Apple is said to be kicking off its most powerful retail expansion to date with plans to revamp its locations in the United States and overseas.
The Silicon Valley tech giant is finalizing plans to open, relocate or remodel upwards of 50 stores over the next four years in a bid to freshen up its retail brand more than two decades after debuting its first retail outpost. The strategy, reported earlier by Bloomberg, underpins the company's commitment to invest heavily in its real estate even as Apple and other tech firms look to cut costs elsewhere.
While plans for some locations are still being discussed or negotiated, Apple is said to have finalized leases with several landlords for some of the new or relocated stores it has in the works. Those include an additional location in Miami, a store at the Battersea Power Station near Apple's local headquarters in London as well as a flagship in Shanghai.
Apple's retail portfolio includes more than 520 stores across 26 countries, and more than half of those stores are scattered across the United States. A typical Apple store in a suburban mall can generate about $40 million annually, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings, while its larger, fancier flagships can rake in more than $100 million a year in sales.
An Apple spokesperson declined to comment on the company's expansion plans.
Since opening its first retail location in 2001, Apple has leveraged its brick-and-mortar footprint to boost its brand and create an interactive environment for customers to test its products. The company was at the forefront of the experiential retail trend by offering in-store events and classes as well as technical support, but some of its locations have become outdated or don't have the space necessary for Apple to incorporate some of its newer services.
Business Changes
The revamp comes as Apple tries to juggle a number of challenges and significant changes.
The Cupertino, California-based company is dealing with a unionization push at its U.S. stores and abroad. On Monday it launched its virtual reality headset — Apple's first major new product in a decade — as well as a number of other updates aimed at reinvigorating slowing sales.
Its store expansion strategy also lands a couple months after Apple was said to have laid off a handful of jobs responsible for the construction and operations of its retail stores. The news marked Apple's first set of known job cuts since the tech industry began retrenching after months of record pandemic-related growth.
The company has made a point to avoid large layoffs by delaying some corporate bonuses and certain projects, reigning in budgets such as travel, implementing a hiring pause and cutting back on some of its contract positions.
The tech giant also avoided the record hiring that companies such as Meta and Amazon implemented at the height of the pandemic. Between 2019 and 2022, Apple's workforce increased from about 137,000 people to 164,000. By comparison, Google's headcount climbed from about 119,000 people to more than 190,230 over the same time.
What's more, Apple — with a market value of more than $2.83 trillion, making it one of the world's most valuable companies — is also one of the few examples of tech companies still adding space. Earlier this year it leased a roughly 150,000-square-foot building at Kilroy Realty's Mathilda Campus in Sunnyvale, California, adding to its roster of office and flex properties near its corporate headquarters in Cupertino.