back to article Apple retail stores most productive in US – by far

Apple's brick-and-mortar stores rake in over twice the income per square foot as the US second-place earner, luxury retailer Tiffany & Co. According to a new study by the research firm Retail Sails, Apple's real-world stores earned an average of $6,050 per square foot during the year ending in June. Tiffany pulled in a distant …

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  1. cyke1

    yea

    Its easy when the iSheep coming and have no problem spending almost 2x the price on a device and new cables every year or 2. Apple products are so over priced, a 2.5 year old USED MBP that is april 2010 product release still sells for 1700$ on apple's store.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: yea

      These are major retail stores in shopping centres, you can say there are a few sheep who buy Apple. But this is the general public going into Apple stores and buying their stuff, you don't get sales figures like that from fanboys alone.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: yea

      yea(sic), look at all those mindless iSheep trying out and then actually buying products they find useful/want/easy-to-use/appealing etc etc.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: yea

      What's the problem, mommy not show enough love or did you just work out studying "Sexual differencess and there effect on work patterns in 17th century France" wasn't the best use of a student loan.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Should we be dancing?

    I don't own a smart phone, I own a old Net10 Motorola (~8yrs old), so that's that.

    Thankfully the article doesn't mention product value, because whatever Tiffany's is selling has such a higher probability to have actual resell value.

    In 10 years, what is that new smartphone worth? In ten years what are the gold and diamonds worth? This might sound silly, but in 10 years a Tiffany's garbage can might be worth more.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Tiffany's?

      The last thing I bought at Tiffany's set me back 25.000 quid. I've never spent that much on Apple kit. Are you saying that a 1.500 quid MacBook Pro amortised over 3 years is somehow a bad investment in comparison to the diamond jewellery, which benefits *me* for... how long? Certainly not *50*...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Tiffany's?

        I'm not sure what you mean either :-).

        What I mean is let's say you bought a adding machine 50 years ago from IBM, and let's say 50 years ago you bought a gold ring. What is worth more today? I'm not suggesting personal investment or personal worth should be neglected (not by any means!). I'm being particular to this survey that, while it doesn't specifically say that a company making more money is more promising, it does however neglect the longevity of the product being sold.

        The survey itself shows a serious problem with THEIR idea of number crunching, and while I understand statistics are statistics and can be made upon anything, I just feel the survey is very literally comparing the capital gains of _GOLD_ to mobiles. Shouldn't they of just stayed in the realm of iT retailers? Apparently I'm just reading too far into this :-), sorry in advance!

        1. Anonymous Coward
          FAIL

          Capital gains? No.

          It isn't comparing capital gains at all, only you are. If you buy an adding machine and a gold ring on the same day, obviously the gold ring is worth more 50 years later. However, if you were an accountant, and got 50 years of use and income out of it, that adding machine paid for itself many times over, while you got no use or income out of that gold ring.

          The value of Tiffany's and Apple products years after purchase is irrelevant to the sales per square foot at the time they are bought. People make purchases based on whether they believe the use or satisfaction they'll get out of the product is worth the price. Most people aren't buying laptops or jewelry with the idea that they'll sell it for a profit. If you buy something with the aim of selling it for a profit, it is called an investment, and you typically don't buy them in stores at all - certainly not Apple, Tiffany's or Lulumon!

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Capital gains? No.

            I agree with everything you just said in terms of PERSONAL assets. This article isn't comparing what YOU "make purchases based on whether they believe the use or satisfaction they'll get out of the product is worth the price"...it, however, is comparing what the capital is. This survey could care less about what the hell you or I buy for what reason.

            I'm not trying to flame you, and I just couldn't make it clear enough at time, but I wasn't at the time comparing personal assets. After reading it again, I failed badly because it does sound a lot like I'm was doing that. I was talking about longevity of the product being sold without what you or I find the worth of personally. Let me put it another way: if you would find a computing device and a gold ring on the street worth the same amount, and could only pick up 1 of them, which one would you pick up? Remember, we don't have a personal attachment to either at this point.

            This survey sheds partially to me a very dark truth about we as a whole, in non-impoverished parts of the world are putting more and more money into. I know though, if I don't like don't do it! But I can't resist the temptation! Guilty!

            @a_been: I agree with on the if you are dead or dying what does it matter sentiment, however I'm not currently dead.

            Hell, it's a B.S. article anyhow, thanks for the rhetoric though!

    2. a_been
      Facepalm

      Re: Should we be dancing?

      What are gold and diamonds worth once you are dead? For that matter, your in a desert and will be rescued in 9 days, which is worth more, a tonn of gold or enough water to last 10 days? Value is subjective.

  3. Kitschcamp
    Thumb Down

    Still beaten by Richer Sounds...

    Yeah, $6,050 a square foot is fine, but Richer Sounds is still around 5,500 GBP per square foot... And 17,000 GBP per square foot for the London Bridge store.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Still beaten by Richer Sounds...

      Ask yourself how much the Regent St store trade per sq ft, or the Covent Garden store...

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Still beaten by Richer Sounds...

      Your point is?

  4. Khaptain Silver badge

    Long term bet

    And for how long does everyone expect this to continue for Apple? Steve Jobs was the figurehead of a very successful company. Tim Cook is most certainly not a figurehead. The driving force behind Apple is gone and I beleive that we will soon start to feel the change.

    6000 today, 3000 tommorrow and then we close shop.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Long term bet

      Steve Jobs needed a liver transplant but Tim Cook needs a charisma transplant, he sounds so boring.

      When I watched Cook's keynote in September his voice reminded me of Ned Ryerson from Groundhog Day. I almost expected him to say "It is soooo good to see you".

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkW_ZkMtmlQ

      Nokia's where all the innovation is right now, not only the stabilised camera but it also has great audio recording, you can record concert footage without distortion due to the mics being able to handle 140dB compared to 110dB on most phones. Decibels are a log scale, so 140dB is immense, it's the sound of a jet engine at 100ft away. Try getting that on your cheap Nexus 4 fandroid shite.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Long term bet

      Yeah right, it is the products that make Apple the money, see the Cube, looked cool, didn't sell.

  5. JS808

    Huh.

    Not too surprised by the result - Apple stores sell lots and lots of pricey-yet-small electronic items and they don't need the massive floor space of, say, Costco (which tops the chart for revenue per store) or Walmart/Asda (which apparently "only" brings in about 133% of Apple in terms of revenue per store).

    Not really seeing how useful this revenue per square foot metric is though.

    Tiffany and Co is a jewelry store with 100 or so locations in the US if anyone was wondering

    1. Robert Helpmann??
      Childcatcher

      Re: Huh.

      Not really seeing how useful this revenue per square foot metric is though.

      I worked at JCPenney during the time they revamped their stores to move the processing of merchandise from the warehouses located in the backs of their stores to regional support centers. This allowed the space previously used for storage to be used for sales instead, which greatly increased their profits.

      Floor space = sales

      You can bet that people involved with sales pay close attention to this number. Understanding how your stores function is extremely important when making decisions concerning the same.

  6. Gordon Pryra

    Easy to earn a lot if you dont pay tax

    What's interesting is that Richer Sounds do pay tax (quite a lot if you bother to read the returns etc), and they they are actually making more money per square foot by selling good kit.

    Maybe if Apple took note of this they could become a great company rather than just a parasitic company.

    After all what do we call A person who habitually relies on or exploits others and gives nothing in return?

    By changing their ways and selling good kit and paying the country what they are supposed to (spirit of the law in the country that protects their interests)

    1. Sean Timarco Baggaley

      Re: Easy to earn a lot if you dont pay tax

      "After all what do we call A person who habitually relies on or exploits others and gives nothing in return?"

      A politician?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Easy to earn a lot if you dont pay tax

      LOL, same shit as ever "if Apple did this i would like them", nope your just a pathetic whiner who dosn't like capitalism because your no good at it.

  7. Ian 62

    Gap in the market

    For years... (and I can say years as I'm not a recent iSheep, I've been with Apple through the dark days too) no-one stocked Apple stuff. Be it hardware or software. You might have found a dusty copy of some Norton, or a System 7 game. Or maybe a Performa or a candy coloured iMac. But no-one thought it was worth the shelf space.

    Apple woke up, took a deep breath and did it themselves. Clearly it was worth the risk.

  8. Armando 123

    Service after the sale is phenomenal

    I know anecdote != data, but I know enough people who've gotten great service from Apple and their staff that Apple is probably doing something right. I was at SCNA this weekend and a lot of people who aren't anyone's definition of iSheep were toting Apple laptops.

  9. montyburns56
    Joke

    True Religion

    Are you sure that Apple isn't actually number 7 on that list?

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