Apple opens its latest retail store in Downtown Nashville
Here’s what it’s like to visit Apple’s latest flagship store, this one located in the heart of Music City.
I worked in Apple Retail for a little over seven years from 2005–2012, and was part of the opening team that brought Apple Retail to Nashville when Apple Green Hills opened sixteen years ago. I was also part of the opening teams for Apple West Town Mall in Knoxville in 2006, and Apple CoolSprings Galleria in 2012. So of course I had to check out the new store in Downtown Nashville today on its opening day. I remember years ago when I worked in Apple Retail, we talked about and dreamed about a downtown location. And what a location! At the intersection of Broadway and 5th Avenue (or Rep. John Lewis Way as that portion of 5th was recently renamed), its front door faces Bridgestone Arena, home of the Nashville Predators NHL team and a site where huge concerts are held. Speaking of concerts, the famous Ryman Auditorium is across 5th Avenue, and visible when looking out of the Apple Store’s towering glass windows.
It was a beautiful evening to be in downtown Music City. The skies were crystal clear, and temperatures were in the low 60’s. Downtown was packed with tourist, diners, and party-goers. A party bus filled with rowdy, and probably inebriated, passengers passed by with loud “woooos.” Many people were wearing masks, but most weren’t. That’s a scene that’s going to make some of you recoil, and others of you cheer. But for now, masks are required for entering the Apple Store.
I had made a reservation to check out the new store via Apple’s online reservation system last week. I honestly didn’t know quite what to expect when I arrived. I assumed I’d be allowed to enter the store and look around for a few minutes. When I arrived this evening at just past 6, there weren’t many people in line. Given that Apple is requiring reservations for any visit to an Apple Store currently as part of its COVID policies, it limited who would be allowed to enter the doors of the new store. After waiting a few minutes I was paired with an Apple employee who proceeded to give me a guided tour of the store! It was a wonderful experience and he was clearly proud of the new store he works at.
My tour guide filled me in on lots of fascinating details about the new store. The towering glass windows are four inches thick, and actually serve as load-bearing walls. The gorgeous wood ceiling starts inside the store and extends out over the sidewalk on the Broadway and 5th Avenue sides. The trees inside the store are real live ficus trees imported from Florida. The grout lines between the large marble slabs on the floor (“tiles” seems like too small a word for what these are) extend in a continuous line all the way across the floor and continue up the walls between the wall-mounted stones. There’s a giant display just past the center of the store that currently features Apple’s “Hello, Music City” graphic. But I’m told that in the future musicians will hold concerts in front of it, in partnership with Apple’s nearby Apple Music offices. I was really pleased to hear about that tie-in since Nashville is such a hub for music creation, and songwriters in particular.
The product bays along the back and side of the store are really neat, and actually remind me a lot of the mini stores that former Apple Retail VP Ron Johnson had planned for JC Penney during his short tenure as its CEO. The Apple Arcade section lets you try out some of the games. You can also tap on one of the interactive app icons mounted on the wall above to get a QR code that you can scan to be directed to the game on your own device. Over at the Apple Music section I got to get my hands (and ears) on the AirPods Max for the first time. (They sound amazing.)
The new Apple Downtown Nashville location is a gorgeous piece of architecture, and the product of incredibly fine craftsmanship. All of the employees I interacted with were great, and I even ran into a couple of my former coworkers who I opened Apple Green Hills with sixteen years ago. The new store is an absolute jewel sitting at an incredibly prime piece of real estate. It’s a fantastic edition to Downtown Nashville, and you should definitely plan to stop in during your next visit to Music City.
