Apple reopened the boarded up sections of the London Regent Street store today, proudly reclaiming the accolade of largest Apple Store from the recently opened Fifth Avenue Apple Store in New York. Apple"s senior director of international retail Steve Cano confirmed the London store dimensions to be "Over 28,000 square feet of selling space". Previously the store offered 18,500 square feet.
The company has extended from the back into what had been storage areas. These have now been moved to the basement. The great glass elevator in Apple"s London store. Another major change to the flagship store is the incorporation of Apple"s "Great Glass Elevator". The lift is a focus point at the centre of the store and takes it"s inspiration from Apple"s store in Fifth Avenue, New York.
Cano added: "The personalised service is enormously popular. We now have the iPod Bar, the Genius Bar, as well as personalised training in the studio - all free to customers that buy a Mac. It"s above and beyond what you"d normally see in a retail environment."
Another significant in-store innovation has been borrowed from the restaurant trade. The company has given employees chip and pin devices so that they can take payment for purchases anywhere in the shop. "There is no longer any need to walk to a register and wait in line," said Cano. This concept has run in US stores for a year now.