India is set to get its first official Apple Store in Mumbai, after months of the tech giant’s efforts to expand its retail presence in the country. According to a report by The Economic Times, as many as 22 of Apple’s rival brands cannot own space or have advertisements near its first official store in the country, courtesy of an exclusive lease agreement that was obtained by information analytics company CRE Matrix.
Tech companies such as Bose, Dell, Garmin, Foxconn, HTC, HP, Toshiba, and Panasonic, among others will not be able to able to open a store near Apple’s upcoming store that will be opened at Jio World Drive Mall in its financial capital Mumbai this month. India’s first Apple retail store will be called ‘Apple BKC’. The store will be located in the Mukesh Ambani-owned Jio World Drive Mall, in Bandra Kurla Complex.
According to the lease agreement, the iPhone maker has a lease for more than 11 years with a 15 per cent rent escalation provision every three years with the Jio World Drive Mall. Apple may also pay a ‘minimum guarantee’ of Rs 42 lakh per month, apart from 2 per cent of the revenue share for three years. Post that, Apple will pay 2.5 per cent of the revenue share, the report added.
Apple BKC is located inside the Jio World Drive Mall at Bandra Kurla Complex, from where it gets the BKC in its name.
“Inspired by the iconic Kaali Peeli taxi art unique to Mumbai, the Apple BKC creative includes colourful interpretations of the decals combined with many Apple products and services that will be available for our customers to discover. The creative for the store features a bright welcome to people passing by with the classic Apple greeting ‘Hello Mumbai’,” Apple recently said.
To mark the celebration of the opening of the new store, enthusiasts can download the new Apple BKC wallpaper and move to the sounds of Mumbai with a specially curated playlist on Apple Music.
The opening of BKC Apple is a milestone for the world’s most valuable tech firm as its retail push in India will up the competition in the premium smartphone segment. Apple’s brick-and-mortar retail footprint so far was limited to resellers only. To recall, Samsung inaugurated its biggest retail store in north India in Connaught Place, New Delhi in January. The new offline store became the first one from the South Korean tech giant in north India and will house smartphones, smartwatches, TWS earbuds, accessories, tablets as well as appliances.
It should be noted that Cupertino, California-headquartered Apple has more than 500 stores in major cities globally, including London, New York, Dubai, and Tokyo.