Apple still on a retail roll
It appears that Apple will continue to buck trends, this time planning to open as many as 50 more retail stores in the teeth of the recession, at a time when most companies are closing locations instead.
The global recession, which has been with us for a couple of years and seems to be willing to stay around a little longer, has resulted in a general downturn in business worldwide. Everywhere, profits are down, stock prices are down, companies are being closed, and those retailers that survive are closing stores in droves. Well, not quite everywhere: Apple’s experience during that period has been very different. Their profits are up, their stock price is rising, and now they say they will be opening 40 to 50 new retail stores in the coming year.
About half of the new stores will be outside of the United States, continuing an Apple trend to expand into more world markets. Most of its 280 existing stores are in the U.S. It is known that they will be opening stores in Paris, London, and Shanghai in the very near future. It is rumored that the new stores will be larger than those already open, continuing a trend towards more showroom space for Apple products, according to an article on DailyTech. This makes excellent sense, since according to a recent report Apple makes more money per square foot of space than any other major retailer.
Is Apple in danger of opening too many retail stores and diluting their brand? Hardly. As Apple grows, more and more people want to see and touch their products, while current devotees want to take advantage of store Geniuses and training personnel. Macs, iPhones, iPods, software, peripheral products, software: all of them are big sellers at Apple stores. Given their performance overall during the recession, it is clear that there is a lot of pent-up demand for Apple products. More stores will help relieve that consumer pressure, and keep Apple on the grow.
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