Description
I recently traveled over 1.5 hours to go to an Apple store in the West Farms Mall. I think this would be an ideal location, with shops open late already the hours would be perfect. Coffee houses next door, ABP on the corner - parking down York Street and on Broadway.
57 Comments
Ben Berkowitz (Guest)
I would own one if they were here.
Community Neighbor (Guest)
from the apple event at ArtSpace
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2008/10/city_boosters_c.php
Brian (Guest)
I would have bought a computer and iPod in New Haven if there were an Apple Store here. Instead I had to buy one back home and as a result did not pay Connecticut sales tax.
Apple should realize that a location in Downtown New Haven would serve not only New Haven residents and Yale students and faculty, but also most of northern and eastern Connecticut.
Jeff (Guest)
Erin Gustafson (Registered User)
j (Guest)
BB (Registered User)
Beautiful Irony!
Lynn Jenkins, Esq. (Guest)
janna (Guest)
Seth Godfrey (Guest)
Beware Apple the masses in New Haven are getting restless!
Citizen (Registered User)
mb287 (Registered User)
Pedro Soto (Registered User)
mb287, the issue is twofold.
First- demographics. Fairfield and Westchester are two of the most affluent counties in the United States.
The second is that Apple is not a pioneer when it comes to retail, they are a follower. There is not a single apple retail store that is not a block or so away from a major shopping district or in a mall-- and they tend to be high-end retail areas.
If an Apple Store were to be able to come to the city, the place they would likely set up shop would be on Upper Broadway where there is the J Crew and American Apparel.
Yale properties is probably the only agent in the city who could successfully lure Apple here given the current economic climate, and only as part of a big build-out on Broadway to add more stores.
SheilaMc7 (Guest)
Anonymous (Guest)
John (Guest)
I wish people wouldnt clog up seeclickfix with this ignorant garbage.
Call Apple and tell THEM, or just move closer to a store if it is so important to you. My god...
Community Neighbor (Guest)
john -
this is a way to organize around an issue and let the company know that there would be a lot of support. look for the issue with BoltBus for an example of how crowdsourcing around an economic development issue could help bring that entity/asset to New Haven. so i disagree with you when you say this is ignorant garbage, and think you should look for new ways to using this tool -
for what it's worth, i have called apple and tried to get through, and i've heard others have as well -
Andrew Giering (Guest)
Rey Harp (Guest)
John (Guest)
Anon (Guest)
BB (Registered User)
If you think New Haven needs it, start-up the issue.
Pedro Soto (Registered User)
Pioneer (Guest)
East Rockette (Guest)
E (Guest)
The Tooth Fairy (Guest)
Citizen (Registered User)
Sheila Mc7 (Registered User)
Well, maybe we could build the New Haven Apple Store out of teeth -- all kinds; molars, incisors, even wisdom teeth!
All kidding aside, if someone wants to pursue this for real, maybe put a feeler out to the city of New Haven Economic Development office: http://www.edcnewhaven.com/
Citizen (Registered User)
Jon (Guest)
Greg (Guest)
Have you people been writing letters and emails to Apple, or simply commenting here?
Just wondering.
Tanner (Guest)
Pedro Soto (Registered User)
I'm 100% behind the concept of trying to bring an Apple
Store here in the city, but I have to reiterate what I've posted before:
Apple aims strictly to high end or mall developments. If you look at any of their non-mall standalone stores, they are in VERY high end areas.
Just to give you an example of what Apple does, take a look at the other store locations and the median family incomes of those towns.
-Danbury $71,178
-Farmington: $95,074
-Stamford: $79,221
-Greenwich: $168,779 (YUP)
-New Haven --- $35,950.
Extending this to New Haven County: $60,549, which is still a good 10K under Danbury, and Danbury Fair is the 5th largest mall in New England, and the largest in CT.
Retail is a very risk averse sector. No one wants to be the the first to take a step, and Apple in particular is not a trendsetter. They take up shop in only proven winners of shopping districts or where they can get foot traffic in malls. As you can see, on the surface we're just not an appealing bet.
I firmly believe that the ONLY way we'll be able to get some sort of Apple Store here in the city will be as part of the Yale/Broadway district, which is the highest end strip we have in the city and has proven winners like Urban Outfitters and JCrew.
That is where efforts should be focused. However there is precious little retail space remaining up there, so it's likely that some sort of expansion would have to occur there.
Yale and Yale properties in conjunction with the city would probably be the likeliest forces to be able to bring an Apple to the Elm City.
John (Guest)
Thanks Pedro, good info.
Now maybe we can all get back to trying to make this city more attractive to people making over 35K a year. Its like asking Tweed to bring in more first class seating on their flights even though the airport is on the verge of financial collapse.
Its like going to a job interview dressed as a bag lady...
Andrew - SeeClickFix Team (Registered User)
Hey all! I just wanted to let you know that Apple's Media Relations contact email has been added to the list of watchers. They will be sent all the comments posted on this issue from here down.
BTW, I couldn't agree more. I see your point, Rey, that we could by Apple products from Best Buy, but I think that many of us are interested in bringing an Apple store here so we can have the products we already own serviced.
E (Guest)
I take Pedro's point, I really and truly do, but my mission is not to place an Apple store in a specific storefront, or block -- just to get them HERE. Whether on Broadway, on Audubon Street, on Chapel Street, I don't care.
Al (Guest)
Just go to West Hartford or Stamford. 40 miles north and 40 miles south.
No big deal.
Joseph (Guest)
You people see anything else wrong with this town? I see about a million things that could use attention but apparently our consumerist thinking brains are telling us otherwise. Yep, an Apple store is just what the minority of rich, white and elite citizens of New Haven desire so lets all focus on this.
Sorry but common sense tells me we all need to work a little harder on the root of the problems this city has(education,crime,high taxes) before demanding the "city" step up and give us another grand store to shop at.
anthony (Guest)
Jeffrey Kerekes (Registered User)
Erin Gustafson (Registered User)
Not just a hip atmosphere and a destination for shoppers, it's also a huge student market (FOUR colleges/universities in one town: Yale, Southern CT, Albertus Magnus, and Univ. of New Haven) so every year there are new students arriving!
I'm a permanent New Haven resident (and permanent Mac user) and I know I'd be buying more Apple products if I didn't have to travel 80 miles round trip just to check them out before purchasing, or think of the drive to get them fixed. Please bring an Apple Store to New Haven, it's the perfect spot!
Anonymous (Guest)
I would love to see an Apple store in New Haven.
Previously, I owned a series of IBM laptops and only recently switched over to Apple. One major drawback of Apple is the difficulty of getting repairs done. The CD drive of my imac broke recently with a disc stuck inside making unhappy noise. Due to my work schedule, I was unable to get this repaired for more than a month. In contrast, if one is willing to pay a premium, one can purchase next business-day on-site repair service for an IBM. Much as I love Apple design, unless Apple develops an on-site repair warranty option for this area or opens a store in New Haven, I think I'll have to go back to IBM for my next computer.
PathMaker (Registered User)
Anonymous (Guest)
Erin Gustafson (Registered User)
Citizen (Registered User)
kwhitehead (Guest)
To the holier than thou "I choose not to own a car" person, the Apple store in Greenwich could not be easier to reach via the Metro North. It is probably 2 blocks from the train station.
Sadly enough, if Apple opens a store in the area it would probably be in Milford. There is still one space open in that high end mall that is currently home to Whole Foods. The two stores are a natural fit.
PathMaker (Registered User)
Rey Harp (Guest)
I'm not opposed to having an Apple Shoppe in New Haven....but I am opposed to having to grant any public financial subsidies to get the job done. Apple makes good money (and their stock is one of the priciest on the board). They don't need money from the NH taxpayers to sweeten the deal. Unfortunately, that is exactly what they will demand to come here. If you want to get their attention, be prepared to wave your checkbook in the air!
ayup (Guest)
Jack (Registered User)
CT Livable Streets Campaign (Registered User)
BB (Registered User)
PathMaker (Registered User)
Erin Gustafson (Registered User)
Closed Pedro Soto (Registered User)
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/yale_readies_for_apple_with_4.8_m/
Well done Yale for attracting one of the most successful retail stores into the city. This is going to be a huge boon, especially for the boost of confidence it will give other retailers to come to the city!
Bravo!