It’s WWDC week, and for the past few years, that means it’s time for Apple Park Visitor Center to get a refresh.
There are 10 bays spread across the Avenues on the store’s two stone walls, and several have been updated or moved to unify the merchandise collection. Every souvenir is now gathered on the same wall, and the AirTag bay has been replaced with shelves to house the mugs, pens, notebooks, and water bottles rescued from Apple Infinite Loop.
On the opposite side of the store, the Hermès bay has been sacrificed to make room for iPad cases and accessories. I hope this is a temporary change to meet the needs of WWDC week, because the Apple Watch displays are always so creative and fun for visitors to see. The iPhone cases bay has migrated across the store to the space once reserved for t-shirts, and in the process has been updated to the latest design with a header row. On the farthest right, a special Pride Collection bay was designed to match the displays in other stores that we looked at last week.
Recognizing the incredible demand for merch during WWDC week, Apple has even brought in a mirror to check your fit:
There’s more this year. Over at One Infinite Loop (the campus, not the former store) construction began on a redesigned atrium last June, right after WWDC. The project wrapped up just in time to be revealed at this year’s conference, and it’s truly marvelous.
The atrium’s facade hasn’t changed, but every interior surface has been updated. A new airlock is adorned with rounded displays featuring WWDC graphics, and above, three baffled skywalks bridge the space.
The walls are stone, the floor is terrazzo, and each window is framed with wood, like the Avenues at an Apple Store. There’s even a video wall and trophy cases. I’m glad to see Infinite Loop isn’t merely on life support since the opening of Apple Park. It remains an active and beloved campus.
Battersea promotion
Battersea Power Station recently shared a new Instagram Reel, presumably created in collaboration with Apple, titled “6 Reasons to visit Apple Battersea.”
I love this clip, and have been watching it over and over. Not only is it a great overview of the store, it’s a perfect summary of the new features of Vintage E, and would’ve been an amazing way to reveal the design language last year. I hope we see more productions like this in the future.
ifc mall
The lowest level of Apple ifc mall in Hong Kong reopened this past week following extensive renovations throughout the space. Construction began in December 2023 with the closure of the store’s third and newest floor. In March, level three reopened with a permanently reduced footprint, and level two closed. It reopened again the same month with new flooring and tables, and level one closed.
Like level two, renovations to the first floor appear almost invisible at first aside from updated finishes. But look to the right in the photo above, and you’ll spot an all-new Apple Pickup counter tucked into an alcove. Just like in Shanghai, the Pickup back wall sports backlit signage cut into the stainless steel.
This is quite a fitting addition, because Apple ifc mall was the first (and one of few) stores to offer an Express Purchase Counter when it opened in 2011. Even back then, Apple was anticipating unusually high foot traffic.
Still, this entire project has felt just a bit off to me. That’s a strange feeling because I’ve generally found every store renovation to be an all-around win since I began studying Apple Retail. But here, I just can’t get past the disruption of the third floor. The store’s position as a skywalk over Lung Wo Road isn’t just iconic, it represents the entire identity of the space. Sacrificing the symmetry of the facade isn’t just an aesthetic compromise, it’s an identity compromise.
Wellington Green
Apple Wellington Green in Wellington, Florida, is temporarily closed for construction from June 9 through June 13. This store is one of Apple’s oldest, and the last location in the world with the hardwood flooring that predated the stone tiles now ubiquitous through the rest of the older store fleet. A temporary closure is unlikely to result in drastic changes, though we might see some modest updates.
Featured image
Apple The Grove
Photo via @danidaaaaa.
Do you have any insight into why Apple doesn’t sell branded merch at more of their stores? Even if the more unique pieces were exclusive to the Visitor Center and standard merch everywhere else would still be cool.
It's time to clean up APVC's tile joints : |