A glass arched roof, a 45-foot long Genius Bar and an entire floor for tech support and training will all be part of a super-sized Apple Store, due to open Saturday in Manhattan's Upper West Side.
Additionally, Apple will open 40 to 50 new retail stores next year, the Wall Street Journal reports. The company says it has a new strategy of opening lots of smaller stores, while planting what it calls "significant stores" -- essentially, flagship locations -- in large cities. These bigger stores aim to wow visitors with over-the-top architecture, such as the 45-foot tall stone walls and glass roof in the new Manhattan location.
Roughly 220 employees will run the new NYC store, out of 10,000 applicants.
It seems like Apple is clearly flexing its muscles at Microsoft, which opened a pair of retail locations in Phoenix, AZ, and Mission Viejo, CA, last month to coincide with Windows 7's launch. The stores were well-received but are quite similar to Apple's retail design, complete with a "Guru Bar" for tech support, big open tables with computers on display and roving staff members with portable checkout devices. Even some of the employees might've had Apple experience.
But Apple's been doing this for seven years, and it can keep opening new stores with confidence. Microsoft, on the other hand, is taking things slow. Before the Microsoft Stores opened, a spokeswoman told Advertising Age that the company will "make some adjustments, open a few more stores and repeat this process as quickly as it makes good business sense."
Microsoft is wise not to rush into anything, but it's got to hurt to see Apple flaunting its success with new, monolithic structures.
