Retail guru, author and Mac fan Paco Underhill loves the Apple retail stores but feels they need some “fine-tuning,” according to a BusinessWeek Online article.
Described as a “retail anthropologist,” Underhill works for a raft of big-name chains including Ann Taylor, the Disney Store and Ace Hardware. Overall, he tells Business Week that he likes the Apple stores, which he likens to a long-missing “temple” for the Apple “religion.”
“People who are into Macs have never had a place to call their own,” Underhill says. “We have always been delegated to some corner of an electronics store. The user group was a floating temple and not quite the same. What Apple has done now is build a broad enough range of products that a store makes a lot of sense.”
He likes the product selection in the store and the help available at the Genius Bars. Underhill finds the overall atmosphere of the retail stores upbeat and positive.
However, he tells BusinessWeek that he has been a little disturbed that Apple has used the same store design over and over without tuning it for different locations. Underhill thinks that the kids’ area should be rethought because it’s not clear “if it’s a place for selling or a place for parking.” He thinks the stores could be more family friendly and the stage set better implemented as a place for building awareness.