Apple today took the plastic shrouding off its newest retail store in New York’s Upper West Side. The store features a massive all-glass arched roof and inside features more iPhone, Macs and iPods than any other store in the world. The lower level of the store features the largest area ever created by Apple for personal training and technical support, including a 45-foot Genius Bar.

“We opened our first store in Manhattan seven years ago, and the response has been incredible,” said Ron Johnson, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail. “We hope our new store on the Upper West Side will become as much a part of the community as our stores in SoHo, the Meatpacking District and on Fifth Avenue.”

At the media opening of the Upper West Side store Johnson also covered some interesting numbers, as picked up by Gizmodo:

  • Apple’s total sales in 2001 were $5.4 billion. Apple Stores this year: $6.6 billion. (Apple’s total sales this year were $36.5 billion.)
  • They hit 170 million visitors this year. 10 million people hit Genius Bars or personal training.
  • Sales per store—$26 million, which is just below what Macy’s, Target and Best Buy make per store. But, if you look at the real estate, it’s a slightly different picture. Apple Stores do sales of $4,300 per square foot which is 5x the $872 per square foot Best Buy does.
  • Wow—over 100,000 applicants on file for jobs at the Apple Store worldwide. 10,000 people submitted applications for the new Upper West Side store. Just over 200 got a job.
  • Apple realized they were going too small with their stores, so now all of their stores will be at least “three tables wide.” In other words, they’re going to be bigger. They’re also going to be opening more stores next year, more like 50. More of them will be “significant stores,” iconic ones like the Fifth Ave. store with the Apple Cube. And they’ll be going more international, adding stores all over Europe, like the UK, Paris and two in Shanghai getting those “significant stores.”
  • All checkouts are done using an iPod touch now with a new EasyPay system, if you care about the purity of the Apple Store and the old Windows Mobile system offended you.

Gizmodo also posted a gallery of photos from the store unveiling.

The Apple Store Upper West Side is the fourth in Manhattan and Apple’s 15th in the New York metro area, joining the hugely successful Apple Stores SoHo, West 14th Street and Fifth Avenue. Nearly 170 million people on four continents have visited Apple retail stores this year. Apple now operates 280 stores in ten countries including the US, UK, Italy, Australia, Canada, Japan, China, Switzerland, Germany and France.

Apple Store Upper West Side located on Broadway at 67th Street, the Apple Store Upper West Side is just minutes from Lincoln Center and Central Park will open on Saturday, November 14 at 10:00 a.m.

Image courtesy of Matt Buchanan