Cult of Mac sneaks into Cape Town Waterfront

Posted on 01. Sep, 2005 by Cassandra in Technology

Can you believe it…those sneaky Apple people have opened up a fully-fledged, real Apple centre at the V&A Waterfront without letting anybody know about it.

We headed to the very small new store last night to check it out. Navigation is right at the main entrance to the Watefront…across the way from that Kodak Express.

They opened without long queues, free t-shirts, scratch cards and clearly without any form of PR. The shop is so small, and carry such limited stock, that we overheard that they are already out of iPod Mini’s….bummer.

Even though industry experts predict that South Africans will buy between 40 – 50 000 iPods this year…the store was mainly filled with American tourists trying to upgrade batteries.

[Picture is not of the Cape Town store...Cherryflava will take a couple of snaps when we go back to pick up our new G5 with cinema screen and mighty mouse]

9 Responses to “Cult of Mac sneaks into Cape Town Waterfront”

JBagley

01. Sep, 2005

I doubt it will be a huge success… How big is the store really? Their prices might not be able to beat HiFi Corruption’s, I mean Corporation’s prices, if you consider the fact that all brand stores seem to sell everything at a price premium compared to retailers. Take the Nike concept store. Everything, and I mean everything is more expensive than say, totalsports. Why? i havent a clue. and I suspect that the apple store might just be in the same leaque.
Cherryflava

01. Sep, 2005

Well…you’re not going to be able to buy G5s and iMacs at HiFi Corp. You might be able to pick up an iPod or two from Incredible Connection, but for serious Mac hardware…this store is the way forward.
Judging as to how busy the place was when we were there…with no advertising and only niche market hype to help it along….it’s looking good so far.
Vaughn

01. Sep, 2005

A store called Software City or something along those lines in Tygervalley seems to have been retrofitted as an Apple store, well half of it anyway. Not sure how their prices will compare to the official Apple store, but they seem to stock nearly everything. But of course they’re out of iPod minis….
Ambuscher

01. Sep, 2005

If you ever want to buy anything………buy it over the internet. Its cheaper, faster, better service and delivered to your door. And if it’s damaged when you get it……..then don’t sign for it! But otherwise I agree – branded stores are nothing but marketing fronts with hyped up prices. More places to be seen at than purchased from.
Cherryflava

01. Sep, 2005

….and on Ambuscher’s point…South African Apple online store (with iPod Minis in stock) is http://www.zastore.co.za
tripeak

01. Sep, 2005

The store in Sandton Sqaure (Nelson Mandela Sqaure) is pretty small too… but those apple hardware *drool* if only it was affordable!!
Simon de Haast

02. Sep, 2005

From a service point of view, I’ve been impressed. I phoned the store to find out if there was any way to share my Powerbook’s CD drive over the network to my PC, and the guy that answered did exactly the right thing: “I’m not sure, let me take your number and find out for you.” Thirty minutes later he had an answer for me (www.macwindows.com/disks2.html). Contrast that with the “Huh? What’s that?” blank gaze I’ve experienced elsewhere.
The Apple Store strategy (according the the IMC, Core) isn’t about sell sell, but allowing people to experience the products first. They just need a genius bar with coffee provided by Vida…
potfiction

03. Nov, 2005

well considering the way hifi corp brings in their products………..If you look at the apple centre waterfront,priceing wise is cheaper if not the same as most retail stores.
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