Apple Store Fashion Valley en San Diego

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit the Apple Store in Fashion Valley , in San Diego, California. It is located in a shopping mall (or what they call “mall” or in the Spanish version a “mol”) , which means that it is not a closed building but an open space where there are many stores distributed in several floors.

As I say, this Californian Apple Store seemed to me that it will surely keep some resemblance with the idea that we have some after the rumors (almost confirmed) that the new AppleStore of Spain will be located in the shopping centers of La Maquinista (Barcelona) and Xanadu (Madrid) . At least the Fashion Valley shopping centre seemed to me to be a replica (talking about the idea, the concept) of the La Maquinista centre, which I have been to several times, but not Xanadu, which I don’t know.

The San Diego Apple Store is not like the other flagship Apple stores I have visited , it is not the Apple Store of Soho in New York , it has nothing to do with Ginza nor with the scale and magnitude of London in Regent Street . Nor is it half as pretty as the Apple Store in the Louvre . It is different, much more commercial , much more “showroom” , that is to say it is more of a exhibition of products than a shop itself.

It’s not very big, about 30 meters long by 15 meters wide (approximately) and the biggest space in the store is occupied by the big tables where they have iPods, iPhones, iMacs, the new MacMini with the 24″ LED Cinema Display and the typical area of accessories, software packages and complements for the machine world. The space is well distributed , the product display, as in other Apple Stores, is homogeneous: there is not much concentration in one place and not much dispersion in another, they are grouped according to families. In the middle of the Apple Store are located the cash registers and at the end of everything, the Genius bar . It doesn’t have an auditorium or rooms for exhibitions, unless I could see them, so if it does they will be very hidden.

Now, perhaps the most remarkable thing was the number of Apple employees in the store , I think that something overdimensioned, I do not exaggerate if I say that between them there was a salesman for every two customers, in total there would be about 25 to 30 guys with the striking Apple polo shirt, you took two steps and someone winked at you and heard the typical California “How U doing” or perhaps something more polite a short “May I help you? “followed by a somewhat inquisitive look. I had the opportunity to talk with the store manager for a while, he told me that Apple’s intention is to promote this type of stores perhaps not so emblematic but that help everyone have the possibility of having an Apple center near their homes. And for good reason, I instantly took for granted that my first feeling after crossing the threshold of the entrance was correct: I’m sure that La Maquinista’s Apple Store will look like this .
Apple.com
These are not second row Apple Stores . Set Apple Store Fashion Valley en mi cuenta de flickr

And that was noted by Redmond . Recently opened a Microsoft Store right next to the Apple Store in Fashion Valley (well not exactly door to door but almost, there is a corridor between them). The concept of the store is exactly the same as the Apple Store – a display area to put Xbox, Sony Vaios with Windows 7 and a section with accessories and software packages. A replica of the Apple Store but in the Windowsero style… I don’t think it’s bad, they are still faithful to their style.

I finish the recommended entry that you take a look at the gallery that accompanies this entry, there are several images, several pictures that I made myself while visiting the store and buying something, in my case the VGA connector for the iPad, the snapshots help to understand this concept of Apple Store that I try to explain in the entry and that in my personal opinion, we will see soon, when the summer ends, in our lands.

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