I stopped at the Apple Store in Farmington tonight so one of the resident Geniuses could replace my defective iPhone (it was simple: he swapped the SIM card into a new unit in the store, then I quickly restored the data from my iMac back home and I didn't miss a beat).
I was struck once again by the elegant experience of Apple's retail operations. Clearly these stores have been a runaway success, with their simple but effective designs. They function as showrooms for Apple's latest technological innovations as well as a sort of temple for the faithful. I have long referred to the Regent Street Apple Store as "my London office" because I really can settle in their for a few hours while away from home to take advantage of the free wireless so I can use e-mail and surf the 'Net.
Service is a key part of the experience. I bought my dad a new iPod Nano in South Beach the other day and the staff could not have been easier to deal with (the store even saves paper by e-mailing me the receipt, since my credit card is associated with my Apple account). Tonight a concierge arranged an appointment for a Genius to look at my iPhone, even though there were no appointments left for Monday night. Once that happened, my device was replaced without question.
Other retailers could learn a lot from how Apple runs its stores.
