It’s difficult to appreciate the gravity of India’s first new store opening if you live in an area flush with Apple Stores. Customers in Mumbai have essentially been waiting twenty-two years for this week.
Apple couldn’t afford to leave any details to chance for its first location in a major growth market like this. It’s a good thing they didn’t.
Apple BKC is perched at the tip of Jio World Drive, the premier mall in the Bandra Kurla Complex, a notable commercial district in Mumbai. The two-story store has great visibility from inside and outside the mall with multiple entrances and a wraparound curtain of floor-to-ceiling glass.
One of the most notable design elements is the store’s ceiling, which is finished by intricate timber tiles that extend from the wide roof canopy through the entire interior. The triangular design appears to reference patterns common in traditional Indian architecture and the mall’s exterior cladding. Apple says each tile is formed from 408 pieces of timber.
Though wholly new for any Apple Store location and unlikely to be repeated outside of India, the wood tone of the ceiling and its discreet lamps make this design feel like a natural extension of the acoustically-perforated plank ceiling found in earlier stores.
Inside, the store is playing Apple Retail’s greatest hits: stone walls, trees with integrated seating, freestanding Avenues, and a towering, double-height Forum with room for a surprise bonus Apple logo above the video wall. The only major feature missing is an Apple Pickup counter. Remember, this store has been under construction for a very long time. I think it’s notable that Apple did not introduce customers in India to the term “Forum” anywhere in the store’s press release, aside from the alt text on one image.
There’s also a grand staircase with glass balustrades and open risers backed in mirrored stainless steel. The store’s slim mezzanine level overlooks the Forum and treetops below. Like Apple Sanlitun, BKC is powered with a dedicated solar array.
Apple BKC opens April 18, and customers will receive a tote bag and sticker. Next week we’ll take a look at Apple Saket, which opens on the 20th.
Protect Our Planet Series
In addition to customary green shirts, Apple Stores are celebrating Earth Day with a new Today at Apple collection available from April 14-29: the Protect Our Planet Series. A number of notable events are planned:
4/22: Apple Aventura — Art Lab: Crafting Poetry with Free Plastic and O, Miami
4/27: Apple Carnegie Library — Art Lab: Gratitude Poetry and Zine Design with Kinsale Drake
4/28: Apple SoHo — Exclusive: Ashton Pemapanik Dunkley
4/29: Apple Fifth Avenue — Art Lab: Blending Nature and Your City with Adina Farinango
Another session is available in every store: Art Lab for Kids: Create Comics Inspired by Planet Earth. Apple is hosting similar Earth Day collections in China and Taiwan.
Featured image
Apple Michigan Avenue
Photo via @lupulopi.