Apple Stores Set New Revenue-Per-Visitor Record

Perhaps if Truman Capote had made his living in modern times, he'd have written a novella titled Breakfast at the Apple Store.

Cupertino's chain of retail stores continues to outperform the famed Tiffany & Co. when it comes to sales per square foot, according to data from Asymco.

The latest quarter got a 7 percent boost in customers, and reached a new record revenue of $57.60 per visitor, which means Apple earned a per-store, per-quarter average revenue of $13 million — the highest for a non-holiday quarter.

"[Apple Stores] are the face of Apple for almost all of our customers," CEO Tim Cook said during February's Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference. "People don't think about the Cupertino headquarters; they think about the local Apple Store."

Meanwhile, Apple's brick-and-mortar stores entertained an average 250,000 visitors each quarter, a "quantum increase," Asymco said, over the average 170,000 who closed out the first quarter of 2010. Asymco chalked the change up to an increase in square footage of newer stores, and the renovation of older ones.

But more customers also means more employees — about 110 per store, according to the data; six years ago, the number of workers leveled off at less than half of this level. Profit per visitor is holding steady at about $12 per quarter.

"Retail performance remains constrained by store size (hence maximum number of visitors) and the number of stores," Asymco said, adding that Apple's strategy seems to be to expand U.S. stores while opening new locations elsewhere in the world.

That move, according to Asymco, allows for growth in visitors and achievement of the stores' primary purpose: maintaining the brand's relationship with customers.

Apple did not immediately respond to PCMag's request for comment. But during his appearance at the Goldman conference, Cook boasted that Apple Stores are "like Prozac." For Cook, the retail locations are more about serving and less about selling.

"The store acts as a gathering place," he said in February. "It's a place that has an important role in the community." Apple Stores served 120 million people during fourth quarter, and a total 370 million in 2012.

In November, research and consulting firm Retail Sails calculated Cupertino's worth-per-square-foot, reporting that the company makes about $6,050 for every square foot of store space, more than twice that of Tiffany's $3,017.

Last week, it was revealed that Apple will move its flagship retail store in San Francisco just a few blocks over to a larger space in the heart of the city's high-end shopping district.

For more, see PCMag's Apple Stores' Secret Sauce Spilled.