Will It Be Apple?

by Paul Bass | Feb 16, 2011 2:34 pm

(34) Comments | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author

Posted to: Business/ Economic Development, Downtown

Barnes & Noble outlet has vacated half its Broadway store in preparation for a new tenant—which could be a long-awaited retail outlet of a computer company named after a certain fruit. Barnes & Noble cleared out the east wing of its store. Yale University Properties, the landlord, has begun making renovations and shopping the 4,000-square-foot to potential tenants. After representatives of Apple were spotted touring the premises over the past month, speculation grew that that’s who might move in. The visit was confirmed by two people with knowledge of it. Yale real estate officials would neither confirm nor deny the existence of negotiations with the company. “Because we talk with many prospects before we lease any particular space, and because too many deals that may look like possibilities at one point never get done, we do not announce tenants before a deal is signed and the merchant wants to publicize its intentions,” stated University Vice-President Bruce Alexander. Yale informed the city several weeks ago that it was redoing the space as a “white box” in anticipation of a new tenant, said Building Official Andy Rizzo. “It was preliminary. They didn’t say who the tenant would be.” It’s no secret that the city business community has been hoping to lure Apple here. In October 2008, civic boosters even organized a please-come-to-New Haven soiree in Apple’s honor, complete with appletinis and fresh green apples. (Read about that here.) Given New Haven’s academic and new-media presence, Macs are in high demand here. But the closest Apple outlet stores are way up in the West Hartford hinterlands to the north and down in sterile corporate Stamford to the south. Apple owners need to hit the highway and drive 30-40 minutes to the closest authorized dealers to get repairs. City development chief Kelly Murphy said she had no information beyond hearing the rumors that have been circulating around town about the Apple visit. She said it’s “no secret” the city and Yale have been trying for years to lure Apple here. “Getting them here is a start,” she said. “It would be a good fit.” Apple did not return a request for comment.

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posted by: two questions on February 16, 2011 2:42pm 1. Is New Haven really a big enough market for Apple? b. If it does become an Apple store, how many times will it be broken into during the first 3 months?

posted by: g on February 16, 2011 2:43pm Repairs? But I thought Apples were perfect? I didn’t think they ever required repairs.

posted by: streever on February 16, 2011 2:44pm Ah, I can finally buy an expensive paper-weight! (Sorry, I’m still sore that the iPod I bought years ago turned into a useless piece of plastic in under a year when the battery died, and it would have cost 299 to get a new battery installed, or 299 for a new iPod) My bitterness aside, this is actually pretty cool—hopefully we can get an Express or other decent clothing chain store next. When other retailers see that even Apple is willing to be here, maybe they’ll realize what a great market we have.

posted by: iTa on February 16, 2011 2:44pm Or you could buy a computer from any other manufacturer and have no difficulty getting repairs at any number of local outfits. You’ll probably save in the neighborhood of $1000 too, with access to almost all of the same software and thousands of others! Wait, if Apple’s product is so far superior as to warrant its inflated price, should it even NEED repairs?

posted by: davec on February 16, 2011 3:03pm If only we could put back the piece of Eero Saarinen that was torn down to build this cheap piece of crap.

posted by: McGruber on February 16, 2011 3:10pm I switched to Mac in 2005. Since that time, I’ve owned two laptops: a Powerbook G4, which lasted five years and still works fine but can’t be updated because the processor technology has become outdated, and now a MacBook Pro, which is humming along fine. In the six years before 2005, I owned four PC laptops: All of them horrific pieces of junk with multiple software and hardware integration problems. I also now own an iPad, with which I am exceedingly pleased. As far as the business side of this venture, if it comes to pass, the Yale community is heavily Mac-dependent. Go into any large lecture course and you will see more than half of the students with Macs.

posted by: streever on February 16, 2011 3:27pm McGruber,

you can’t compare older laptops to modern ones. The quality of construction and materials used have vastly improved. You also can’t compare a single source (Apple) to the wild west of pc manufacturers. If we’re sharing anecdotes, though, I have owned the same Compaq laptop since 2004: it works great, I can replace the battery for about 40 dollars (or the charging cord for 20), and when it was in my bike crash, the video card connection was damaged. For 10 dollars, I bought a replacement part which I was able to install in 20 minutes with a simple online tutorial. Versus the 130 that my co-worker had to pay to replace her Apple battery, I’ll take the PC! I guess it all depends on your values. I prefer devices that aren’t literally designed to be thrown-away every product cycle. It just seems wasteful to me. If I do buy a device that isn’t designed to last a long time / be cheaply repaired (like the netbook I happily use in addition), I am unwilling to spend almost a thousand on it. My Asus netbook cost 250 and does everything I want it to do. (Even photo editing!)

posted by: robn on February 16, 2011 3:40pm Macs are for babies ... not for people who like to get under the hood.

posted by: Fairhaven Dave on February 16, 2011 3:48pm Having a mac store in town doesn’t mean they break a lot. It means I can get an upgrade, piece of software, hardware, or accessory without a trip to West Hartford or wait for it to come in the mail. Have you ever listened to the idiotic complaints at the “genius bar”? They are not repairing things 99% of the time. They are, in fact, explaining to some clueless yuppie how to download an .mp3 or how a track-pad works.



Its OKAY to hate Apple Computing for its marketing department, iProducts, arrogant CEO, and yuppie/hipster/soccer mom/starbucks following… BUT the computers? I’m on mac number 5. Numbers 1 thru 4 are still in my studio and still work perfectly.

posted by: Brian V on February 16, 2011 3:51pm More great news from Yale properties. Their tag line should be -the company that hates the locals!

If they hadn’t squeezed out the Yale Co-op (locally owned and operated for 80+ years!)for the big box name maybe they wouldn’t need to shop it out again. How long will Apple be here? 5 years? 8?

Yale deserves Au Bon Pan and Urban Outfitters -I am sure their CEO’s are all Yale S.O.M. grads. I will shop elsewhere.

posted by: Good News! on February 16, 2011 4:00pm According to the Apple website there are 3 authorized MAC service providers within 10 miles of downtown New Haven (2 in Branford and 1 in Milford). All three offer carry-in and on-site service. Thus, there is no need for Apple owners to “hit the highway and drive 30-40 minutes to the closest authorized dealers to get repairs”. I have used the one in Branford and found it quite convenient. Otherwise, Apple would be a welcome addition to New Haven. Just don’t ask the taxpayers to subsidize their venture. I am sure Apple makes enough profit that they don’t need my money.

posted by: anon on February 16, 2011 4:01pm Apple would be great. There’s no question that the market is large enough. To the person concerned about break-ins, I suggest you look at the number of break-ins and empty retail spaces in the suburbs before talking about whether downtown is secure. Downtown is much safer than you seem to think.

posted by: anon on February 16, 2011 4:17pm Nationally and here in New Haven, income is rising in the cities, and plummeting in suburbs. Gas prices are also skyrocketing. No surprise that Apple wants to get in on a retail space in New Haven before they are all gone.

posted by: Observer on February 16, 2011 4:26pm Kelly Murphy’s comments just confirm that City Hall really has no real economic development capacity. Businesses come here because Yale courts and attracts them, or New Haven just happens to be the right geographic and demographic fit. (And because they have not yet met our charming Mayor!)

posted by: Cedarhillresident on February 16, 2011 4:29pm Maybe I am just not a tech person. But what is all the hoopla over apple coming here? I got an ipad and it is a head ache to use. I love my windows

posted by: andrew garrow on February 16, 2011 5:07pm so, yale boots an insitution of over 100 years (Yale Co-op) for a nationwide chain that lasts… what, maybe 15 years? for this? Cutlers will be next, replaced by what.. a sunglasses hut? then educated burgher by… a subway? it is not a good thing that yale as a landlord owns so much of the new haven downtown. it’s not yale that keeps us from being bridgeport, it’s us. it’s yale that keeps us from being indpendent.

posted by: JMS on February 16, 2011 6:30pm andrew garrow, Indeed. JMS

posted by: alexey on February 16, 2011 6:51pm Technology Revealed in Milford is a terrific place to take your Apple computer if it needs authorized service. I’ve been very happy with their work. Also, I’m not sure I’d call West Hartford “the hinterlands,” but at least you’re being lyrical. davec, can you tell me more about the Saarinen work that was torn down?

posted by: JKO on February 16, 2011 7:00pm Yeah!!!! Best news we’ve heard all winter.

posted by: Liz on February 16, 2011 8:09pm Right on, Davec. Of all the lame styrofoam exteriors downtown, this one hurts the most because they definitely should have known better. I will also second the person who put in a plug for the Branford Mac repair place. You have to deal with Route 1 traffic, but it’s a definitely under 30 minutes and the people are really decent.

posted by: yes! on February 16, 2011 10:23pm Please Apple Gods, yes! If they were to come, it would be a great hangout and magnet for downtown, attracting visitors/spenders from the I95 N corridor, as well as neighboring towns closer to us than to traffic-y Stamford. If Apple comes and does well, then other merchants might make the plunge, too. It could make NH even more like a real, live vital big city place. There are a lot of artists and art professionals in the area, and we use Macs pretty much exclusively. You can’t do what we do on a PC, or at least you just wouldn’t.

posted by: Pedro on February 16, 2011 10:23pm Andrew, the bookstore isn’t being replaced by a new store, only the non-bookstore section (to the right when walking in from Broadway). Most of the anti-apple comments in this thread are pretty silly and sound like the same outdated platitudes that people have always inaccurately said about the company. Apple stores are- almost to a location-situated in places where the median income is several orders of magnitude higher than New Haven, so for one of the most profitable retail chains to locate to New Haven would be a massive boost for city retail, and would increase the prospects of more chains showing up in the city.

posted by: visitor on February 16, 2011 10:25pm long overdue! i really hope its an apple store….there is absolutely a market for it!

posted by: Anderson Scooper on February 16, 2011 11:15pm An Apple store at that location would be a massive boon to Broadway’s retail district. Except for Ikea, I can not think of a greater regional draw. And yeah, maybe a good deal of the benefit goes to Yale, but last I checked the University pays taxes on those retail spaces, and something like this would grow the Grand List. Maybe other big name retailers would follow? It sure would help if downtown had better retail-oriented parking. The only friendly lot is at Broadway, where it’s 75 cents per half-hour.

posted by: Tracey on February 16, 2011 11:20pm Apple is comparable to McDonald’s.

posted by: William Kurtz on February 17, 2011 8:15am You can get awesome apples at Bishop’s and Lyman’s, both much closer than West Hartford.

posted by: robn on February 17, 2011 9:48am Personally I prefer Oranges but <i> chacun son goût.

posted by: roger huzendubel on February 17, 2011 10:25am i am very happy that orange computers will be moving to new haven.

http://www.orangecom.com/ or will it be mango computers? Mango Computers Inc of 83 East Ave Ste 115, Norwalk, CT. Phone: 203-857-4008. .

posted by: chicwa on February 17, 2011 2:07pm Having been an IT Pro for the last 10 years, I have had experience using, and supporting, both Macs and PC’s and have always considered them to be “different”, rather than better or worse. What I have always found vexing however, is the arrogant air of superiority that seems to come from a large number of the Mac using community. What is particularly ironic about this is the fact that Mac users tend to be favored by clueless users, which is why Mac is dominating the home computer market. I wont dispute that Mac OS and it’s stylish iLife applications are both easy and fun to use, especially for dandy users who need to have their hands held as they move into the digital age. For me though, being able to fix my computer with cheap, and reliable, generic parts means a lot more. I also enjoy the flexibility of being able to name my own files and create my own directory structures, which allows my files a life beyond iWhatever. Consider this; There are softwares available, and in demand, that allow a Mac users to install, and run, Windows on their Mac. The last time I checked, there was no equivalent, which would allow Mac OS to run on a Windows computer. I mean, why would you want to do such a thing? In my view, Macs and their users can be easily summed up in one word, in fact I hear it every time someone starts up a Mac. DUUUUHHHHHH….......

posted by: Mark on February 18, 2011 1:31am Learn how to use Linux.

Computers aren’t supposed to be friendly they are supposed to be cold.

posted by: robn on February 18, 2011 10:00am “Computers aren’t supposed to be friendly they are supposed to be cold.” Mark Not so fast Mark. Since the earliest days of pocket calculators when computer geeks punched in 60065 to spell “boobs” there has been emotional attachment to these machines that, while amusing to outsiders, indicates some user/machine purpose beyond calculating.

posted by: Angelo on February 18, 2011 2:22pm What a bunch of Debbie Downers. I would never want my business to be here with all this contempt. What a snarky bunch of bellyachers.

posted by: William Kurtz on February 18, 2011 2:49pm Hey, watch this. Chicwa wrote: For me though, being able to fix my computer with cheap, and reliable, generic parts means a lot more. I also enjoy the flexibility of being able to name my own files and create my own directory structures, which allows my files a life beyond iWhatever. Isn’t it just better to have one that doesn’t need to be fixed? *duck*