Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook is set to welcome customers to the company’s first retail store in India, which is scheduled to open at the BKC business district in Mumbai on Tuesday. As the company marks 25 years in the country, the opening of the store is highly anticipated, with fans of the iconic brand expected to queue up to be the first to enter. The Mumbai store will be followed by a similar facility in New Delhi’s Saket on April 20, and Cook is expected to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit.
In a statement, Cook expressed his excitement about expanding Apple’s presence in India, saying, “India has such a beautiful culture and an incredible energy, and we’re excited to build on our long-standing history – supporting our customers, investing in local communities, and working together to build a better future with innovations that serve humanity.”
The 20,000 square feet Mumbai store is spread across two floors and features a range of sustainable and inclusive design elements. The 100-strong team on the floor will be able to speak 18 Indian languages, and the store will feature local influences, such as the ‘kaali-peeli’ theme on the facade, inspired by the black and yellow taxis that are a common sight on the city’s roads.
Other design features include an 8-metre tall ceiling, specially procured stone from Rajasthan on the walls, and 4.5 lakh pieces of timber on the ceiling walls. The store will offer a range of products, merchandise, and services, including repair services for Apple gadgets, and customers will be able to educate themselves on how to use Apple products optimally.
The opening of Apple’s first retail store in India has been highly anticipated since at least 2019, when Indian policymakers began to welcome foreign direct investment in single brand retail. The permissions to allow such stores came with riders, including mandates on local sourcing in the final finished goods. The store in Mumbai is owned by a company led by India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, who has also been a distributor of Apple’s products for some time.
The opening of the store in Mumbai is a significant step for Apple, which currently has a 3% share of the highly competitive Indian smartphone market, dominated by Chinese and South Korean brands. The company has been upping its reliance on manufacturing in India, seen as an alternative to China since supply chain disruptions during the Covid pandemic.
The launch of the Mumbai store will be followed by the opening of a similar store in New Delhi’s Saket two days later. Apple has reportedly leased the Mumbai store space for 11 years, with plans to pay Rs 42 lakh per month in rent and share a portion of its revenues with the space owner. The store’s location in the Jio World Drive mall puts it in close proximity to luxe brands like Michael Kors, Kate Spade, and Swarovski.
