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Comment by paupino_masano | Hacker News Reader

I agree: I've moved to the US and the Apple stores here are AWESOME. Staff on hand, everything laid out well - they even encourage you to try out Facetime. Also, the free trainings they offer are actually very useful.

An Apple Store in New Zealand (and possibly other places) would do wonders for the brand - I only switched to Mac after a visit to the US. The next-best-thing we had in Auckland was MagnumMac - it was OK but it was no Apple Store.

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The biggest problem with Apple stores at this point is that they are always busy. I remember when the first Apple store opened in my area a few years ago, there were always people there but only a decent number.

Now, it doesn't seem to matter when I go to the Apple stores around me, they're buzzing with tons of activity.

I remember going to the Apple Store when it opened in my area. It had decent traffic and you could actually get a genius without appointment. Now 7 years later it's totally packed and I don't think the amount of sales has kept pace with the amount of foot traffic. But the foot traffic certainly helps drive sales.

Also, being close to an Apple Store helps other stores as well. I've seen so many parents just leave their kids at the Apple store while they run off to Victoria's Secret or BB&W. That section of the mall is completely busy when before it was just foot traffic going to Macy's or another anchor store.

They're absolutely jammed, but you notice that you never have a problem finding an employee to help you? I was at the Apple Store in Hong Kong the other day talking to one of the floor guys as he was ringing me up; he told me they have 150 people on shift in the store at any given time. Granted, the Hong Kong store is massive, but that still seems like an extraordinary number for a single shift.

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