Now is the time for Apple to re-think its retail priorities

“Federico Viticci said it best on the Connected podcast last week: The departure of Angela Ahrendts as Apple’s retail chief is a Rorschach test,” Jason Snell writes for Macworld. “One’s reaction to the news will reveal a lot about one’s feelings about the current state of Apple’s retail stores.”
“Perhaps the biggest source of Apple Store frustration in recent years wasn’t based on any Apple Retail initiative. It was the decision to address a public-relations nightmare involving failing batteries that impacted iPhone speeds by offering a yearlong, discounted battery-replacement program,” Snell writes. “That bit of damage control flooded Apple Stores with traffic and repair jobs it was not prepared to handle. Service suffered as a result.”
“My hope for the future of the Apple Store is that it goes back to basics, focusing not just on product sales but on service,” Snell writes. “Back in the day, the Genius Bar made Apple’s retail efforts stand out—but today I hear far more complaints than compliments about post-sale support in Apple Stores. Some of that is understandably due to Apple’s enormous growth, of course, but Apple Retail has to figure out a way to cope with that growth.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Pave over the stupid “Genius Grove” and rebuild the Genius Bar, longer and better-staffed than ever! (And install adequate sound baffling while you’re at it, so we can communicate in the stores again amidst the overcrowded din.)
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