Apple’s 390 stores remain the gold standard of retail — but they are showing some age spots.
Sales per square foot throughout the chain fell 2.5 percent in the year ended Sept. 30 from the previous year, according to regulatory filings — after growing more than 20 percent in 2011.
And while the Cupertino, Calif., company’s $4,592.20 in sales per square foot is the envy of every shop owner in the country — Tiffany’s $3,017 per square foot is the second best, according to a report yesterday — the growth in revenue per store is noticeably lower, the filings show.
The average Apple store posted a revenue gain of 30.2 percent in 2010 over the previous year — but that gain fell to 27 percent last year and just 19 percent in the most recent fiscal year, the company reported.
The troubling signs come as Apple’s shares recently fell 20 percent from their 2012 high.
The decline has focused a spotlight on the entire company’s operations — including its once unstoppable retail juggernaut.
“The fact is there’s not much room left to grow,” said Colin Gillis an analyst with BGC Partners.
Most industry watchers see the slowing growth as inevitable for a company that has had such massive success. Eventually, it becomes harder to find untapped customers, and the company already has conquered the choicest retail locations.
Trip Chowdhry, of Global Equities Research, said Steve Jobs was a frequent presence at Apple stores in Silicon Valley. Since his death and under Tim Cook’s leadership as CEO, the company is not focusing on its customers as it once had, Chowdhry said.
“The problem Apple faces today is it’s not a user-centric company,” he said.
One example he pointed to was Apple’s new flagship in Palo Alto, Calif., the store closest to its corporate headquarters.
Featuring glass walls and ceiling and a marble floor, the store — which has been considered a tribute to the legacy of Jobs — does not even have a customer bathroom, said Chowdhry, a frequent visitor to the location.
A store worker yesterday said that if customers ask to use a restroom, one will be made available — but that a store employee has to escort them.
“That is not an experience people want especially when paying premium price,” he said.
The new flagship also came under criticism after its recent opening for having an unbearable noise level.
One media report found the noise inside the store on a quiet day to reach 75 decibels, nearly as loud as a train whistle at 500 feet.
There is little doubt that Apple is in the midst of retail turmoil, and Cook fired the head of its stores, John Browett, who was on the job less than a year. The departure was likely more to do with differing visions than performance.
The report on retail sales, by a group called Retail Sails, held that Apple store revenu reached $6.050 per square foot — but that was much higher than regulatory filings showed.