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!

BETHESDA ROW APPLE STORE CLOSURE IGNITES SPECULATION

What Will the Mystery "Renovations" Be? 

Another Robert Dyer @ Bethesda Row Exclusive!!! 

The message was posted by the Bethesda Row Apple store without fanfare.  But in perhaps the most iPhone and iPad-obsessed town in the Mid-Atlantic, the reaction is one of shock.

As reported right here on this blog Sunday morning, the beloved Bethesda Row Apple store will indeed be closed today through Friday, for "renovation."

You have to understand, the Apple store is not simply a retail and repair shop for residents of downtown Bethesda.  It is a landmark!  People pose for pictures in front of it, as the luminescent Apple logo glows overhead.  The Apple store is arguably the anchor of the Bethesda Row development, and certainly the epitome of its aspirational character.

Once the surprise subsided, what does a town of iPhone toting, iPad clutching, iPod listening humans do but start speculating just what's going to be revealed on Bethesda Avenue this weekend?

I'm in the same boat as you, readers.  Although you can be sure the old, corporate media will get hold of this story by this afternoon, can their credential badges really get information out of the famously secretive Apple Corporation?

In fact, here's what I can tell you:  other Apple stores around the country - and as far away as Dubai - are closing for the same mystery renovations at the same time.   And folks in those cities are just as puzzled as we are.

It can only be so big of a renovation in only 5 days.  A Seattle Apple store that closed for about the same number of days last year reopened with a bigger Genius Bar, a new configuration of the product displays, and two Startup Bays, each outfitted with 55" monitors.  Startup Bays are the physical embodiment of Apple's shift from "Personal Setup" to "Startup Sessions."  

Rumors floating around the internet include more impressive, giant wall screens, new loudspeaker systems, new store security features and renovations of "Employee Only" areas, where repairs are made and coffee breaks are taken.

No new Apple product is being released this weekend, so it can't be that.

It's likely to be more iPad "smart sign" and furniture shuffling than a planet-shifting event.

But from what we've come to expect from the late Steve Jobs and Apple, it's likely the mystery results will please customers.  And any improvements will be as practical as they are stylish.

And a week of "Why is the Apple store closed?!" and speculation will give way to a weekend of, "Have you heard about the _______ at the Bethesda Row Apple store?"

What do you think is happening at the Apple store?  Feel free to post your speculation, or inside information, in the comments below!

Maybe Siri has the answer...

BETHESDA ROW APPLE STORE TO CLOSE FOR RENOVATIONS THIS WEEK

Bethesda Row's famous Apple store will be closed Monday, April 23 through Friday, April 27 for renovations.

I can hear you screaming.  Calm down, it's just five days.

On the store's web site, Apple suggests you go to the Clarendon Apple store during the closure.  Clarendon is fun, and I wouldn't complain about going there, but can I offer my own advice?

There is another Apple store in Bethesda - at Westfield Montgomery Mall.