By all outward appearance, Apple’s retail stores are a model for the Green Movement that encourages business to be considerate of ecological and environmental issues. But behind the stainless steel, glass and plastic, it’s difficult to tell if the stores’ natural materials really contribute to the preserving the planet. Part of the problem in evaluating Apple’s stores, or any retail operation, is that there are no clear industry standards for evaluating how Green the operation is. Even so, it’s possible to shed some light on two issues: where did the materials come from, and where are they going? read more…

Photographs and on-site reports about the future Rosenstrasse (Munich) retail store indicate that it could hold a grand opening as early as December 1st. The existing building in city center was demolished earlier this year, and a new structure was constructed. Since then, work on the five-story building has moved inside, although Apple’s two-level store has not yet be outfitted. The most recent construction has centered around the ground floor opening, including installation of the window glass, and then a black covering. See photos after the break. read more…

Four years after it opened to great interest, the Southcenter (Tukwila, Wash.) mini-store is scheduled for an expansion into a full-size store, in a space across the hall from its current location. The store is now tucked into a 600 square-foot space, and is one of just four serving 300 square-miles of metro Seattle. An Apple logo has appeared opposite the store, indicating the store will eventually have about five times the floor space when it moves early next year. The Southcenter store was one of six mini-stores that opened on October 16, 2004, and there was talk of an expansion of the concept to many other types of venues. However, no additional mini-stores have opened since the original eight. Tipsters say the Bethesda Row (Md.) mini-store will also move into an expanded space, although the timeline for that move is unknown. read more…

Apple is intent on keeping its stores busy, and they’re not content with just One to One sessions, the Genius Bar, theater presentations, summer Apple Camp, School Night or year-round youth workshops. Now they’ve debuted a Field Trip program to attract teachers and students during the post-summer, pre-holiday season. The program’s Web page tells students, “Bring your enthusiasm. We’ll supply the rest.” The one-hour sessions are open to K-12 students in the U.S. and Canada from September 22 to November 21. The students’ leader–Apple calls the person a “School Champion”–gets a free One to One membership.

Apple will close an obvious 45-mile gap between the cluster of stores that serve Los Angeles and San Diego with a new store at the inland mall The Promenade at Temecula. The mall is along busy Interstate 15, and is being expanded with a 126,000 square-feet outdoor-facing area. The Apple store will occupy one of the new spaces when the expansion opens in March, 2009. The store will help link the five existing stores that serve San Diego, and the four stores in southern Orange County, south of Los Angeles. read more…

The city of New Haven (Conn.) is throwing an Apple-oriented event at Artspace this Thursday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., as part of a campaign to bring a retail store to the city’s downtown. Richard Yao, the city’s economic development officer, says, “We feel we really have a strong brand as a city that fits within Apple’s targets.” He notes the 60,000 students attending public and private colleges within 10 miles of downtown, and an upturn in investment in the region that could create more Apple customers. Right now, the nearest Apple stores are at Danbury Fair (37 miles) and Westfarms (42 miles). Thursday’s free event will include apple-tinis, apple cider and apples from Lyman Orchards, and a chance to wander the Artspace exhibits. Find a flyer and more information after the break. read more…

For those who read this Web site regularly, the lay-out of Apple’s stores is obvious, and the procedures for Genius Bar visits is well-known. But the stores are not as clear-cut to many others, including those who live in previously-no-store Montreal. Now I’ve received a repair story from Raymond, who came away feeling disappointed after visiting the Sainte Catherine retail store, which opened on July 25th. Read his tale and feel free to provide your polite feedback as comments. read more…

There is no construction underway for the future Carousel de Louvre (Paris) retail store, and in fact, the existing tenant is still open to customers. The future underground store location was recently spotlighted by the setteB.IT Web site, which showed the space’s close proximity to the famous glass pyramid that marks the entrance to the famous French museum. Also, a news item on the MacGeneration Web site showed the interior of the Resonances health and beauty store that will eventually vacate the Apple store space, which could open by late 2009.

About 75 percent of Apple’s retail stores are installed inside shopping malls, so our most common view of the locations is stainless steel. But Apple’s architects–Bohlin, Cywinski Jackson–have created some extraordinary store designs over the past seven years when the location allows and regulations demand it. The Regent Street and Buchanan Street (UK) are particularly good examples of new stores in old surroundings, while the Fifth Avenue (NYC) store stands out among that city’s many other iconic buildings. This past week two more impressive store designs were revealed, in Geneva (Switzerland) and Honolulu (Hi.), proving that stainless steel is vastly overrated. Check these photos of the storefronts for the proof.

Construction work to create a 1,295 square-foot mezzanine level at the University Village (Seattle) retail store is nearly complete. The open-air store north of city center will close from October 6th to 24th to finalize the construction, and it will then re-open with additional space. Work began on the store last August with a temporary shut-down to down-size the store. In the intervening months, the store has been crowded, forcing One to One sessions out to patio tables in front of the store. Permit records say the general construction, electrical, plumbing and fire sprinkler work is valued at $1,845,628, not including almost $17,000 in permit fees. The store opened on September 26, 2003 with 6,677 square-feet, and serves a wide area  of central Seattle. It’s surrounded by other retail stores that already use some of the building’s tall height for a second level of retail space. read more…

Apple’s two-day debut of retail stores in Switzerland last week is just the beginning, as construction is underway for a second store at Bahnhoffstrasse 77 (Zurich), possibly by year’s end. The store is located in city center, on the ground floor of an office building, and is now surrounded by a white construction barricade. According to tipsters, the store could open by year’s end. Check photos after the break. read more…

Construction workers were finishing up major details of the new Royal Hawaiian (Honolulu) retail store just hours before the grand opening. Veteran grand opening attendee Mike said when he arrived Friday morning, “Workers were hanging the white Apple electric sign, but the wall is still not done.” However, by 5 p.m. the back-lit logo was lit, he reports. Check photos after the break.

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The city of Chicago will gain the rare distinction of having two high-profile stores next year when a street-level store opens at 108 North State Street, an enormous high-rise complex that is still under construction. The location is in the midst of the old downtown section of the city, about a mile from the existing North Michigan Avenue high-profile store. It consists of three tall office and residential towers, with ground-floor retail spaces. Architectural renderings surfaced in 2005 that showed an Apple store in the future complex, and construction on the buildings began in Nov. 2005. The retail spaces are scheduled to open in Spring 2009, and the Apple store could open at that time. read more…

After almost a year of speculation, the Gothamist Web site now says that Apple has finalized the location for a Brooklyn (NYC) retail store, at 176 Bedford Avenue, formerly occupied by the Salvation Army thrift store. The run-down building on the northwest corner at North 7th Street has a 60-foot frontage and 40-foot depth, and occupies three levels over part of the lot. The building dates back to the early 1900s and hasn’t been renovated in many years. Based on its original red-brick construction, if it does become an Apple store, it would be demolished and re-built. Take a walk along Bedford Avenue on the Big Map Web site to get a feel for the area.

A newly-hired Apple store Genius in Portland (Ore.) can expect to be paid $17 a hour, according to an applicant for the position who has posted his hiring experience on the MacBlogz.com Web site. Aviv Hadar said he was curious about Apple’s hiring process, and so applied last July and ended up receiving a hiring offer. In the story, he recounts his hiring interview at an unidentified retail store, a pop-quiz on Apple products, and also posts his hiring letter that sets out the various legal requirements of employment. Interestingly, Aviv was given just two days to make a decision, and would have started work three days after that. Hadar turned down the offer, since he was already employed full-time and never had the intention to take the job.