Worlds biggest Apple Store opening in London tomorrow

jpfahy

http://www.itpro.co.uk/625819/apple-to-open-biggest-store-in-covent-garden

That's two huge stores within two miles of each other in London and still no store in the Republic of Ireland, Apples' European Headquarters. This country really is the third world.

Johnmb

jpfahy wrote: »

That's two huge stores within two miles of each other in London and still no store in the Republic of Ireland, Apples' European Headquarters. This country really is the third world.

That's probably because they look at their current Irish sales and figure that we aren't worth it. They are unlikely to take into account (or even realise, all the way over in California) that a decent chunk of their UK sales are to Irish customers who buy from the UK either because it takes too long to release items here (eg. iPad, etc) or because of the perceived Paddy tax that they figure they'll avoid by buying over there.

aidan_walsh

Those two streets alone have the population of Dublin pass through them every day.

jpfahy

aidan_walsh wrote: »

Those two streets alone have the population of Dublin pass through them every day.

They opened a store in Belfast which is a lot smaller than Dublin, explain that one

aidan_walsh

jpfahy wrote: »

They opened a store in Belfast which is a lot smaller than Dublin, explain that one

It counts as the UK market for sales and tax purposes. Here doesn't.

Sad Professor

We'll get one eventually. In the meantime, I'm happy enough with the new CompuB on Grafton Street.

Carsinian Thau

The one in Cork is pretty good too.

Type 17

jpfahy wrote: »

They opened a store in Belfast which is a lot smaller than Dublin, explain that one

Indeed, Belfast has a population of over 550,000, but there are also Apple stores in Aberdeen (population approx 200,000) and Exeter (pop. approx. 118,000), so where is Dublin's (pop. approx. 1,660,000)?

Bristol (1,000,000) has two Apple Stores...

Dman001

Do CompuB have sample iPods/iPads/iPhones out on display to play with?

chillin_penguin

Dman001 wrote: »

Do CompuB have sample iPods/iPads/iPhones out on display to play with?

They do ya

Carsinian Thau

Type 17 wrote: »

Indeed, Belfast has a population of over 550,000, but there are also Apple stores in Aberdeen (population approx 200,000) and Exeter (pop. approx. 118,000), so where is Dublin's (pop. approx. 1,660,000)?

Bristol (1,000,000) has two Apple Stores...

As before:

aidan_walsh wrote: »

It counts as the UK market for sales and tax purposes. Here doesn't.

Dman001 wrote: »

Do CompuB have sample iPods/iPads/iPhones out on display to play with?

Yep. The iPads are quite fun. The one in Cork has three iPads to play with but only one iPhone (a 3GS). Guess they'll rectify that when they can.

I think they also intend to get some of the magic trackpads in as well. The guy behind the counter when I was there was really looking forward to giving them a go.

Type 17

Carsinian Thau wrote: »

As before:

aidan_walsh wrote: »

It counts as the UK market for sales and tax purposes. Here doesn't.

Yes, but how does that influence whether or not they open in the RoI - they have retail stores in every other EU country, what's special about here?

Ricky91t

jpfahy wrote: »

They opened a store in Belfast which is a lot smaller than Dublin, explain that one

As said above it's part of the UK and therefore easier to set up same currency/stock etc as any UK apple store.

I think the main issue is where a lot of the custom is coming from, The Republic of Ireland, This IMO is a silly move by anyone who complains about the lack of an Irish store, If you want an Irish store, start buying from Irish apple resellers/applestore.ie . Then apple will notice the increase in the Stock required from apple resellers and increase in sale on the website, and justify putting a store in Ireland.

As long as Irish people keep going north to buy and don't buy from apple Ireland I don't think they'll be an Irish apple store.

Hogzy

CompuB is just as good as any apple store. What is the actual difference apart from the name?

Type 17

Hogzy wrote: »

CompuB is just as good as any apple store. What is the actual difference apart from the name?

A premium reseller doesn't have a Genius Bar, and doesn't have a presentation area where Workshops take place - the workshops are very useful, I always make a point of going to one when I'm in London with a few hours to spare - no matter how much you think you know about something (Aperture, MobileMe, etc), you always pick up a few gems of usefulness...

jpfahy

Hogzy wrote: »

CompuB is just as good as any apple store. What is the actual difference apart from the name?

Well they don't have the dock adapter for my iPhone 4 for a start!

jpfahy

Ricky91t wrote: »

As said above it's part of the UK and therefore easier to set up same currency/stock etc as any UK apple store.

I think the main issue is where a lot of the custom is coming from, The Republic of Ireland, This IMO is a silly move by anyone who complains about the lack of an Irish store, If you want an Irish store, start buying from Irish apple resellers/applestore.ie . Then apple will notice the increase in the Stock required from apple resellers and increase in sale on the website, and justify putting a store in Ireland.

As long as Irish people keep going north to buy and don't buy from apple Ireland I don't think they'll be an Irish apple store.

So we should all start paying over the odds in the hope that Apple will see an increase and decide to open a store here?? Give me a break

Hogzy

jpfahy wrote: »

So we should all start paying over the odds in the hope that Apple will see an increase and decide to open a store here?? Give me a break

I dont get people like you?
ALL apple products are now cheaper in Ireland than the UK from apple direct because the exchange rate has begun to creep back to its usual number. The only reason buying here was considered "over the odds" was because the pound was worth feck all. I dunno why people come on here saying its cheaper to go to the uk when its not any more.

Iphone 4 and ipads are 15 Euro more from the UK than the Irish store, macbook pro is 50eur cheaper on .ie than .co.uk etc etc...

aidan_walsh

Type 17 wrote: »

Yes, but how does that influence whether or not they open in the RoI - they have retail stores in every other EU country, what's special about here?

There are only stores in the UK, Germany, France, Switzerland and Italy, and many of those have enough to count on one hand with fingers to spare. The UK has then largest number of stores outside North America.

Type 17

aidan_walsh wrote: »

There are only stores in the UK, Germany, France, Switzerland and Italy, and many of those have enough to count on one hand with fingers to spare. The UK has then largest number of stores outside North America.

Indeed, you're right - I had assumed that all EU countries had one, but that was mainly based on the UK's store rollout to date - the UK seems to be an EU exception, with stores in relatively small cities and large towns - do Mac products sell extremely well in the UK, compared to other countries?

Looking at the list, stores are relatively rare, with large economies like Germany, France and Italy only having a few large cities covered, and relatively large, wealthy cities like Madrid, Vienna and Stockholm having none at all.

All this means that the CompuB stores are all we'll see for the foreseeable future (fine retailing, but no Genius Bar or Workshops is a pity).

Creamy Goodness

Type 17 wrote: »

A premium reseller doesn't have a Genius Bar, and doesn't have a presentation area where Workshops take place - the workshops are very useful, I always make a point of going to one when I'm in London with a few hours to spare - no matter how much you think you know about something (Aperture, MobileMe, etc), you always pick up a few gems of usefulness...

so pretty much what makes an apple store be an apple store :pac:

compub can never compete with the experience you get in an apple store.

Type 17

Some info on where Apple Retail Stores are located, worldwide:

http://gigaom.com/2010/08/11/infographic-the-retail-phenomenon-called-apple/

kevteljeur

I think it's sometimes hard to accept that Ireland is a small and relatively unimportant market. We host these companies (Apple, Dell, Microsoft, Intel, etc) because this is a good place to make the product. It isn't a great place to sell it. The UK, on the other hand, is the opposite, and there are at least 15 customers for every one here - a proportion of those are going to be higher spenders, and this brings an economy of scale with it.

With a population of 4 million, a staggering proportion of that concentrated in one single city (where existing Apple dealers aren't necessarily finding it a walk in the park), and an economy in recession, Ireland brings no economy of scale to starting the process of opening a chain of Apple stores. They can open one, in Dublin, and then they're done. And judging by the comments here, the store in Dublin would be competing with the one in Belfast.

If Apple opened a store in Dublin (and I have no doubt they will, at some point) then the economic conditions would need to be much better, they would need to be able to use economies of scale, and they would need a big enough market to not be competing directly with existing dealers. After all, they'll be selling the same kit at the same price.


So, if you want an Apple store here sooner, start having more kids, and get them to earn more. One day we'll be ready for an Apple store.



k

Eliot Rosewater

I happened to be in Covent Garden on the day of the launch, so I dropped in. They must have had 3-400 staff working, with 10 staff outside just high fiving customers on their way in.

Four stories in all, and heaps of stuff on display.

I'm not into Apple, as a rule, but I was very impressed with the products. The screens on the iPad and the new iPhone are amazing. Linux for life though.

Hogzy

Eliot Rosewater wrote: »

They must have had 3-400 staff working, with 10 staff outside just high fiving customers on their way in.

THats taking things a bit too far. Its like a motivational store to make you feel cool.
Makes me cringe tbh

PCPhoto

have you not been to a store in USA ? its not far off that...on a normal day !

have been in apple stores in LA, San Fran and NY ...NY was a bit cold...kinda like a fancy Argos ...San Fran and LA - staff were high fiving each other, laughing and joking with customers - was a nice relaxed atmosphere....I ended out spending more money and just hanging around for an hour or two....I only went in for an ipod touch (it was a few years ago)

Hogzy

PCPhoto wrote: »

have you not been to a store in USA ? its not far off that...on a normal day !

have been in apple stores in LA, San Fran and NY ...NY was a bit cold...kinda like a fancy Argos ...San Fran and LA - staff were high fiving each other, laughing and joking with customers - was a nice relaxed atmosphere....I ended out spending more money and just hanging around for an hour or two....I only went in for an ipod touch (it was a few years ago)

Iv seen them high five each other once in San Fran but i just thought they were having some banter. You know how Americans can be.

Freddie59

PCPhoto wrote: »

NY was a bit cold...kinda like a fancy Argos

Yeah, but what did you think of the glass cube and lift?:D