On May 19, 2001, the first two Apple Stores opened, in Virginia and California. Store number 512 will open at 10 am on May 27, 2021, in Via del Corso in Rome. Twenty years ago Apple was struggling to emerge from a long crisis of ideas and revenues, today it is the most quoted hi-tech company in the world: everything has changed, but Deirdre O ‘Brien was there then and there is today. He is Apple’s senior vice president of Retail and People – chief of staff and responsible for all stores around the world. He agreed to tell Italian Tech exclusively the work behind the largest store in continental Europe, the seventeenth in Italy and the first in the center of the capital.
The opening, scheduled for spring 2020, has been postponed by a year due to the pandemic: “We waited because we wanted to make sure that customers could visit the store, experience that extraordinary space and meet our team members,” says O ‘Brien.
The largest Apple Store in Europe opens in Rome
On May 27 the inauguration of the Store in via del Corso: Italian Tech was able to see in advance how it is done inside
Online e Offline
In recent months, Apple has completely rethought retail, enhancing the online store (also with augmented reality) and redesigning the points of sale for fast delivery and by appointment. When other stores were open, the Apple Stores were closed: in Cupertino they obviously have their own systems to monitor the progress of the infection. “There is no instruction manual for a situation like the one we are experiencing, so we have worked hard to collect data and predict the potential developments of the pandemic, so that we can decide whether to close a shop or open another,” confirms O ‘Brien . “Now almost all of our stores around the world are up and running and we are excited to start over.”
Online shopping, reservations, social distance: this is how Apple Stores face the coronavirus
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A sign of hope
The opening of Apple Via Del Corso is a reason for hope, a sign of confidence in the return of tourism, but also a careful calculation of where the economy will go. In Rome there will be 200 employees, including over 100 new hires from 19 countries, ready to welcome customers in 20 different languages. On his Instagram profile, O ‘Brien publishes the faces of those who work in Apple Stores around the world: “From my first day in Cupertino, thirty years ago, I had to deal with a culture capable of enhancing people who come from different backgrounds, so that everyone knows that the work he is doing for Apple is the best of his life ”. Net of the motivational drive, there is a very practical implication in the enhancement of diversity: “When a customer enters one of our stores, he looks around and sees the Apple community reflected in the team members. Get in touch with them and meet new people; sometimes it will happen that he interacts with someone who has a background more similar to his, other times he will find a completely different person, from whom he will perhaps learn something, and he will realize that another way of seeing the world can be just as interesting. We believe that the diversity of individuals makes us stronger as a community, and for this we will continue to cultivate it ”.
The relationship with the city
The Apple Store in Via Del Corso, like the one in Milan and Turin, like others around the world, interacts with a wider community: but what does Apple give to Rome and what does it take? “We are a place where people come to learn – replies O ‘Brien – With Made in Rome we will explain to young people how to use technology to be creative, in the field of cinema, music and art. At the end of the program we will give them a hand to make known the works they have created ”. Made in Rome will be a free and widespread initiative throughout the city, even in suburban municipalities, with sessions on music, art and design, podcasts, content creation and videos.
And the Store, which O ‘Brien never calls a shop? “Obviously it’s a shop, but we hope it feels like something more. Starting with the building, which has been renovated with love and great attention to detail, it looks like an Apple product. It is a huge space, with a splendid staircase and several areas dedicated to various activities, from the Genius Bar to the Today program to Apple ”. How to say: free courses in photography, video editing, music composition, meetings with artists, code lessons for children and adults, and much more.
Apple, the evolution of the store: from a shop to an open and creative space
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The ultimate challenge: fewer queues
Traditionally, every opening of a new store has been accompanied by long lines and people waiting; this time the challenge is to make sure they are as short as possible, to comply with the measures against the coronavirus. So those who want to visit Apple Via del Corso should book on apple.com/it/viadelcorso; those who do not have a reservation will still be able to enter, based on the number of people present in the shop. Will you, Deirdre O ‘Brien, be there? “No, because of the pandemic, flying between California and Rome is still too difficult. But I have seen it and it is beautiful ”.
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