Did Apple's 'Town Square' Gore the Store?

Art Lab for Kids, Music Walk, Art Skills, Design Lab – these are all titles of sessions at Apple’s newest Carnegie Library Store in Washington D.C. It’s all part of Apple’s so-called Story Makers Festival. The events help celebrate the opening of arguably, one of the most unusual and expensive Apple stores of the entire iconic fleet. The store, which opens on Saturday, May 11th represents the most significant historic renovation project ever taken on by Apple, spending an estimated $30 million on the Mount Vernon Square Beaux-Arts style building . Seven million dollars went towards façade restoration, alone. “Whether customers come to explore new products, visit one of our Geniuses or unlock their creativity in a Today at Apple session, Apple Carnegie Library is a place for everyone.” This is according to Deirdre O'Brien, Apple's Senior Vice President of Retail + People.

The library was donated to the city by Andrew Carnegie and dedicated in 1903. Apple will share the space with the Historical Society of Washington, D.C. and the Kiplinger Research Library. Apple worked with Foster + Partners, the same architecture firm that helped it redesign the Regent Street, London store in 2016, as well as on Apple's new spaceship campus in Cupertino. The design appears in strong contrast to most of Apple’s highly modernistic branded environments.

The dissimilarities don’t stop there. The backdrop of this opening belies the usual Apple “happy-talk”, as reports of dissatisfied shoppers, long waits and grumbling staff are hitting social media, and the press. This also coincides with the ascension of Deirdre O’Brien, from her previous HR role to the retail head, replacing retail guru Angela Ahrendts who left the company in April. Angela was the visionary behind Apple’s most significant store redesign since its prototype store's inception, in 2001. Part of her vision was to elevate the store to more of a “Town Square” gathering place, where Apple enthusiasts could linger among huge potted trees. And rather than ponying up to the “Genius Bar”, have the geniuses interact with customers in a more casual communal gathering area. These were termed “Genius Groves” in their 2016 debut.

While these new showplaces were intended to elevate the customer experience to the next level, an unintended consequence of the new "informality" may have been the dilution of the secret-sauce, originally cooked up by Ron Johnson and Steve Jobs.  Former employees told Bloomberg that changes implemented under Ahrendts were partly to blame, for long lines, wait times and overcrowding. However, it’s fair to say that all Apples recent problems cannot be attributed to the new store design. As customers are keeping their iPhones longer, there are more service issues associated with the older equipment. Accordingly, the mix of new product sales and service has changed, and it's likely such a shift had not been anticipated. The new Apple D.C. store has devoted an entire library book stack area to the Genius Grove, ensuring adequate space for customer service.

The fact is, with many new events, and teaching sessions, Apple’s stores are increasingly being used differently than they had been. In a recent MacRumors interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook about the Carnegie Library Restoration, Tim highlighted the point, saying that “Apple believes projects like this help showcase ‘Today at Apple’ services and classes, though the company's aim is to get customers to further associate Apple with creativity.” Cook went on to suggest that today with Apple sessions, and shopping for retail products, buying something, is "probably one of the least done things" in an Apple retail location. "We should probably come up with a name other than 'store,' " he said. Perhaps it’s time for them to start charging admission.