We Told You So: Apple Store Highest Grossing Retailer on Fifth Avenue

8:20 am, August 24th, 2009, Nicole Martinelli

Apple’s Fifth Avenue store sells the equivalent of a Mercedes-Benz C300 in iPods, MacBooks and iPhones per square foot.

As our own Leander Kahney found out on a recent visit to New York, Apple’s Fifth Avenue location is recession-proof, filled with people waiting in lines to buy Apple gear in one of Manhattan’s most famed shopping streets.

But don’t take his word that the store is heaving, here’s what Bloomberg says:

Apple’s Fifth Avenue emporium probably has annual sales of more than $350 million, said Jeffrey Roseman, executive vice president of real- estate broker Newmark Knight Frank Retail. The location is 10,000 square feet, putting its sales per square foot at a minimum of $35,000, based on Roseman’s estimate.

Those sales trump tony jewelry sellers along the famed street — currently earning about twice as much: Tiffany & Co. rakes in just $18,000 per square foot, Harry Winston between $12,000 – $13,000.

Leander noted the place topped by a big glass cube seemed more like a hip bar than an electronics shop, something not lost on the Bloomberg reporters:

Some people even use the Fifth Avenue store as a “pick-up place,” said Consolo, who passes the location every day on her way to work. Tourists used to ask how to find Bloomingdale’s, Saks and Louis Vuitton, she said. “Now they say Apple store, Apple store,” Consolo said in a telephone interview. “It’s the main event.”

Maybe someone will make a movie about Breakfast at Apple?

Via Bloomberg

Posted by Nicole Martinelli in Retail Stores | Comment on this article

About the author

Nicole Martinelli was born in San Francisco and has lived in Milan and Florence, Italy. Cultish tendencies and love for DIY increased while living on the Old Continent, where tech came late and cost more in Big Mac index terms. She's written for Wired.com, The New York Times and Newsweek, and since 1999 on her site, Zoomata. If you're so inclined, friend her on Facebook or connect on Linked in.

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3 comments

I cannot wait to see pictures of the new microsoft retail stores lol they will be empty

john, on August 24th, 2009 at 9:30 am

I don’t particularly like the place — it’s just an electronics store that looks like every other electronics store — but that they’re the biggest store on 5th Avenue makes me absolutely happy to no end.

CaryMG, on August 24th, 2009 at 11:39 am

I have never seen an Apple store without a ton of people, even during the middle of the day in the middle of the week. Something about them is very inviting, causing me to summon all of my energy to NOT buy something!

Doris Walker, on August 24th, 2009 at 1:18 pm