Apple Retail Store overcrowding is a problem worth solving

Matthew Stern for RetailWire:

In event planning, too much of a good thing can spoil the party. Apple stores are running into a similar problem as customers flock to the retailer’s tech classes, overcrowding many of their mostly mall-based locations.
Increased customer awareness and more in-depth class content since the rollout of the “Today at Apple” learning sessions has led to bottlenecks… “This is an issue,” wrote Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData in a RetailWire online discussion last week. “Some of the traditional mall-based stores are relatively small boxes which do not have the capacity to host a lot of classes or big sessions… Another issue that arises from crowded stores is the difficulty in finding Apple associates.”
“The hubris of ‘we can do what we want and customers will wait’ leads me as a longtime Apple user to avoid the stores whenever I can,” wrote Bob Phibbs, The Retail Doctor. “Be brilliant on the basics.”

MacDailyNews Take: Apple Retail Stores’ “problem” is one every retailer on earth dreams of having.
Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded. – Yogi Berra