Apple Opens Redesigned Company Store
While the old store — filled with T-shirt racks, shelves of souvenirs and primary colors at every turn — looked like a gift shop, the new store sports a sleeker, more modern look that feels much more like Apple’s other retail stores. Carefully arranged displays of Beats headphones, iPhone cases and Apple Watch bands line the walls while the center of the store is dedicated to display cases of the Apple Watch.
The souvenirs have changed too. While previously you could buy everything from keychains to baby onesies to baseball caps to rain jackets, the store now features only a handful of items: a few T-shirts, ceramic mugs, reusable water bottles, notebooks and blank cards.
I visited the Company Store earlier in the year and it did feel weird. For a shop that was annexed onto Apple’s main campus buildings, it didn’t reflect any of its modern culture. It wasn’t dilapidated but it was out of date. The old Company Store was a weird amalgamation of clothing store and PC World. The new redesign isn’t some display of grandeur — it’s just an Apple Store. It still sell merchandise, but that isn’t the focus. It’s a better projection of modern Apple.
The merch is a lot more serious than the old gear. Maybe some will miss the old joke T-Shirts. I think its fine to leave that stuff behind.