An "Apple Store" is almost here

Ham'nd'egger

Noticed this tightly hidden on the end of a news report....

Separately, Apple reseller Compu B said it intends to create 25 new jobs in the coming weeks with the opening of a new retail store on Grafton Street.

The new store will offer a complete range of Mac computers and iPod digital music players along with accessories.

Recruitment for the positions is to begin immediately.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0303/breaking27.html

aidan_walsh

If by "here" you mean "not Limerick or Cork"

cornbb

Wow, brave move by Compu B. If Apple were to open a Retail Store in Ireland (as they have been doing quite a lot elsewhere) they would surely wipe Compu B out. Best of luck to them anyway though.

Elessar

Yeah, I can't imagine they will live long once Apple sets up their own retail store here (and they will).

dubmick

this announcement makes me think we won't be getting an Apple store in the near future

Good news on the job front though.

Graham

It's at the bottom of Grafton Street by Molly Malone.

Just a few doors down from the Photogrophy/gadget shop that sold Apple stuff until it closed a few months ago.

The store is all covered up in a big compuB / Apple Reseller hoarding.

banquo

Sorry to hear that place is gone. Must drop in for a peek arnthe new store when it's open

Sad Professor

This is crap! I want a real Applestore.

Scráib

That'll be interesting to see. Glad to see also that they're website has been updated, I remember a while back the CompuB site looked like a dinosaur compared to other sites.

Gauge

Hmm- wonder if they'll have an opening sale like the one in Cork did?

faceman

I wonder how pricing will compare with the Apple store in Belfast...

swingking

It's gonna be another one of these rip off stores much like the shop that was there before. Don't expect too much.

coldwood92

Cool

Greentree_uk

swingking wrote: »

It's gonna be another one of these rip off stores much like the shop that was there before. Don't expect too much.

Rip off stores? if you think an apple retailer rips people off on apple equipment you would be seriously wrong. Apple dictated margins do not allow people to be ripped off on these products. I'd be very surprised if this store makes any money at all especially with the high rents and wages. People forget bricks and mortar stores cost alot of money to run but give people a point of contact instead of a faceless company with no REAL support.

As for how it will compare to up north. Currency fluctuations will occur, but at last reckoning, it was cheaper in the South than in the North, I wish people would stop blowing that trumpet. Buying from anywhere but apple resellers will only lead to the demise of proper apple support within structured companies.

coldwood92

Greentree_uk wrote: »

Rip off stores? if you think an apple retailer rips people off on apple equipment you would be seriously wrong. Apple dictated margins do not allow people to be ripped off on these products. I'd be very surprised if this store makes any money at all especially with the high rents and wages. People forget bricks and mortar stores cost alot of money to run but give people a point of contact instead of a faceless company with no REAL support.

As for how it will compare to up north. Currency fluctuations will occur, but at last reckoning, it was cheaper in the South than in the North, I wish people would stop blowing that trumpet. Buying from anywhere but apple resellers will only lead to the demise of proper apple support within structured companies.

It not a rip off Galmac in Galway charges way over 2000 for its macs
http://www.galmac.ie/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1&zenid=86egtpi123vddh54p6jj2plcv2
http://www.galmac.ie/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_16
and Im sure the apple store did the same

Stainless_Steel

Sad Professor wrote: »

This is crap! I want a real Applestore.

Why though?

If a reseller sells all the Apple gear at the same prices then it doesnt matter surely?

I know Apple staff may be better trained in the product line up...but us geeky people research a lot online before we buy no?

whiterebel

Stainless_Steel wrote: »

Why though?

If a reseller sells all the Apple gear at the same prices then it doesnt matter surely?

I know Apple staff may be better trained in the product line up...but us geeky people research a lot online before we buy no?

Have you ever been in a proper AppleStore?

Lifelike

There is actually another Apple reseller along the quays near the Ha'penny Bridge on the Northside called Bang & Olufsen. They aren't half bad.

Still though, I long for the day that Dublin will have an Apple Store like the one on Regent Street in London.

swingking

Greentree_uk wrote: »

Rip off stores? if you think an apple retailer rips people off on apple equipment you would be seriously wrong. Apple dictated margins do not allow people to be ripped off on these products. I'd be very surprised if this store makes any money at all especially with the high rents and wages. People forget bricks and mortar stores cost alot of money to run but give people a point of contact instead of a faceless company with no REAL support.

As for how it will compare to up north. Currency fluctuations will occur, but at last reckoning, it was cheaper in the South than in the North, I wish people would stop blowing that trumpet. Buying from anywhere but apple resellers will only lead to the demise of proper apple support within structured companies.

I honestly believe that it's not the apple hardware that the company will be charging premium prices on, but rather the accessories and software .

Stainless_Steel

whiterebel wrote: »

Have you ever been in a proper AppleStore?

Nope. Hence the question "why though?"

Sad Professor

There's a lot to be said for being able to deal directly with Apple. There's their online store of course, but I wish their was a bricks and mortar option as well. Somewhere you could be assured would have the latest machines and accessories in stock and staff that know what they are talking about.

It's a long time since I was in a Compub store but I remember trying to get the free 10.1 update from their old Naas branch. They were utterly useless. Didn't know when it was coming in, couldn't let me know, etc. To be fair they were probably at the mercy of Apple supplying them with stock, plus it was free so they probably weren't too bothered. But it would have been nice to be able to walk into a real Apple Store and have them hand it to me over the counter. In the end I called Apple in Cork and they posted it out.

That was a long time ago though so I don't mean to knock Compub. Back then I felt like I was the only Mac user in the country (things certainly have changed). I'm sure it will be a nice store. And certainly better than having to deal with PC World.

Can anyone confirm that you can avail of the student discount from Compub?

Greentree_uk

indeed student discount will be available from compuB.

I agree with you. it is nice to go into a store and for it to have stock of everything you desire and stuff you didn't know you desired. but knowing the way apple treat their resellers they are entirely at the mercy of apple. Apple's policy of stock is Apple Retail --> Apple store --> Distributors --> Apple Premium Resellers --> Apple's traditional Resellers, it is not Apple resellers fault they can't get stock. it's Apple's plan to make them look incompetent so everyone buys online direct and cuts out the middle man, retaining extra profit themselves. I say extra because they are already making a mint from the resellers. Resellers who were the only people years ago who had enough faith to continue in business supporting and promoting Apple's products. The whole thing stinks. I Love apple's machines but hate their policies. Ofcourse buying from a reseller supports your local community by employing local people who then spend their money in the local community etc etc. I could understand if it were cheaper to buy on the applestore but it isn't. Dublin won't be getting an apple store anytime soon. they've only just opened one in France there are bigger fish to fry than Dublin. Ireland is just too small.

bobgreenmonster

"Ireland is just too small" . As opposed to the sprawling metropolis of Belfast

darragh o meara

In my dealings with CompuB over the last year I have found them to be very competitive on price. Plus they were very helpful when my Imac went a bit funny As said before there is very little difference in price between the applestores and the resellers. I'm all for keeping money in this country and I feel everyone else should too. These companies like CompuB Im sure keep the profits in the country and use them for our benefit ie. more stores and more staff that have an idea what they are on about!!!

projectmayhem

Wish me luck folks, I've an interview with CompuB tomorrow morning. I'll let you know what the craic is anyway

Lifelike

Stainless_Steel wrote: »

Nope. Hence the question "why though?"

They're the kind of shops which you could waste an entire day in. Every time I go to London I spend about half of my time either in the Apple Store in Regent Street or the one in Westfield Shopping Centre. They actually encourage people to browse the web there on one of their iMacs, MacBooks and iPhones (and I suppose iPads soon )

projectmayhem wrote: »

Wish me luck folks, I've an interview with CompuB tomorrow morning. I'll let you know what the craic is anyway

Good luck!

banquo

I'll be all over that when they have iPads

babypink

projectmayhem wrote: »

Wish me luck folks, I've an interview with CompuB tomorrow morning. I'll let you know what the craic is anyway

good luck!

Type 17

bobgreenmonster wrote: »

"Ireland is just too small" . As opposed to the sprawling metropolis of Belfast

Not to mention places like Aberdeen, Exeter & Norwich :P

TheRiddler

When are they planning on opening?

Greentree_uk

Greentree_uk wrote: »

Rip off stores? if you think an apple retailer rips people off on apple equipment you would be seriously wrong. Apple dictated margins do not allow people to be ripped off on these products. I'd be very surprised if this store makes any money at all especially with the high rents and wages. People forget bricks and mortar stores cost alot of money to run but give people a point of contact instead of a faceless company with no REAL support.

As for how it will compare to up north. Currency fluctuations will occur, but at last reckoning, it was cheaper in the South than in the North, I wish people would stop blowing that trumpet. Buying from anywhere but apple resellers will only lead to the demise of proper apple support within structured companies.

Or people could just buy directly on apple.ie and get the same tech support/warranty anyone who buys it directly in the shop will have to pay.

I'd prefer a REAL apple store, not a fake.

whiterebel

Stainless_Steel wrote: »

Nope. Hence the question "why though?"

All the product lines lines up, ready to be used and abused. All connected to WiFi, which you can also log on to with your own laptop or iPhone. iPhones there to be used, sending texts or calling people anywhere. Staff who really know what they are talking about, and a huge selection of peripherals. Buying from a girl in the Soho AppleStore, and when she swiped my CC, it brought up my details immediately as I had used it to buy from Apple before (A little scary that one).

All in all, a brilliant experience.

CuLT

This is a photo of the new store taken from an awkward angle as I passed by it on a bus last week: http://twitpic.com/18bfxr

This is a more close up photo later of them looking for CVs - http://twitpic.com/18dbql

projectmayhem

Forgot to post here, I got the job in the place. I'm off for training this week in one of their other stores. I went for the "expert" role... wanted to land myself in a role where internet nerds come in and try to out-smart me on all things Apple

Talisman

projectmayhem wrote: »

Forgot to post here, I got the job in the place. I'm off for training this week in one of their other stores. I went for the "expert" role... wanted to land myself in a role where internet nerds come in and try to out-smart me on all things Apple

Good luck with the job.

projectmayhem

Talisman wrote: »

Good luck with the job.

Cheers. I've prepared my speech to everyone already.

"Have you tried turning it off and on again"

docentore

projectmayhem wrote: »

Cheers. I've prepared my speech to everyone already.

"Have you tried turning it off and on again"

ok, I have one for you:
"How to turn off the luminescent apple on the macbook pro cover?"

projectmayhem

docentore wrote: »

"How to turn off the luminescent apple on the macbook pro cover?"

"Can I interest you in the collection of vynl stickers we have to stick on the back of your beautifully engineered hardware, sir?"

grizzly

It's a shame that it's Compub. I bought a mac mini from them which had a faulty logic board, sent it back, they sent another promising to test it first – got a new one a week later and it had the same problem – faulty logic board. Asked for a refund, waited for over a week – calls to them get passed around and ignored.

Compared to any trouble when I've had to call Apple, it's always been direct answers and fast service.

deano_rich

Hi Guys

Did Apple ever open up that store in Dublin?

If they didn't is there any word on it?

:rolleyes:

nialler

project,

They refused me (possibly on age grounds via email) I've 21 years experience pulling the feckers apart and repairing them, both software and hardware, building structured networks, adding macs to AD domains and making them work (pain in the ar$e), repairing ipods, iphones etc all up to the latest models, was quite surprised, I also went for an expert role so I might come in and test ya ;-)

nialler

docentore wrote: »

ok, I have one for you:
"How to turn off the luminescent apple on the macbook pro cover?"

Be creative, it's lit by the backlight that lights your LCD, open up the display and place a groovy coloured photographic shader over it and "Be Different"

Sad Professor

deano_rich wrote: »

Hi Guys

Did Apple ever open up that store in Dublin?

If they didn't is there any word on it?

:rolleyes:

No. I suspect those was never going to be one either, and those rumours were actually about Compub's Grafton branch.

Apple are unlikely to open an official Apple Store in Dublin any time soon. Maybe eventually, if Compub's Grafton branch is successful and there's a need for something larger. But right now we are just too small a market for Apple to be bothered.

Elessar

Sad Professor wrote: »

No. I suspect those was never going to be one either, and those rumours were actually about Compub's Grafton branch.

Apple are unlikely to open an official Apple Store in Dublin any time soon. Maybe eventually, if Compub's Grafton branch is successful and there's a need for something larger. But right now we are just too small a market for Apple to be bothered.

It's not that at all. Apple are currently focused elsewhere in Europe. That's the only reason Compub opened in Dublin. Apple do it country by country. Belfast could hardly be said to be a larger market than Dublin.

Stainless_Steel

whiterebel wrote: »

All the product lines lines up, ready to be used and abused. All connected to WiFi, which you can also log on to with your own laptop or iPhone. iPhones there to be used, sending texts or calling people anywhere. Staff who really know what they are talking about, and a huge selection of peripherals. Buying from a girl in the Soho AppleStore, and when she swiped my CC, it brought up my details immediately as I had used it to buy from Apple before (A little scary that one).

All in all, a brilliant experience.

MEH! I have a phone to send texts and go on the interweb. And it would scare for them to have my details so handy.

So I still think going into a apple shop is just a fanboy thing.

Sure it's nice to go to a shop (yes shop, store is what Americans say!) and touch the products. But PC world and compuB sort that out already.

docentore

nialler wrote: »

Be creative, it's lit by the backlight that lights your LCD, open up the display and place a groovy coloured photographic shader over it and "Be Different"

I know I was just messing with PM. I did that once, placed a blue foil behind the apple in iBook - looked cool

Sad Professor

Elessar wrote: »

It's not that at all. Apple are currently focused elsewhere in Europe. That's the only reason Compub opened in Dublin. Apple do it country by country. Belfast could hardly be said to be a larger market than Dublin.

Well, I meant the Republic as a whole in the last line, not just Dublin. As you say, they do it country by country, so when they do arrive here they'll probably have multiple stores in the pipeline. Belfast would have been easier to open because of the infrastructure they had already built in the UK. It is still early days in their European expansion, and I'd imagine we are pretty low on their priority list given our small size.

Johnmb

Sad Professor wrote: »

Well, I meant the Republic as a whole in the last line, not just Dublin. As you say, they do it country by country, so when they do arrive here they'll probably have multiple stores in the pipeline. Belfast would have been easier to open because of the infrastructure they had already built in the UK. It is still early days in their European expansion, and I'd imagine we are pretty low on their priority list given our small size.

That is Apple's error in my opinion, treating us as a separate market to the UK. We're too small, they'd be better off treating us as part of the UK. Economies of scale will dictate that Ireland gets its supplies from the same places as the Belfast store, so they should just link us from the start (and keep it quite officially to avoid upsetting the more sensitive types!)

thecommander

Johnmb wrote: »

treating us as a separate market to the UK.

But it is a separate market, different taxes, different currency, different laws. Tesco doesn't think we're the same as the UK, nor do most of the other multinationals so why would Apple be different?

Johnmb

thecommander wrote: »

But it is a separate market, different taxes, different currency, different laws. Tesco doesn't think we're the same as the UK, nor do most of the other multinationals so why would Apple be different?

That's just an accounting issue, as far as stocking etc goes it wouldn't have any practical effect, and it's easy to work around. Tesco isn't a like with like comparison. Apple wouldn't be buying anything local to sell, they'll be shipping it all in from China. The Irish shop supplies will be coming through the same route as the Belfast store. May as well do it now rather than wait

thecommander

Johnmb wrote: »

May as well do it now rather than wait

I'd presume they know what they're doing. If there was a buck to be made then they'd be doing it.