Apple showed off its new store in Grand Central Terminal during a Wednesday press preview, and the company has stayed true to its plans for the store, making "very modest alterations to historic elements," and creating a space that is a perfect complement to the 140-year-old train station.
When you walk up the staircase, to enter the store, you don't feel as though you've left Vanderbilt Hall, Grand Central Terminal's main concourse. You're greeted with an iconic glowing Apple, under which Apple's best-selling products are available right at the front of the store, meaning if you want an iPad, you can be in and out in a flash.
Macs and two Genius bars are located through the doors to the left and iPods, iPhones, iPads, and accessories are to the right. As you browse through products, you look out over the enormous hall, with the station's beautiful mural on the ceiling above you and various commuters below. The store seems to have been carefully crafted to fit in with the architecture of the building, which is no surprise since Apple has stores in historic spots all over the world, like underneath the Louvre and London's Covent Garden.
The store is huge. Occupying 23,000 square feet, it is one of Apple's biggest retail outlets in the world, according to Bob Bridger, Apple's vice president of retail real estate and development. The Grand Central store has a staff of 350, bringing the number of Apple's New York area employees to more than 4,000.
Bridger pointed out some unique features of the new store, Apple's fifth brick-and-mortar location in New York City. He touted the store's commitment to "personal setup," via two "startup rooms," so customers can leave the store ready to use their new products right away.
Exclusive to the Grand Central store are new, 15-minute express workshops, where Apple associates will demo certain products and services. For example, this morning one employee gave a how-to with the iOS 5 Cards app—demoed on an iPhone and displayed on TV screens in the wall. Each day, there will be speedy demonstrations about using a Mac, managing photos in iPhoto, creating a movie on iMovie, and more. A schedule of the workshops is available on the store's Web site.
Bridger also noted that the Store includes a couple new features Apple has recently added to its retail experience, including personal pickup, which means you can order an item online and retrieve it from the store. Apple debuted personal pickup about two months ago, starting with San Francisco area stores, and it has since launched the service in all of its U.S. locations.
At the new store, you can also use Apple's iOS retail app for self checkout.
Apple recently completed a renovation of its Fifth Avenue Store, in which it removed the 90 glass panels that comprised the glass cube entrance and replaced them with just 15 pieces, making the cube appear more seamless.
Bridger also said Apple is in the process of expanding its store in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood.
Apple's Grand Central Terminal Store opens Friday at 10am. If you can't make it to New York City, check out the slideshow above, as well as PCMag's Six Apple Stores to Visit Before You Die slideshow.
Photos by Scott Schedivy.