Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is known for it’s design aesthetic as much as it is known for high-end products. The company’s Fifth Avenue store is a prime example of Apple’s modern design. The building is a modern structure measuring 32 feet with clear glass panes.
The tech giant was just granted patent rights this week for the aforementioned design. The interesting thing about this particular design is that it actually uses fewer glass panes for a simpler look. Originally, the cube utilized 90 glass panes , however Apple poured nearly $6.7 million for a 15-pane redesign for the flagship store in New York City.
Retail store designed by Steve Jobs
The cube retail store was actually designed by the late CEO/co-founder Steve Jobs. Not surprisingly, this store is one of the most photographed landmarks in the city. Jobs not only owned the structure, he also paid for it himself. He was even credited as one of the building’s seven designers along with Ron Johnson, Peter Bohlin, Karl Backus, Robert Bridger, James O’ Callaghan, and Benjamin L. Fay.
Apple initially filed the patent nearly two years ago.
Apple meets retail goals
The same all-glass design has been inspired with other projects which includes a larger store in Shanghai that opened four years ago. Last week, it was noted Apple still carries the original sales goals even as overall retail revenues decline. This report came from Charlie Wolff (analyst for Needham & Co). He explained back in 2001, the iPhone maker had just barely enough products to fill a 6,000 square space, but now it has many exciting products that drives customers directly to stores.
Much of the company’s retail success can easily be attributed to the iPhone and iPad. Even though overall sales have decreased, Mac computer sales grew 11 percent year over year from last summer. Non-Mac revenues declined 8.8 percent.
