KUALA LUMPUR: The doors to Apple’s first store in Southeast Asia will open in Singapore tomorrow (Saturday, May 27), and tech geeks and gadget freaks in the region are excitedly counting down to the big moment.
Located in the busy shopping hotspot of Orchard Road, the Apple Store is expected to become one of the most popular in the world,
Apple’s senior vice president of Retail, Angela Ahrendts, said: "We view our stores as a modern-day town square, where visitors come to shop, be inspired, learn or connect with others in their community.”
What differentiates the Apple Store from reseller outlets is the user experience, and guidance consumers receive from Apple experts on the products, which of course include iPhones, Apple Watches, MacBooks and accessories.
For example, the Apple Store at Orchard Road will have "Today at Apple" sessions, which involve hands-on sessions centred on topics that customers may love, like photography, the arts, music, apps and more.
The two-floor Singapore outlet will feature a huge retail space on the ground level and an ‘experience space’ complete with tress and a huge screen for sessions with Apple experts and featured artists.
It will also have a specially-designed "boardroom" for meetings with customers.
The store will feature a 36.57m-long glass façade, with each glass pane measuring 14m.
The store will also feature a 7.62m canopy to protect it from the tropical sunlight and two curved Castania stone staircases on either side of the premises.
About 237 employees will man the Apple Store at Orchard Road (25 per cent of whom were existing Apple employees who transitioned from its call centres or other parts of the business).