Apple’s Fifth Avenue Facelift Addresses Critique That It’s Hard to Shop There
- New doors let mission shoppers sidestep throngs of tourists
- Genius bar, at twice the size, could speed up customer service
Apple Inc. has been renovating its iconic store on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue for almost three years, and when it opens to the public on Friday customers will likely notice new aesthetics, including 20-foot trees, plant walls and skylights that bring daylight into the subterranean space. But the most popular change may well be two new entrances, subtly placed on the north and south side of the store across the street from the Plaza Hotel.
Easing egress is a tacit nod to complaints that Apple’s stores had become hard to shop because they’re busy and difficult to navigate thanks to the competing needs of shoppers looking to hang out, get their gadgets fixed or actually buy something. Now locals and mission shoppers can come and go without having to deal with throngs of tourists flowing through the glass cube entrance that made the store a retail landmark and one of Apple’s busiest.