An Apple store is almost worth more than the White House

Image via Wikipedia

Hard to believe, but true.

It does seem a ridiculous comparison but when you look at the value of each building’s square footage, it’s almost a tie.

Apple has 3 million square feet of retail space around the world and their stores have brought in about US$14.1 billion in the past year.  That means that a square foot in an Apple shop is worth about US$4,709.

The White House only just pips Apple at the post.  A square foot in the US President’s residence is valued at US$4,752.

What makes those figures even more astonishing is that Apple didn’t open its first retail store until 2001.  And it had entered into retail after competitors Gateway and Dell had tried unsuccessfully to break that market.  In fact, commentators had scoffed when the first smattering of Apple shops appeared.

Those commentators turned out to be very wrong as Apple now have the most valuable stores in theUS.  Their nearest competitors in this race are high-end fashion retailers Tiffanys whose square footage value lags way behind at only $2,974 per square foot.

And Apple’s newest advance in the retail world?  Each sales assistant is now equipped with their own handheld checkout device so customers no longer have to stand in line to purchase their goods.

Things just keep getting better for Apple in overall sales too, with Apple products generating US$46 billion in the last year.  Consumers just can’t get enough of their products, purchasing 5.2 million Mac computers, 15.4 million iPads and no less than 37 million iPhones.

Where is the company headed?  They’re currently testing wearable computer devices such as an iPod that you wear like a watch and control with voice commands.

Watch this space.