Apple Mulls ‘Prototype’ Community Store In Palo Alto, Calif.

Apple has gained initial approval to build a ‘prototype’ retail location which puts education and customers ahead of products, according to Friday reports. The concept could replace Apple’s first store in Palo Alto, Calif. with a transparent design complete with trees growing indoors.

“Fully half the function of the store serves to provide education and service to business as well as customer patrons in addition to product sales,” according to the proposal approved unanimously by the city’s architectural review board.

“The store is a commons for the applicant’s community to gather,” according to the application.

Although Apple refused comment and the Cupertino, Calif. company’s name does not appear on the application, the building’s architect – Bohlin Cywinski Jackson – has designed all of Apple’s stores, including its flagship locations in New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia and Osaka, Japan.

The store’s design includes a transparent ground floor with skylights enabling trees to grow inside. Items such as trash cans, bike racks and newspaper vending machines would be relocated, providing the typical Apple minimalism, reports said.

“By not breaking the horizontal ground plane of the sidewalk with opaque wall or landscape element, for example, the street is made part of the store’s interior; the pedestrian is in the store before entering it,” according to the application.

If construction goes forward, the new Apple location could mean the closing of the company’s first street-level Apple Store opened in October 2001. The store – just 20 minutes from Apple’s headquarters – has a history. Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs appeared at the Palo Alto store when the company launched its iconic iPhone in 2007.

The 10,700 square-foot prototype store would be located in an 86-year-old building that once housed a grocery store and furniture gallery. Apple would replace the existing facade and roof, reports said.

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Apple Working On “Prototype” Retail Store In Palo Alto [Report]

Apple’s successful retail locations are often envied. In late 2009, Disney turned to Cupertino to help remake its retail presence. When Nokia recently announced the closure of its New York and Chicago stores after also shuttering a London location, many assigned an inability to compete for the cell phone giant’s actions.

Possibly hoping to gain some of Apple’s retail luck, companies have expressed interest in obtaining Apple’s in-store technology, including streamlined customer service via Apple’s iPod touch.

[Via AppleInsider]

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