The whole of New York's Fifth Avenue Apple store would fit inside the main area of the new Apple Store at Covent Garden – that doesn't even include the area for the world's largest Genius Bar in the new London store.
Located about a mile from the flagship Regent Street store, Apple took an 1877 building at One Covent Garden Piazza and restored it.
The interior is made from stone, brick and English Oak to create a relaxing environment flooded with natural light and with a central courtyard big enough to hold a few hundred people (for the next iTunes festival, and in-store appearances by celebs).
Apple reportedly removed a set of brick arches piece-by-piece and then rebuilt the arches– just because they wanted those arches 4 inches lower.
Shot on iPhone4 with a special SteadyCam rig, this video tour is impressive for two reasons. First, it shows the powerful emotional response that Apple generates from customers. It’s an Apple feeding frenzy with a store packed with rabid technophiliacs (OK, those MAC fanboys and fangirls, too).
Second it’s impressive because this tour was filmed using a customized SteadyCam that turns the iPhone4 into an acceptable videocamera recorder.
Some firsts for this Apple location:
- 300 staff... more than any other Apple Store in the world.
- The Apple debut of its new Pro Labs training programme.
- A new Briefing Room to help small businesses.
- First to stock store-specific goods, starting with MacBook and iPhone cases branded with the Covent Garden name and design.