The new store is opening on Saturday July 10th and it looks to be an amazing feat of architecture. It is said to have the largest curved glass panes in the world and, as you can see in the photo, it has a 40-foot high glass cylinder. It’s located next to the IFC Mall in Lujiazui Financial District in Pudong. This core has a descending spiral staircase that leads to the retail space which is underground. There is also a shallow moat around the store. Yes, really!
At a press release, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Retail Ron Johnson stated that the store design was very much inspired by their building in New York (Apple’s flagship Fifth Avenue store), but he added that this building was also built so the “stunning architecture” would fit in with its location. The store has 1,500 square meters of space to house all those products.
I will admit I would love a trip over to see it in person, and not just to be one of the 5,000 lucky folks who will get a free commemorative T-shirt. Apparently it has over 250 unique products for you to see and touch, which is the most of any store worldwide. It also claims the largest Genius Bar, which takes the space of the entire back wall in the building.
The above image shows unique products only available in this store. There is also a “briefing room”, a place for business / VIP customers, which only exists in two other stores (Chicago and Minneapolis). The room has built-in monitors, a worldwide iChat function, and speakers built into the ceiling. Businesses can come in to train staff there as well.
This is the second Apple store in China; Beijing has had a store since 2008, and Apple have said that they are looking to have 25 stores in China by the end of 2012.
Article via shanghaiist
Photo credits: Edna Zhou
