Apple Stores finally coming to India

(THE TIMES OF INDIA)The Apple Store is coming to India — or at least a few counters are, along with those signature wooden tables. They will be debuting in India in partnership with Tata-owned consumer electronics chain Croma, which will host Apple at six of its locations as a pilot.

"We are proud to partner Apple to launch the Apple Store in India and extremely bullish about it," said Avijit Mitra, chief executive officer of Infiniti Retail, which owns Croma. "These stores will be modeled on the global design and will offer the best experience to consumers, showcasing the entire range of Apple products."

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The Apple space will be 400-500 square feet in area and will be set up at five Croma stores in Mumbai — Malad, Juhu, Oberoi Mall, Phoenix Mall and Ghatkopar. In Bengaluru, this will be at Croma in Jayanagar. They are set to open by Diwali next month.

The store design, furniture, fixtures and lighting will the same as that used in Apple stores globally and the sales staff will also be trained by the company. In India, Apple sells through premium resellers who run exclusive brand stores under the franchise model. Devices are also available at multi-brand mobile and consumer electronics retail chains and some of the larger neighborhood phone stores.

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Apple hasn't been able to set up its own stores because of mandatory local-sourcing norms for single-brand foreign direct investment in retail, it is said. Going the Croma route gives Apple the opportunity to control the consumer experience without jumping through the bureaucratic hoops.