There has been a very long wait for the first Apple Store In Indiaas the company worked to negotiate and meet government terms for opening a single-brand store – but the Apple BKC store is finally opening tomorrow.
Apple has now previewed the store ahead of its official opening, and it looks absolutely stunning…
Background
It has been a long and hard job for Apple to be able to open its own retail stores in India.
In a bid to boost the country’s manufacturing sector, the Indian government has banned anyone from opening single-brand stores unless a high percentage of the products sold there are made in India.
Apple has been involved in difficult negotiations with the government for many years over this issue, but it was only after it dramatically increased iPhone assembly in India that it finally got the necessary permits.
After unveil the colorful barricades outside the store, Apple recently confirmed This Apple BKC in Mumbai opens tomorrow. This will be almost immediately followed by Apple Saket in Delhi. Plans for the Mumbai store were leaked some time ago, but the company managed to keep the lid on the Delhi one.
Apple was able impose some of its own conditionsbut on the mall society rather than the government: some 22 “competing brands” are not allowed to open stores, or even display advertisements, in an exclusion zone around the store.
The Apple BKC store previewed by Apple
Apple share a number of photos of its latest retail store (gallery below), as well as more details on its features.
The store is powered by its own array of impressively sized solar panels.
Apple BKC is designed to be one of the most energy-efficient Apple Stores in the world, with a dedicated solar panel and zero reliance on fossil fuels for store operations. The store is operationally carbon neutral, running on 100% renewable energy.
The most striking element of the design is a beautiful wooden ceiling, which transitions from inside to outside seamlessly – and is reflected below the cantilevered upper floor.
Apple BKC features a handcrafted wooden triangular ceiling that extends beyond the glass front to below the exterior canopy, reflecting the store’s unique geometry. Each slab is made up of 408 pieces of wood, forming 31 modules per slab with a total of 1,000 slabs making up the ceiling. There are over 450,000 individual wooden elements, all of which were assembled in Delhi.
Upon entering the store, customers are greeted by two stone walls sourced from Rajasthan and a 14 meter long stainless steel staircase connecting the ground floor and the cantilevered mezzanine.
One of the challenges Apple faces is that literally hundreds of languages are spoken in India, 13 of which are spoken by at least 10% of the country’s population: Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Gujarati, Urdu, Kannada, Odia, Malayalam, Punjabi, Assamese and English. The company claims that 20 different languages are spoken in more than 100 store employees.
The store will also host a special Today at Apple series, featuring local artists:
- Music Lab: deep listening in urban spaces with Sandunes
- Photo Lab: Portraits of the Resistance with Prarthna Singh
- Design Lab: Every poster tells a story with Boomranng Studio
- Art Lab: Drawing a Tribute to Mumbai with Kohla
The store opens tomorrow at 11 a.m. local time.
Click/tap on any photo to view it in full size.
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