BETHESDA ROW APPLE STORE REOPENS, AND I AM SHOCKED...SHOCKED!

RENOVATIONS REVEALED AFTER

FIVE DAY CLOSURE

Another Robert Dyer @ Bethesda Row Exclusive!!!

Saturday morning on Bethesda Avenue, the matte black window and door coverings were meticulously removed.  The sun shone through the glass storefront at Bethesda Row for the first time in almost a week.

The new Bethesda Row Apple Store was revealed!

But the opening was a bit anticlimatic for followers of this blog.

That's because the renovations were pretty much the exact ones I had predicted last week when it closed.

New Startup Bays?

Check.

New and improved Genius Bar?

There it is.

New, large video displays?

You betcha.

And that is pretty much it.  Of course, as I noted last week, with no permits issued, and only 5 days to work, you couldn't really expect all that much.

But now the Bethesda Row store is one of the growing number that have the new Startup Bays.  In fact, the new startup service was being touted on the home page of machines on display, announcing it is now available at this store.

I think the new video screens are nice, and in general, the changes are all about improving customer service.  Most people in Bethesda are just glad to be able to take their devices in for advice or service, now that the store is open again.

Online rumors suggest the changes - and the video displays in particular - come in response to the hi-tech experience offered at some of the new Microsoft stores.

But, in my opinion, I doubt Steve Jobs ever spent a minute worrying about a Microsoft product.  I remember trying a Mac in a computer store when I was in 7th or 8th grade, and the machine pretty much sold itself.  No salesman necessary.  Unfortunately, I left empty-handed that day.  But Apple products still have that intuitive ability; we'll find out in a few years if Jobs took the magic with him.

Welcome back, Bethesda Row Apple Store!