Apple stores are flourishing while other high street chains close

Another crop of retailers is about to bite the dust – and the damage is self-inflicted. Chris Blackhurst explains how a miserable shopping experience led to the downfall of well-know but unloved stores

Apple’s Covent Garden store holds the iPhone XR launch in October 2018: even today, it feels like the crowds haven’t gone home (Getty)

Shopping in London’s West End it is impossible to escape the conclusion that Apple is getting something absolutely right. While other stores nearby are either empty or populated by a few disinterested browsers, the branches of the Apple Store in Covent Garden and Regent Street are heaving – from the moment they open to when they close. Apart from the launch of the sales in the department stores, nothing else comes close.

This, of course, is not new. But what is often overlooked in relaying Apple’s rise to retailer supreme is that this is a technology company, it designs, manufactures and sells smart products. It’s also a consummate online retailer. Yet, here it is, making bricks and mortar flourish – this at a time when the majority of other high street chains are wilting or going out of business completely.

Apple is extremely adept at creating an unbreakable circle, of branded device, owner and company. The best way to get it checked or repaired is to visit the “Genius Bar” of experts based in the nearest Apple Store. The only method of purchasing a brand new Apple product is from one of its shops, the company website or a licensed outlet, of which there are not many. Likewise, a trade-in can only be executed at the Apple Store or via the website.