got t-shirts). I think I much prefer the full size Apple Stores. Now, to be fair, we got there on the first day, with all the staff and all the customers in there, so it was crowded and felt claustrophobic, but the Apple Store mini fails in almost all the respects that I think the Apple Store succeeds in.
- Variety of Products
The Apple Store mini only carries the most popular of software products. While they carry all the standard Apple branded items, the third-party items are much fewer. Some of the items they choose to carry are just odd -- for instance, they carry the world traveller adaptor kit, but don't stock the power supply for the Powerbooks. If you can't get the item you want, you're going to go elsewhere. I can also forsee problems when they run promotionals (like the one where purchasing a mac and a printer at the same time provides a sizeable rebate).
- Product Placement
Like the full-size Apple Store, the Apple Store Mini has their products placed on the sides of the store, with the HAL9000-looking cash registers splitting the hardware from the software. Above the hardware are pictures depicting people using Apple products. Unlike the big Apple Stores, there are no tables with items to play with in the Apple Store mini.
- Placement of the Genius Bar
When I walk into a store like this, I don't expect to see the Genius Bar facing outward towards me. Traditionally, cashiers are located in that position or on the sides next to the entrance. Go into a Gap. Which way are their cashiers facing? That's right. Towards the entrance. I'm not quite sure why they put the genius bar there, and I can already see people standing in line for the genius bar only to find out it's not the cashier. Part of the confusion that mounts is due to the lack of bar stools, a hallmark feature of the genius bar.
- Not kid friendly
Yeah, I know, kind of a strange critteria since I have no kids, but one of the most ingenious features about the full size Apple stores is that they have an area for kids to play with the eMacs. All the computers in the store are placed out of reach of small children. Small children, who can often navigate a computer better than their parents. For a company that once touted a Macintosh as being so simple a 3 year old could plug it in and get it set up in under 10 minutes, seeing the kid aspect taken out completely in a store like this suggests the Apple Store mini's target audience is not everyone, but actually the teenage mallrats.
- I don't feel comfortable buying a computer in the store
I know, this is a big one. The store feels small to me. Just as people don't typically buy computers from the little kiosk stands in the mall, I don't think I feel comfortable buying a computer from a mall boutique store. I worry about supply, or the perception of supply in the store.
- Brightness
Whereas the original Apple Store was brightly lit suggesting friendlyness and openess, the Apple Store Mini feels more like a cave than a store -- the store lacks some of the warmth of the original, even though it tries really hard with the white floor and the birch counters, it feels colder and darker. There's almost no space for advertising at all, or any area to display the peripherals that are available for purchase.
- No Demonstration Area
This, I think, must be one of the biggest drawbacks of having limited space. You don't have the space to do the really cool stuff that Apple stores do like give workshops or tutorials (or play their ads on a humongous screen).
Things they did right:
- Staff seems knowledgable and friendly.
- The store exterior is distinct and recognizable.
- Having smaller stores allows them to spread to more places, as well as in places they might otherwise not be able to have a store. (I look forward to the Apple Stores in Airports where I can pick up an extra Powerbook battery or a travel adaptor on my way out of the airport.)
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