September 17, 2007
An Apple Store Grows in Brooklyn
Last week Racked reported that there's word of an Apple store opening in Brooklyn. The question is, which neighborhood will iNvite them in. Dumbo NYC reports that Two Trees has reached out to Apple in the past, but they "weren’t ready". If they're ready now, their options in Dumbo would include the 6600 sq.ft space at 70 Washington Street and the 6700 sq.ft space across the street at Washington and Front Street.
Racked had a few other ideas, narrowing it down to five areas and placing some odds on them. Red Hook: 25-1, Smith Street: 15-1, Dumbo: 10-1, Downtown Brooklyn: 4-1, Williamsburg: "3-1, in our wildest dreams." We agree that there would need to be serious foot traffic in whatever area Apple decides to land, taking Red Hook out of the running. While Dumbo is a great match, the more boring locale of Downtown Brooklyn seems to be the sensible choice.
Perhaps they aren't so sensible though, The NY Times has a story that questions whether the company blew a huge opportunity to increase market share by shunning retail chains in favor of its own stores. Apple began working with Best Buy in spring 2006 "on a pilot project to obtain shelf space for Macs. Given Apple’s long, tempestuous history with many retail chains, restoring trust has been tough. The six-store pilot with Best Buy was expanded to 50 stores by the end of 2006. There are now 200 stores, with plans to expand to 300 this fall. Best Buy, however, has not yet agreed to place the Mac in all 872 stores. If Apple had begun wooing Best Buy two years ago, and perhaps appointed an ambassador to look after the relationships with the chain and other resellers, the Mac would have been much better off."
Half the fun is going to the Apple store anyway, and this never happened when a new Best Buy opened. As for Brooklyn, we can't help but think the new Trader Joe's space on Court and Atlantic would have been perfect for this.
UPDATE: Our sources tell us the Apple Store is going to be on Atlantic near Clinton. Unsubstantiated!
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i wish i could live in a city where i can get an ipod, whole food groceries, an ikea desk and a turtleneck from american apparel all in one block.
actully no i don't. how gay.
go to Tekserve!
It's absolute insanity that there are only two Apple Stores in New York. The demand for more is obviously there, and the two existing stores are beyond their capacity. Genius Bar appointments are hard to get when you need one, and even then they're always running late. I was in the SOHO store yesterday and I couldn't even get near any of the new iPods to check them out. The 14th St. store can't come soon enough.
I have never had trouble getting a Genius Bar appointment. How often do you need to go there anyway? Do you have a defective machine?
And technically, aren't there three Apple Stores in New York? Staten Island has one I believe.
Um, I've never had a problem getting a Genius Bar appointment. And when my hard drive had to be replaced they had it done and called to tell me as much in under 24 hours (that being a Friday into Saturday, even).
Williams burg would be a bad decision since there's only one trian out there and williamsburgians can easily go to the new Apple Store on 14th Street at 9th Avenue.
The best optoon of course would be an Apple Store where many train converge in one spot... Ideally Borough Hall in Brooklyn...
#4. There will be a third store (as I stated above) on 14th Street at 9th Avenue (Hudson St) which open by the end-of-the-year or early 2008.
Wherever Apple decides to place the store the most important thing is traffic. By traffic I mean having the right people entering the store. Dumbo is a better choice than downtown Brooklyn because it is a destination people go to to spend money. It already has an image for luxury products and people going there seeking them.
The NYT reported this weekend that Apple's sales have been stronger because of the iPod, shitty Windows Vista(people won't even take a pirated copy), and the switch to Intel(a superior microprocessor). The only thing that worries me is which company is manufacturing the hardware for the Macs. In the past it had been Asus an outstanding Taiwanese computer hardware manufacturer. But recently they have switched to an inferior mainland China computer hardware manufacturer. And the quality isn't as good. Since Apple charges a premium for their products they should be highly concerned with the manufacturer they choose for production.
Yeah, Downtown Brooklyn's a terrible place to put an Apple store. There's no other luxury/pricey goods shopping in the area, the people who work there aren't interested, the sidewalks are rolled up at night, and there's zero hipness. No one goes there to shop.
I could definitely see a mini Apple store in Wburg, though.
Apple quality has been sliding for a while. But the company has a policy of denying the problems are defects in design or manufacturing (other than the battery recall). Only the customers that whine the loudest get repairs covered under waranty.
Well I don't go there that often, but by the time I need to make an appointment, slots are limited. I can usually get in, but I needed to go last week, and that meant leaving work early because the only convenient slots were from 5-6, and I had to take 5:40, which turned into 6:30 by the time they got to me. While I was waiting, several people asked me where to make an appointment and I had to tell them that they were booked up for the rest of the night.
W'Burg doesn't have the retail space needed for an Apple store. And an Apple store in W'burg would put the store that resells Apple on North 6 out of business.
Yeah, we need more Apple stores!
Oh wait....Actually, we don't.
My guess is somewhere on Flatbush between the Atlantic Center and 7th Ave in Park Slope. Williamsburg and Dumbo are limited due to transportation and Carrol Gardens, Boerum Hill just don't have the building footprints to accomodate them.
Ahh, good old Two Trees. My friend worked for them for years and I did tons of sub contracting business with them back in the day.
Who cares if they open more stores? If it was your company, you would do the same thing.
Atlantic near Clinton? Fantastic. I love the idea of an Apple store within walking distance of me.
tekserve used to be good but now they suck – ridiculously expensive service department and the wait times are astronomical.
If I were Apple I would be very selective about letting Best Buy sell my stuff. The Best Buy staff in New York stores borders on incompetence.
Atlantic and Clinton would be a perfect location. Problem solved. Now I can get my hummus at Sahadi's, veggies at Trader Joes and a new I-Pod all on one block. God bless this country!
Two Trees is building a new residential building next to the Trader Joes, with retail on the ground floor. Perhaps there?
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS
i find it rather nauseating how welcoming people are to these chain stores that are cool with brooklyn's new bourgeiosie. Apple, ikea, trade joe's, whole foods, starbucks, etc...I mean, I thought these people thought themselves as being better than the suburbs, but all of these stores are national chains also found in the suburbs of the midwest. Really boring, people. The least you could do is go to a local market rather than drive to the next vanilla box retailers that are sprouting up all over Brooklyn.
Hmm... maybe the first floor of 164-168 Atlantic (sail makers building)? probably the only large vacant retail space near that intersection. I think I read that the upper floors are Two Trees luxury condos, so that kind of fits.
23, that space (the sail makers building) is going to be an Urban Outfitters.
of course it's on atlantic, everything is on the atlantic. The atlantic is the 8 mile of brooklyn. To the west is the whites and the east the blacks except for williamsburgh.
national chains also found in the suburbs of the midwest.
Who knew the Midwest Hater would try to work in magic in a thread about Apple Stores? And we know there are plenty of Suburb Haters here as well.
Apple and Trader Joe's are from California. Starbucks is from Seattle. And all are publicly traded companies that need to keep growing to satisfy Wall Street. So blame the coasts for your problem.
Atlantic Ave? Booooooring!
Willy-B would be the obvious choice: go where the mac user community already exists.
Tekserve's employees tend to be quite surly.
"The least you could do is go to a local market rather than drive to the next vanilla box retailers that are sprouting up all over Brooklyn."
Yeah, I always buy computers and peripherals at Farmers' Markets.
SEEDS OF A RUMOR
Is Apple coming to Washington Street,
Dumbo?
You asked, so here's my considered reply:
Dunno.
#25: huh? Atlantic runs east-west.
Well, as someone who lives near Atlantic and Clinton -- geez. What a waste. A destination store that will hardly ever be used by people in the neighborhood. Couldn't we dump it in New Jersey, or something?
Hi guys. My name is Dana Hemphill and I am the Aplle Northeastern Representative for Retail Sales. I work the stores along the eastern seaboard all the way down to our stores in North Carolina. We are currently in negotiation to open our 1st retail location in Brooklyn, NY on Atlantic Avenue, not far from Court Street. I am not located in NYC, but hopefully our store should up and running by the second quarter of 2008.
Hope to see you all there soon. Thanks!
Two Lemons of Macs in two years. I've used mac for 17 years, and they are only getting worse and worse. It is criminal the crappy computers they are selling these days, and they REFUSE to return, properly fix, or admit to the crap they are turning out.
Steve Jobs should have a class action lawsuit against him.
To my wits end with Mc CRAP!
i'm not a big fan of apple myself (bad experience with a couple defective ipods) but i think the store will attract ppl from all over the city who want to avoid the over-crowded manhattan stores to bklyn where they can spend their money at local restaurants and shops here as well.