Apple Might Finally Open a Brooklyn Store
Apple, long-planning to open a store in Brooklyn, is said now to be checking out two specific locations for its first Kings County outlet, Racked reports—the options pitting Williamsburg against Fort Greene. The first is 247 Bedford Avenue, on the corner of N. 3rd Street, in what used to be a bagel store (RIP The Bagel Store); the lot is hot real estate, across from the coming Whole Foods and controversial Duane Reade, once a possible home for J. Crew. Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie have also checked out the space. Remember when we used to have independently owned bagel stores instead of chain stores? Anyway, the other possibility is 286 Ashland Place, in a new building called BAM South, which will be between the main BAM building and the new Theater for a New Audience theater. (It’s being developed by Two Trees, Brooklyn Magazine‘s landlord.)
“In Williamsburg, the 1930s brick building is striking, but not Apple’s usual look,” Racked reports. “The Fort Greene project… fits the glassy cube design aesthetic Apple adores.” Plus it would be close to the Barclays Center and its major transit hub, not to mention a part of the up-and-coming BAM Cultural District. All things being equal, it seems like a no-brainer. As Fucked in Park Slope puts it: “You know which Brooklynites would go to the Apple store in Williamsburg? People who live in Williamsburg… You know would go the Apple store in Fort Greene? Everybody else who lives in Brooklyn!”
Apple has a history of considering a location in Brooklyn and then backing down.
Follow Henry Stewart on Twitter @henrycstewart