iStore open in Basingstoke (UK)

[techgeek]

Haven't seen this mentioned so I thought I would throw it out there.

There is now an Apple specialist iStore open in Basingstoke. They are located in Festival Place on the upper level next to Tchibo.
Linky to a pic I found on Flickr.
As far as I can tell they are not affiliated with Apple.

The shop is very much influenced by the Apple stores, but with less out on display and no iPods just Macs

 

[doyleoliver]

istore?

Do you think Apple would have any standing on shutting these guys down, the shop looks really like the apple store 30 miles down the road in Southampton, but not to sure if the service could be up to apples standard?

 

[techgeek]

Maybe, but I doubt they would care that much.
If there was an Apple store in Basingstoke it might be different.

 

[bartelby]

Maybe, but I doubt they would care that much.
If there was an Apple store in Basingstoke it might be different.

Apple can be real a$$holes at times you know...

 

[vitaly]

The shop is very much influenced by the Apple stores

Of course, because there are some certain Apple marketing and merchandising guidelines which describe how Apple dealer shop should look like.

With less out on display and no iPods just Macs

Yeah, definitely. And to highlight the absence of iPods, they've installed a big iPod display and cabinet full of iPods.

Do you think Apple would have any standing on shutting these guys down

Sure, Apple will close that shop down after giving them green light to open it under APR scheme to cover Basingstoke area.
If you think that things like opening Apple Premium Reseller shop can be done without permission from Apple, then you are totally wrong.

 

[techgeek]

No need to be so sarcastic.

I and I suspect most of the other people here have never looked into opening an Apple Premium Reseller shop so how would we know what they do or don't sepecify?
I didn't even realise they were an APR.

My comment's about iPods were based on the amount on display compared to the Apple stores. I didn't make it very clear in the original post though, so point taken.

I'm really pleased to see the iStore in Basingstoke. They have a nice open store that never feels crowded even when it's busy (based on the few times I've been in there. I hope they do well.

 

[vitaly]

No need to be so sarcastic.

Sorry, I've been little bit too harsh.

Just can't tolerate all these people trying to seize on new iStore for "stealing Apple identity", "using same fonts and looks" or "not selling iPods".

It looks like all these Apple fanboys (no offense) are more concerned about Apple retail identity being violated rather than Apple themselves. I am more than happy about the fact that now we have a new local Apple shop and repair centre in Basingstoke and there's no need to go to Southampton anymore.

 

[techgeek]

I don't think anybody wants them to be shut down. I read the comments more as a worry that they *may* be shut down.
As far as I'm concerned it's great. The more stores selling Macs the better
If they had been open when I bought my iMac I would definitely have bought from there.

 

[tersono]

Yeah, there's a store in the Brighton Lanes that very much has the look n feel down too - good to see (although I'm a little surprised that Apple haven't opened a store there themselves - pretty big city these days).

 

[ClikOnThis]

feedback on Basingstoke store

I'm a new mac user and visited the basingstoke store after purchasing my macbook.

I just wanted to say that the guy who served me was excellent, he took the time to find out why I had switched from PC, what I was going to use the Mac for, then made a couple of suggestions, neither of which involved him selling me stuff.

So, yes the shop looks great, but that doesn't mean much, what is important is that actually have staff who seem to care. I'm off there this afternoon to buy iWorks simply because of his attitude towards me at the last visit.

 

[dextertangocci]

I work for an iStore here in Cape Town, South Africa. There are no official Apple Stores here. The iStore is an Apple Premium Reseller as well as an authorised service provider.