A delicious bite of the Big Apple

There is something magical about the skyline of New York. As I drove into the city from Newark airport, it swam into view suddenly, like some magnificent kingdom of gods who reside in skyscrapers. The cabbie pointed out to me the new tower of the World Trade Centre, which stood proud and defiant. Then, the iconic Empire State Building, with its distinctive shape and pinnacle. Then again, a new, super-tall, thin building – the cabbie pointed out that a very wealthy guy had bought the penthouse of this building for over $40 million. “Small change for our rich bankers”, he added with a smirk, “that’s New York for you.”

Yes, that’s New York, and this is the story of an interesting day I spent amongst the retail stores on Fifth Avenue, that mecca of shopping. In the city that we call the Big Apple, I began my retail pilgrimage, appropriately enough, at the big Apple store. Located at the junction of 5th Avenue and 57th Street, this store appears, at first glance, totally unlike a retail store – just a huge transparent glass cube sitting in a large plaza. You cannot miss it, and I am told that virtually everyone in New York desires to visit it at least once, which is the ultimate dream of every retail store. No wonder it is the best known and most successful modern retail store in the world!

The actual store is located in a basement that sits below this grand 32-ft glass cube. It was inspired by the genius of Steve Jobs, who conceived of this retail store as the largest Apple product – and not just as a place to sell Apple products in. I walked down a beautifully sculpted glass staircase into the store. It was a bright sea of people, bursting with colour and humming with activity. There must have been at least a thousand people swarming around that 10,000 sq. ft store. People were playing with Apple iPads, listening to music on iPhones, creating paintings on iMacs, seeking advice at the Genius Bars, and listening to cheery store staff conducting impromptu training classes. There were men and women, old and young, residents and tourists, all milling around in awe.

The store presented a very simple layout, with flat tables scattered around, and a range of products displayed on stark white walls, which made navigation very easy. While the store was very busy, it had the same minimalist feel of Apple products. Bright visuals added to the overall effect, and everything about the store was designed to encourage people to interact with the products, the staff and the visuals. Interestingly, this store works 24 hours a day, 365 days a year – in a city that never sleeps, neither does the store. People come here first and foremost for an immersive Apple experience, and then, of course, they end up buying lots of i-stuff.

Wandering around the Apple store had made me terribly hungry, so I picked up a hot dog (stuffed with mustard sauce and onions) for a snack from one of the many street food stalls of Manhattan.

I then walked across to another store, also on Fifth Avenue, which has legendary Hollywood associations with breakfast and jewellery – Tiffany&Co. Right at the entrance, I was stopped by an elderly woman in a chic black dress. She pointed to the diamond necklace that sat in a wooden display case right in front of us.

“This is the famous Tiffany diamond”, she said, “we humans can only look at it and wonder. It was a wondrous 287 carats when discovered in South Africa. See how it radiates light, and throws magic dust on our eyes. And just in case you are wondering, Sir, it’s not for sale. But, of course, we have plenty of other equally beautiful jewellery that you can buy.”

She went on to narrate several exciting stories from the history of this diamond, including how it was once worn by Audrey Hepburn, who stars in Breakfast at Tiffany’s ”. This was the most amazing storytelling session I had ever experienced in a retail store, and in five minutes flat, this wonderful lady had created for me all the romance and mystique of Tiffany’s jewellery.

I wandered through this magnificent store, marvelled at its high ceiling, watched couples deeply engaged in buying wedding rings, gazed at several fine pieces of jewellery – but the storytelling session stood out for me as the memorable highpoint of the experience.

Next door to Tiffany’s is a 58-storey building that holds many retail stores, and a famous penthouse too – Trump Tower. Built by Donald Trump, this is a glitzy building, with gold all over the lobby and even on the rails of escalators.

I rode up a gold escalator, and visited the Trump Gift Shop, which sells everything from Trump hats, Trump shirts, Trump cuff links and Trump Books. On one side was an Ivanka Trump store, with Trump handbags on sale. On the other side was a Trump Grill Restaurant, a Trump Bar and a Trump Café.

There is no mistaking who is in charge out here. You may like these rich gilded stores or you may hate them, but you have to admit that these stores have a very consistent look and feel, which totally reflect the loud personality of their founder.

Interestingly, the stores and cafes were full of people buying and eating various things, which shows that sharp positioning always appeals to a specific consumer segment. And yes, Trump Tower is an immersive experience in its own right, which brings streams of people into the stores, many of whom end up shopping entirely on impulse.

Down the road from Trump Tower is the relatively new Microsoft flagship store. Chic, with the ubiquitous Windows panes all over. Very much like the Apple store, it encourages consumers to play around with the computers, and create their own favourite experiences using Microsoft products.

Just like the Apple store, the ambience is elegant and minimalistic. One striking difference, though, was that an entire section of the store was cordoned off for a virtual reality experience.

The HTC Vive system powered by Microsoft Windows 10 was on display, and consumers visiting the store could experience the immersive, delightful power of virtual reality for ten minutes each, at no cost. This virtual reality area was right by the entrance and caught every visitor’s eye.

I could see a long queue of at least twenty people waiting for their ten-minute VR experience, waiting to wear the Microsoft headset that looked like a fantastical gadget out of Star Wars, and step out into a magical new world.

I spoke to a member of the staff, who enthusiastically told me how this wonderful store experience translated ever so often into a definite consumer intent to buy.

As I ended my walk down New York’s Fifth Avenue, I reflected on one big truth that was emerging from my day at these flagship stores. Whether it be the huge glass cube and Genius Bar at Apple, or the diamond storytelling at Tiffany’s, or the virtual reality demonstration at Microsoft, all these stores excel at providing unique experiences to their customers. This appears to be a key factor behind the remarkable success of these stores.

While retailers cannot replicate these huge and expensive flagship stores everywhere, we can certainly learn a lesson from them – that offering unique experiences in our brick-and-mortar stores, centred on storytelling or sampling or even entertainment, is key to attracting consumers to physical stores, particularly in today’s age of online retail. A big lesson, from the Big Apple.

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