Why your Apple store is no longer a 'store' - CNET

For example, the new store in Union Square, San Francisco is simply Apple Union Square. The Brussels, Belgium branch is now simply Apple Brussels. Indeed, Apple now calls my local store Apple, Corte Madera.

Is this a typically brand-conscious Apple tweak? Would you bet against it?

MacRumors says it has set eyes on an email sent by Apple to its retail staff declaring that "store" is no more.

What might be behind this apparently picky pedantry? I fancy it's simply that the word "store" is a touch déclassé.

Imagine what would have become of Saks Fifth Avenue if it had been called Saks Store Fifth Avenue.

Apple's head of retail, Angela Ahrendts, came from Burberry. When one looks at the store (can I still use the word, Apple?) redesign for which she's been responsible, it features an attempt to minimize clutter, maximize ability to breathe and emphasize luxury. The tacky old Genius Bar, for example, is gone.

Moreover, in launching the Union Square store, Ahrendts suggested it should be not just a retail outlet, but a place where people gather to talk.

The change won't stop people from still referring to the place where heat still hovers and geniuses still reside as "the Apple store."

In time, though, perhaps some will at least tell people they got their new Apple Watch at "Apple."

Then they'll stand back to take in the exalted admiration.

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