The Big Apple just got a boost in branding. The Big Apple may just come to mean that big cool new 24/7/365 store on Fifth Avenue.
The new Apple store opens tomorrow in the world's prime central attention urban space across from the venerable Plaza Hotel. In the city that never sleeps, the new Apple store will be open all the time and just may become the new cultural attraction. The first person in line, Stormy Shippy, arrived from Texas to be the first in when the doors open Friday at 6:00 p.m. The SoHo store, opened in 2002, has been a magnet and a success. The WSJ's article this week on the store notes that Apple stores contribute 17% of Apple's total sales and this will be the company's 147th store.
The media have been invited in and glimpses are appearing. The architecture of the store is interesting and features a glass block cube "The Cube" with a floating Apple logo inside (an unpeeling took place mid-week as the black plywood was removed from the cube).
Photos are starting to appear: AppleInsider, (which says this is Apple's most architecturally innovative store), has a photo of The (unpeeled) Cube, The Apple Store flickr series show The Cube in the peeling process (viewed 4,111 times at this writing), and davidjschloss's fkickr photo of The Cube from the inside looking out is a stunning architectural photograph taken today.
The sign of our cultural times: A see-through space that says "virtual" world. The Big Apple redefined. The new Apple of the city's eye. Check it out. MotherPie will.
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