![]() ![]() The tables, counters and interior fittings are gone, as is the staircase and balconies. Photo: Lyle Kahney/Cult of Mac Most of the interior has been stripped. Photo: Lyle Kahney/Cult of Mac This is the new window display: a notice from the city’s Planning Department. There’ll be a public hearing to replace the exterior steel panels with terra cotta and aluminum windows. It’s not clear if the historic back wall will be spared the current demolition. “And what significant part would that be?” Just promise to preserve a significant part of the building.” “How in the hell am I going to keep a part of the building and still put in my design?” he asked. “You know, Steve,” I told him, “no one says you have to preserve the entire building.” So he gave Jobs a quick lesson in how to deal with City Hall: The city’s mayor at the time, Willie Brown, an infamous wheeler-dealer, wanted the new store to revitalize a downmarket stretch of retail. Steve Jobs wanted to build an ultra-modern glass and steel box, but the design would have grossly violated San Francisco’s restrictive historic preservation rules. There’s a funny, under-reported story about the old Stockton Street store. A note on the front door of the original San Francisco Apple Store says goodbye - but we never left! Photo: Lyle Kahney/Cult of Mac Preservation, Willie Brown-style The Apple logo has been covered up while the old store is dismantled. The new store is much more befitting the company’s top-of-the-world stature. It makes the old store look cramped and shabby in comparison. The new store is much bigger and airier, with 42-foot sliding glass doors and a world-class view of the plaza. It’s just a couple of blocks up the street from the original site, but it’s worlds away. ![]() The company last month opened a far bigger store overlooking Union Square in the retail heart of San Francisco. (The late Gary Allen, who chronicled the growth of Apple’s chain at his now defunct site IFOAppleStore, has a nice Flickr gallery of the grand opening.)īut as Apple has grown ever bigger and richer, its original flagship stores don’t seem so grand any more. Dozens of people camped out overnight to be first inside. He was joined by a bunch of city dignitaries, including two mayors. Steve Jobs personally attended the San Francisco Apple Store’s grand opening in February 2004. Photo: Lyle Kahney/Cult of Mac Steve Jobs, two mayors and hundreds of overnighters Former mayor of San Francisco Gavin Newsom with Steve Jobs at the old store’s grand opening in 2004. The steel panels on the side of the old San Francisco Apple Store will be replaced with terra cotta, according to a notice posted by the San Francisco Planning Department. The flagship stores were cathedrals compared to Apple’s smaller shops, which formed the backbone of the 76-strong chain at the time. It was Cupertino’s fifth “flagship” store - a series of bigger, grander stores shaped like giant glass cubes or with magnificent glass staircases. The original San Francisco Apple Store was a big deal. Pundits had initially predicted the chain of stores would be an embarrassing failure, but they were an almost overnight success. The iPod was taking off like a rocket, attracting hordes of new customers eager to check out Apple’s other products. It was 2004 and Apple was rapidly expanding its retail chain, which it had started just three years before. The old Apple logo on the side of the building has been covered up while the interior is being gutted. Photo: Lyle Kahney/Cult of Mac Apple’s fifth flagship The former flagship Apple Store on Stockton Street in San Francisco is being dismantled. All that’s left are tracks in the concrete floor. It cost millions of dollars - and Steve Jobs got a patent for its design. Sayonara stairs This is where the iconic glass staircase once stood. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |