Apple considered buying Yoobee retail in NZ!

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wellygary

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#124685 16-Jul-2013 10:53

I noticed this interesting item in Yoobee's press release when they announced they were closing a bunch of their stores,

After discussions with Apple Inc. the last party to examine Retail pulled out on 28 June. Consequently the board and management have moved to right size the Retail division. Today, four of its nine retail stores were closed.

So Apple are actively looking at setting up a retail presence in NZ, but decided against buying up yoobee, It makes me think Auckland will probably get a flagship Apple store somewhere downtown in the next 5 years or so,

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#856319 16-Jul-2013 11:16

I always thought Yoobee was a reinvention of the Magnum Mac brand and as such was partly owned by Rennasence which was back then the only authorised apple distributor/service centre for NZ who wholesaled on behalf of apple here in NZ.

wellygary

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#856321 16-Jul-2013 11:24

Yoobee/Magnum Mac/Renaissance lost their exclusive Distribution/wholesaling deal in 2007 with Apple (Australia) directly supplying the large chain stores here - hence the "store within a store" areas that have popped up at JB, DSE, HN etc

Then in 2010 Apple appointed Ingram micro as a second local distributor,

CYaBro

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#856356 16-Jul-2013 12:02

wellygary: Yoobee/Magnum Mac/Renaissance lost their exclusive Distribution/wholesaling deal in 2007 with Apple (Australia) directly supplying the large chain stores here - hence the "store within a store" areas that have popped up at JB, DSE, HN etc

Then in 2010 Apple appointed Ingram micro as a second local distributor,

And now also Exeed, although they took over from Renaissance I think.

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Handsomedan

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#856359 16-Jul-2013 12:04

Hmmmm.....

A nice big shiny glass cube would look good in Britomart.

Bring on the Apple store.

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alasta

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#857506 16-Jul-2013 16:53

Considering how many stores they've got in Australia now it's surprising that they haven't yet opened a store in Auckland. The electronics retail market is competitive here but none of the big box retailers seem to be pushing Apple kit that hard so if Yoobee's in decline then Apple could benefit from having their own retail presense.

Dunnersfella

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#857528 16-Jul-2013 17:41

There's very little money in retailing Apple right? Hence the lack of pushing from JB's / HN's / Noel's...
Unless you're the importer / retailer and get two bites of the cherry!
I'd like to see a dedicated Apple story pop up as part of the Christchurch rebuild, they really are an example of top end retailing that has worked very, very well. Competition could be good too.

MikeB4

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#857530 16-Jul-2013 17:45

With all things tech, New Zealand is a "rounding error". For Apple the retail market is best served by it's web store with the balance picked up by the current retailers.

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alasta

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#857640 16-Jul-2013 19:53

Dunnersfella: I'd like to see a dedicated Apple story pop up as part of the Christchurch rebuild, they really are an example of top end retailing that has worked very, very well.

Yes, that would be great to see. I do wonder though whether New Zealanders are generally wealthy enough to give Apple stores a captive market. Most average people that I speak to these days seem to be living hand-to-mouth and probably aren't as inclined to buy iPhones and iPads as our Australian cousins might.

hairy1

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#857643 16-Jul-2013 19:55

Plenty of 18 year olds I come across are running around with iPhones. Actually scratch that. Galaxy's now. (ducks for cover). Whatever they are using they seem to have money for shiny phones....

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Dunnersfella

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#857644 16-Jul-2013 19:56

There's money out there, but in Christchurch, most of that money is going into re-building homes.
I don't see it as being THAT much of an issue though, people have bought things they can't afford for years, not me, but hey, each to their own.

JimmyCorrigan

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#858016 17-Jul-2013 13:23

I always thought that "Yoobee" was an appalling name to pick for their rebranding. Sounds like a 90s dotcom-bubble company. Or a kid's yoghurt.

Also, their store fit-out (in Manners St anyway), choice to paint everything black and give it a nasty cave-like ambiance was weird. Quite unpleasant to be in while I waited and waited to be served one day!

MattEast

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#858079 17-Jul-2013 14:46

If they did open in NZ, I reckon they'd be more likely to open down in Wellington...Apple have a habit of doing up old beautiful buildings and making them a showcase...Wellington has plenty of these on offer. Auckland's Custom House (on Custom Street, currently a Duty Free Store) would be a great location in Auckland also.

Matt East

profrink

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#858083 17-Jul-2013 14:53

JimmyCorrigan: I always thought that "Yoobee" was an appalling name to pick for their rebranding. Sounds like a 90s dotcom-bubble company. Or a kid's yoghurt.

Also, their store fit-out (in Manners St anyway), choice to paint everything black and give it a nasty cave-like ambiance was weird. Quite unpleasant to be in while I waited and waited to be served one day!

Agree. Manners St shop is atrocious. It's well known bright and clear lighting helps to sell. Their stores do a terrible job at showcasing Apple products.

Handsomedan

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#858093 17-Jul-2013 15:18

Yoobee retail stores have for some time been the antithesis of an Apple Store.

Black to Apple's white, gllom, to Apple's brightness, professional indifference, to Apple's almost overbearing attentiveness.

Having spent WAY too much time at Yoobee in Britomart and also having spent several hours in the sydney Apple Store, I would say that they just got it wrong at Yoobee - in so many ways.

I waited and waited and waited with a cable and an iTunes card in my hand (circa $100.00 worth of kit) while they diddled about en-masse on a Mac for some other punter. One of those staff could have come and served me, but they didn't bother - I wasn't dropping two grand on a new machine - I'd done that 6 months earlier, so I was not of any consequence.

I walked and went to DSE, where I was immediately accosted and served and paid the same aount to them for the items I wanted.

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Shapenz

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#862817 20-Jul-2013 23:19

When I was at Apple (A couple of years ago) they were exploring setting up a small format store like the one in Robina in downtown Auckland.

The word was though that the local landlords thought Apple meant $$$ - so weren't willing to agree to the subsidised rents they get everywhere else in the world. The Apple retail concept depends on heavily subsidised rent to offset the cost of maintaining an above average level of retail staff.

This is how they achieve the EBIT corporate demands while maintaining the 'Apple experience'

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