Apple May Have a New Store Established in Chengdu

The property developers prove that Apple may open a direct-sale store in Chengdu.

A source close to Chengdu Magic City, a property developer in Chengdu, Sichuan, says that the property developer is talking with American IT giant Apple about establishing a direct-sale store in Chengdu. Now Apple is looking for a suitable site and also is talking with several other cities and it may establish its fifth direct-sale store in any of them as well cities.

It is said that Apple may establish the direct-sale store in the property projects named Magic City, Raffles City or Jiulongcang which is now under construction.

It will be good news for the Apple lovers, who now would have easy and convenient access to all of Apple’s latest products.

The aforementioned source stresses that Apple is just following the global trend. As China becomes the second largest economy in the world, many international brands are expanding their forces in China.

The First Apple Store in West China

Presently, Apple only has four direct-sale stores in Beijing and Shanghai.

In the ceremony of opening its flagship store in Shanghai, Ron Johnson, senior vice president responsible for Apple’s global retail business, said that Apple would establish 25 direct-sale stores in China by the end of 2012. But the current situation shows that Apple is a little behind in carrying out this plan. Currently, most of Apple’s products are sold through agencies in China.

If Apple finally establishes its store in Chengdu, it will be the fist direct-sale store of Apple in West China. This is significant and shows the consumption power and urban development potential of Chengdu.

According to the analysts, despite the relatively low the income per capita in Chengdu the residents in this city have strong consumption power. Last year, Chengdu residents spent 36.18 billion yuan in catering, which was the largest among all Chinese cities. The branch of Japanese luxury retail store Ito-Yokado in Chengdu has the largest sales amount among all its branches in China. That’s why many famous international brands favor Chengdu.

However, Qi Hai, general manager of Chengdu Magic City, says that Apple has not yet decided to settle down in Chengdu. Therefore, he cannot be sure that Chengdu will be the third city having Apple’s direct-sale store.

Good news for Apple fans in Chengdu

In the past few years, the establishment of Apple’s direct-sale stores in London, Tokyo, Beijing or Shanghai all became an important in helping the Chinese Apple image.

For those who swarm into a new direct-sale store of Apple, the fashionable products are not the only reason. Actually, as a Chinese fan of Apple says, “visiting Apple’s direct-sale store is ‘the in thing’ to do, as well.” A place to go to see and be seen.

Apple, a detailed oriented company, usually goes to great lengths to keep the mystery of its new products before they are launches. Similarly, Apple pays close attention to location choices of their direct-sale stores; the location needs to cater to the ideal audience. For example, before the establishment of its direct-sale store in the Fifth Avenue, New York, Apple spent five years choosing the site.

Apple has already opened dozens of specialty stores in big cities of China. In Chengdu it already has such a specialty store. However, these specialty stores are established based on cooperation with other agencies and provide different services compared with direct-sale stores. According to an insider, consumers can experience and buy all Apple’s products in a direct-sale store while they cannot do this in a specialty store.

In addition, any new Apple products will be sold in the direct-sale market when they are initially launched in the market. After a company determined time lag the specialty stores are able to acquire and sell these products. One thing everyone can admit though, if Apple establishes a direct-sale store in Chengdu, the fans in this city will rejoice with the greater availability and speed of all the latest Apple merchandise.