DG Lifestyle Store Re-Opens in Times Square - We remember just a scant 5 years ago when finding an Apple reseller meant special trips to that one small shop in Wan Chai Computer Mall, 5 years later they are sprouting up faster than Starbucks or McDonalds in Hong Kong – and even with the upcoming official Apple Store aside, there will be a ton more coming.We dropped by the newly refurnished DG Lifestyle Store on the 9th floor of Times Square. You could miss it, because there are another 10 stores that also sell Apple products on your way there.
By now you no doubt know the drill, woodpanel floors, white minimalistic design – in Hong Kong that’s asking a lot but they do seem to pull it off. We were at the DG Times Square store on a Saturday and it was pretty packed with new Macheads picking up new desktop systems and buying accessories – so obviously this is needed. And since there aren’t too many shops offering discounts on Apple products you don’t need to check every store to get the best price. In the world of Apple retailing it all comes down to: customer service, knowlegeable staff, cute shopgirls and a welcoming store.
DG also has a store in the ghost town that is Windsor House Computer Mall up on the 10th and 11th floors, and they’ve been there for many, many years but obviously the traffic for noobs is going to be at Times Square. With 7 stores in Hong Kong – not to mention one in IFC – and more in Beijing, Macau and Singapore, DG definitely wants to be part of your Apple lifestyle in Asia.
But how will this work going forward? Fortress and Broadway (HK’s 2 big box retailers) who are also on the 8th and 9th floors of Times Square offer Apple products – as well as tons of other electronics – making it seem like your gadget 1-stop shop. Add on all these other smaller electronic shops that don’t really stand out in terms of product offerings or store design, and the fact that Apple Hong Kong sells direct from their website, just who is getting the bigger slice of the Apple pie?
But we guess at the end of the day, having all this choice makes it easier for us to pick up Apple computers and for the “NewGen” computer user now able to leap out of Windows-Hell and decide on fairer grounds what OS they prefer to commit to.