What’s With Apple’s “Secret” Store in Silicon Valley?

[Michael Essany]

Does this have something to do with the tablet? How about the 4th generation iPhone?

These are the questions many Apple fans are asking themselves following a vague report about some “secret” store reportedly in development in Silicon Valley. Although some initial reports have been utterly confusing and suggestive of a facility that will only unveil and offer the newest, cutting edge products from Apple, that’s not necessarily the case.

The Apple Store in the works is simply a regular Apple Store on steroids…. expensive steroids. According to a report this weekend from Mercury News that aims to clear up some rumors about the ornate facility:

Apple is apparently planning a glitzy new retail store in Palo Alto featuring a 20-foot, all-glass facade designed around the concept of transparency.

The mystery surrounding the intent behind the new facility (not to mention its suspected tenant) began with the link between Apple and an architect that the company has previously worked with. As the report indicates, Palo Alto's architectural review board gave a green light to the store's elaborate design - a design that came from a familiar architectural cohort of Apple’s.

The store sounds like it's going to be a beautiful place, complete with interior courtyard and trees. Yes, trees. Which makes it all the odder that the Cupertino company won't fess up to being the retailer that will be moving in. The architect's description submitted to the city of Palo Alto says the outlet's glass front was meant to "dissolve the boundary between the exterior and the interior and to connect the activity on the street and within the store."

Just as the rumor mill was quick to confirm a tablet before Apple mentioned a word of it, it now seems that this new gussied up Apple Store is just another example of a poorly kept secret out of Cupertino. Nothing more… nothing less.

"The goal," the architects' narrative says, "is to create a total experience where distracting elements have been edited out of the visual field. In this serene, yet stimulating environment, the retail products gracefully assume center stage.'' Ah, center stage. It's a place Apple really, really likes to be. But only on its own terms.

Image via Apple

[Melech518]

Apple, you crazy boy!

[1shuttle1]

Never sure why people buy into this hype. Why the hell do you think there stuff cost so much. Commercials and now Store fronts.

[iGuy]

Ehh? Silicon Valley? I'm sure I read somewhere that the new "Apple Super Store" had already been built in the southern part of Nevada. Can't remember the exact name of the place though.

[sziklassy]

So what makes this store "secret" other than they didn't make some huge announcement about i?

[rhekt]

"?transparency?" possibly going to be releasing new products with OLED's

[hollow0]

I wanna see this new store..

[elbodude]

This 'store' will be about 4 blocks from Steve Jobs' house which is also in Palo Alto. Well, one of his many houses.

[rwin84]

Wowww... apple? austentatious? Never...

[realtimedeath]

u think they fobnid people who actually you know, do the construction of the buildin, to speak of the all mighty apple project outside of work i mean how do u keep someting like that secret