Toronto Eaton Centre (Ongoing Renewal) | ?m | ?s | Cadillac Fairview | Zeidler

I was disappointed with the Samsung store. It's nice, but I can't believe it took that long for them to build what they did. I was hoping for more products but it was actually very sparse, with way too much staff IMHO. There were nooks where couples were just sitting and chatting and enjoying their time which I thought was kind of nice...I guess. I'm hoping that they'll put in more products in the coming weeks/months.

Eaton Centre specifically: I like the massive Xmas tree they got this year, along with the reindeers. Are they the same reindeers from years past? They seem much larger than I remember.
 
Eaton Centre specifically: I like the massive Xmas tree they got this year, along with the reindeers. Are they the same reindeers from years past? They seem much larger than I remember.

They are the same size, but this year they were painted white instead of the previous silver. It makes them stand out more, I think.
 
I don't mean for this to become an Apple vs Samsung argument but in a legitimate critique of the Samsung store, I left nodding in a confirmation of what I love about Apple and what becomes so obvious about other brands after having that Apple epiphany many years ago.

At first glance, it's a very beautifully designed store. But like their products, it's only a superficial façade. Soon, it became clear what sets Apple apart.

I approached a table interested in Samsung's smart watches. They were locked down with a clamp that covered almost an entire half of the device, plus a separate alarm cable that got in the way of the screen (as if someone would be able to remove the massive clamp). I tapped the screen to at least interact with the watch. Nope. It was just running a demo loop. Ok...

I walked around and a Samsung store employee literally made fun of the Apple Watch on my wrist: "How's the battery on your iToy?" he asked pointing to my wrist. Really? Way to treat a potential future customer.

Then I spotted something else I was legitimately interested in. There was a set of VR goggles at the entrance. I put it on. It didn't work. An employee told me it was just a display model.

Experience is everything. This Samsung store sucks for calling itself a "Samsung Experience Store".
 
I feel like for a lot of companies its just a matter of presence and them sinking money into a store that will make nothing is for the sake of being able to say they have store onto Yonge and Dundas. There's no way a location like that will ever be profitable. Most Apple Stores aren't...
 
I feel like for a lot of companies its just a matter of presence and them sinking money into a store that will make nothing is for the sake of being able to say they have store onto Yonge and Dundas. There's no way a location like that will ever be profitable. Most Apple Stores aren't...
I'm sorry, what? Most Apple Stores aren't profitable? Where do you get that from? Apple no longer breaks it out, but they used to be contributing a billion or so a year in profit....
 
Two of the three south doors to the mall were closed last night with watch for falling ice signs on them. I know the entrance isn't complete but I wonder if the bridge's new design is lacking in this respect. Second time in a week I seen an ice issue here (last week they had the area under the bridge closed off).
 
And then there's ITunes, which negates all the other things Apple is good at.

There’s your problem. You’re still using iTunes. I agree with you though. It became a bloated 8 head monster over the years. It’s gotten a lot better lately but I simply don’t use it anymore. I’m happy paying the price of an album per month and getting unlimited open access to all music without having to consider whether I want to spend money on something. Apple Music is awesome. iTunes is clearly on its way out.

Taking the Apple segue back to the Eaton Centre, I cannot believe that shitty Store still hasn’t been upgraded and/or moved. I had to go in to pick up an iPad cover and the place was absolutely jam packed on a random weekday. It simply was not built for this era of Apple ubiquity. When the Eaton Centre store opened, Apple’s biggest hit was the iPod and less than 10% of people used Macs. That store has become an embarrassment for the company.

I really hope they’re waiting for something worth waiting for. The 2 Queen Street West corner building would be it. Any other location in the mall could have happened by now. Apple could demand any location and Cadillac Fairview would make it happen. Even with The One at Yonge and Bloor, an Apple Store at Eaton Centre will continue to be busy so they need a much larger space there.

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Speaking of falling ice and Apple, the new store by Foster in Chicago is having a significant issue:
Apple’s New Foster+Partners-Designed Chicago Flagship Store Battered by Winter Weather

They didn't seem take into account the severe Winter weather either.

Of course they considered the weather. This is the typical easy click bait Apple story that blogs and misinformed news outlets love to latch on to.

The Chicago store’s roof is heated and instead of traditional gutters, the building’s pillars function as pipes that channel the water away. It’s just been unusually cold and they had to recalibrate the heated roof to work in these temps.
 
Nick Leahy, a spokesman for Apple, said the issue stemmed from a technical malfunction in the roof’s heating system: "The roof has a warming system that's built into it. It needed some fine-tuning and it got re-programmed today. It's hopefully a temporary problem."

Just a software glitch then :)
 

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