It’s officially spring, as Apple has opened up reservations for its annual Field Trip program to bring K-12 students into the stores to learn new skills, showcase their existing work and just have fun. The program pops up each spring and fall, and runs weekdays this year until May 1st. The trips last up to 90 minutes for up to 25 students. Registration is performed by a “School Champion,” and includes contact information and a preference of date. Apple also has an annual Apple Camp program for students, whose registration begins in May, and an on-going Youth Workshops program.

Steve Jobs has allegedly told a Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) government official exactly why no retail store is planned for the country—”super crazy” import taxes, he wrote in an e-mail. Jobs’ remark highlights an on-going trade dispute between the U.S. and Brazil over cotton trade, and how international affairs can affect the selection of store sites. As reported by MacMagazine Brazil, a story in Gente Boa newsletter recounts that the city’s Secretary of Heritage contacted Jobs to explore building an official store in the city. Washington Fajardo suggested Apple might open a store in the city’s port region or perhaps in the historic city center. But according to the account, Jobs sent an e-mail back to Fajardo explaining that the country’s policy of super-high taxation, “makes is very unattractive to invest in the country.” Jobs went on to tell Fajardo that, “Many (other) high-tech companies feel that way.” So far, Apple has no stores in Mexico, Central or South America, although there have been rumors about future stores in Mexico and Brazil. The United States and Brazil are even now in the midst of a trade dispute over U.S. cotton subsidies, with Brazil threatening to retaliate by increasing tariffs on 100 categories of U.S. imports.

Besides reflecting his own opinion and the company’s position, Jobs’ remarks are undoubtedly tied to an eight-year dispute between the U.S. and Brazil over cotton imports/exports. It’s likely that Apple has consulted with U.S. government trade agencies before forming its position on sales in Brazil.

The United States is Brazil’s most important trade partner, with the U.S. contributing about 24 percent of imports. Like many countries in South America, there is a growing middle-class in Brazil who are first-time and upgrade personal computer buyers made by HP and Dell, and domestic firm Positivo Informática S.A. However, even those name brands account for only about 25 percent of personal computer sales, with the rest going to “white label” brands.

Nearly every country in the world collect various fees on merchandise imported from other countries, and destined to be sold in their country. These import tariffs help generate revenue in general, but are also intended to protect local industries that make the same or similar products. This protectionism has often exceeded its original financial and economic motives, and has been used by many countries as part of its international politics. Besides tariffs, imported goods may also be subject to various taxes and fees, further increasing the final retail price to the consumer, and discouraging the purchase of imported goods.

As a result of the tariffs, manufacturers may lower the stated value or retail price of products to counteract the import fees. In reaction, countries may very selectively raise tariffs and taxes on imported goods to counteract the good’s lower  prices. This type of trade war occurs constantly as the world and local economic situations change.

In 1995 Brazil and three partner countries (Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay) formed a trade alliance to set a Common Export Tariff (CET) on imported goods. However, each country now has their own exceptions to the tariff agreement—Brazil’s 100+ exceptions include consumer electronics. The CET tariffs range up to 22.5 percent of the product valuation, but Brazil’s exceptions range up to 27 percent. Brazil also collects import and value added taxes (VAT) upon entry into the country, but these are generally credited back to the importer as their products are sold.

Brazil is now expressing its displeasure with $3 billion in payments or subsidies the U.S. give to domestic cotton producers. The payments are intended to help lower the price of cotton so U.S. producers have a better chance of selling it in international markets. Subsidies are a common government tactic worldwide to help promote their domestic industries worldwide.

In this case, in 2002 Brazil complained to the WTO about the subsidies and talks between the two countries have been on-going. The U.S. claims its subsidy policies have changed since 2002 and are not discriminatory.

The WTO approved sanctions last November, and then last month Brazil issued a list of 200 tariff increases it intends to implement by April 7th unless the U.S. backs down. In general, the import tariffs would increase by 20 percent to 50 percent, depending upon the product. But the tariff on cotton would go from eight percent to 100 percent. Personal computers are not on the list of goods affected by the proposed tariff increases.

Ironically, last month Brazil reduced import tariffs on 139 categories of computer products. Also, last December the country also extended legislation that covers certain free trade zones in the country and the import of personal computers, encouraging the local manufacture of computers.

A Petition On-Line speaks to the import of Apple products, signed by Apple enthusiasts in the country who say, “We love Macs. We love using Macs.”

Anticipation for the breakthrough iPad racheted up even more as Apple today began taking on-line pre-orders for the device, including reservations to pick up an iPad at any of the company’s United States stores on April 3rd. As part of ensuring that everyone arriving at the store on debut day will have a superior experience, retail store shoppers on April 3rd can also reserve other Apple products for in-store purchase. Apple has also established a six-hour window for picking up reserved iPads, apparently hoping to allow the stores to revert to normal operations later in the day. Committed iPad buyers can use the standard on-line store, with shipment on debut day. But for those who want to reserve now and pick up their iPad at a local retail store on April 3rd, there is a special Web page that walks the buyer through the four necessary steps.

To reserve an iPad in-store, on the Web site you first choose a store location from a state and store drop-down menu. Next, you select which Wi-Fi model you want—16, 32 or 64 Gb. You must then sign in with an existing Apple ID or create a new account. Lastly, you confirm your reservation for pick-up on April 3rd, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Interestingly, Apple is also offering to reserve other major in-stock products at the stores during the same time period. Apparently this service is intended to prevent non-iPad buyers from feeling neglected when they arrive on April 3rd in the midst of iPad crowds.

Below is the main Apple Web site screen that iPad buyers see—those who select the right-most option move on to the four retail store iPad reservation screens.

Alternatively, visitors to the main Retail store Web page will see the below invitation to reserve an iPad. Notice at the bottom that shoppers can also reserve other Apple products for an April 3rd, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. delivery.

The below screen is the first of four, asking the shopper to select a specific store location…

On the screen below shoppers select the specific model of iPad to reserve. Two subsequent screens ask for an Apple ID and a purchase confirmation.

The screen below is the alternate reservation screen, allowing shoppers to select other products to reserve for April 3rd.

Actor Richard Belzer (Law & Order) was one of several invited celebrities who appeared at the grand opening of the Upper West Side (NYC) store last November and who received free Apple products. Now Belzer may be less welcome at the store after an employee claims he physically assaulted her while yelling, “I need help!” As reported by the New York Post newspaper, Belzer was allegedly seen pacing in front of the store, and then came inside to approach staffer Milan Agnew. Belzer allegedly grabbed the 5-foot-2 employee by the shoulders and neck, shook her and demanded attention. Agnew later called the police to make a report of the incident. According to the newspaper, Belzer explained to police that he was only joking. He has not been arrested or charged with any crime. Update: Belzer denies that any assault took place in a follow-up NY Post story, and that Agnew should “seek help” for a delusion problem.

Once again, Apple’s retail stores will be the focus for the company’s latest technology gadget, the iPad (Wi-Fi) when it goes on sale for the first time April 3rd only at the stores. In a statement, Apple said customers can place on-line pre-orders starting March 12th for pick-up at the stores on debut Saturday. Apple used the pre-order sales technique previously, when the iPhone 3G-S first went on sale last summer. At that event, the waiting lines were divided into two lanes when the stores opened for the two types of iPhone buyers. In general, there seemed to be few attendees who showed up early for a pre-ordered purchase. Just last week, Apple COO Tim Cook told a technology conference that the iPad debut will be limited to the United States, “where we have sales people that can answer questions, and we feel good about the answers they’ll give.” Apple’s statement today said several other countries will begin selling both models of the iPad “in late April.” Not coincidentally, those countries coincide with the presence of Apple’s retail stores—Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK—with the exception of China. Apple added that the iPad Wi-Fi + 3G can also be pre-ordered starting March 12th, but won’t be available until late April.

This promo appeared on the Retail Web page. The asterisk in the text refers to, "*Wi-Fi models only. Wi-Fi + 3G models available in late April."

An additional hint about Apple’s future retail plans was revealed in their recent application for the two-word trademark “Joint Venture.” The business-oriented word pair seems to indicate the company will use the trademark as part of a new service, possibly fee-based, intended to bring more business customers into the store. Tipsters have said Apple intends to provide more attention to business customers during 2010, and the company has recently reorganized job positions to kick off that project. As first reported by the Patently Apple web site, Apple’s application to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) described the nature of the trademark in standard, elemental terms. “Retail store services featuring computers, computer software, computer peripherals, and consumer electronic devices, and demonstration of products relating thereto,” the application stated. The same wording has been used to describe past trademarks, including the phrase “Genius Bar.”

One must look past the trademark and its description, however, to determine how it might be used.

Apple first created a business-related staffer within its retail stores in 2004 with the Business Specialist position. The job title was renamed to Business Partner in 2008, and then just last month it was changed to Business Manager. Apple’s job listings show that only a few stores across the country are currently taking applications for the newly-named position.

In earlier times, Apple carved out the hour before a store opened for business customer training appointments covering Apple or third-party products. The company continues to give reserved seating workshops at some stores for business customers before normal opening hours. For example, stores are giving early business workshops on the POS•IM point-of-sale system and on iPhone business productivity.

The company also allows business customers to make appointments for a “Business Consultation” using the on-line Concierge reservation system. Smaller stores seem to schedule one or two appointments in the morning and afternoon, three appointments in the evening, and none on the weekends. Larger stores have six to eight slots for each portion of the day, and also have weekend appointments available.

As for the trademark application, it was filed by Lisa Widup, the company’s Intellectual Property Counsel on February 23, 2010, and simply covers the words, “Joint Venture,” without any particular font or type design. The application isn’t unique, although USPTO records indicate only five other entities have ever applied for those same two words over the years.

The U.S. patent application indicates that Apple applied for a trademark on the same two words in Jamaica during August 2009. In its U.S. filing, the company requested a priority on its application based on this earlier filing, saying, “Applicant has a bona fide intention to use the mark in commerce on or in connection with the identified goods and/or services.”

Apple commonly registers trademarks in other countries to avoid general public scrutiny, and then uses that application as a basis for obtaining priority on the right to obtain the trademark in the United States.

For example, the One To One trademark was first registered in Trinidad-Tobago in March 2007. Apple waited until September of that year to file an application for the same wording in the U.S. It filed a trademark for “OS X” in the same country in 2008, and for “Magic Trackpad” there just last week.

Besides the basic trademark description, the application also described its eventual use as related to, “Maintenance, installation and repair of computer hardware, computer peripherals, computer networks, and consumer electronic devices; information, advisory and consultancy services relating to all the aforesaid.”

Download (pdf) the full application for more descriptions of the trademark.

An eager Apple recruiter is reaching out to the elite 2,000 students at Georgetown University in Washington (DC) as potential employees of the store that will open along Wisconsin Avenue NW this summer. Students at the nation’s oldest Catholic university have noticed flyers taped to bulletin boards at the school announcing a recruiting event at 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Wednesday. “Do something different for a change,” the flyer states, “get paid to enrich peoples (sic) lives.” The flyers invite prospective employees to visit with the recruiters and, “learn what it’s like to work in one of these revolutionary stores.” Typically, Apple hires only five percent of the applicants for high-profile stores—more selective than Stanford University, Sr. V-P Retail Ron Johnson often says, where he completed undergraduate studies. In this case, Georgetown University admits about 19 percent of its applicants for the freshman year. View the flyer after the break.

In the face of legal threats from the manufacturer of Apple’s glass staircases, a former retail store employee remains defiant by re-auctioning a broken stair tread from the Fifth Avenue store on eBay. It’s not clear if Seele will bid on the item, or if the winning bidder will inherit the company’s legal claim of ownership of the tread. Mark Burstiner says he was working the night shift at the store in 2008, and watched as Germany-speaking Seele GmbH employees replaced three broken treads from the spiral staircase. After he got off work in the morning, he encountered the workers up-top at the curb, apparently waiting for a truck to haul away the glass treads.In a full account on Gizmodo and in an interview with IFO, Burstiner says he asked the crew for one of the treads, and the friendly workers helped him load the 250-pound piece into a cab so he could take it home. But after moving residences twice and not converting it to a coffee table, Burstiner decided to sell the laminated slab through eBay last week.

The appearance of the piece on eBay sparked an immediate phone call from a Seele executive, Burstiner says, who threatened him with legal action and demanded he return the piece, prompting him to end the auction. During subsequent telephone talks with Seele, Burstiner claimed the piece is his, that he didn’t steal it, and said he’s not giving it back.

Burstiner rebuffed an offer of money from Seele, ended any negotiations with them, and has now reposted the glass on eBay, in a three-day auction. In the updated listing, Burstiner reiterates that the auction winner must pick up the tread in New York City, or have it shipped at their own expense. Sending the tread cross-country through UPS Freight could cost upwards of $500. More ominously, the successful bidder could inherit Seele’s claim of ownership, and could have to return the tread, losing the money they paid to Burstiner in the auction. It’s also still possible that Seele will convince eBay the property belongs to them, and to remove the auction listing.

Update: The auction ended at 6:18 p.m. on March 2nd with a winning bid of $9,950 place by someone identified by eBay only as b****f. The person placed a single bid within 30 minutes of the auction being posted, which was eventually enough to win the tread. The winner has bid on only one item in the last 30 days, suggesting the bidder registered only to bidon the tread auction—and that Seele might be the winning bidder. Interestingly, three bidders entered wrong amounts and retracted their bids—one was for $100,500.

Always moving slowly to ensure perfection, Apple is now prepared to accelerate the expansion of its retail stores in China, opening up to 25 stores over the next two years to serve a country of over 1.3 billion citizens. The rapid expansion is in line with Apple’s overall emphasis on international store expansion, but also signals increased experience and confidence in China retailing, which can be complicated by national politics and local regulations. Apparently Apple has gained sufficient insights from the operation of its first China store that opened in August 2008, and feels it’s ready to tap the potential of the country’s growing economy. The China plans were announced by Sr. V-P Ron Johnson during this week’s stockholders meeting in Cupertino, in response to an audience question about expanding international sales. Johnson didn’t provide any location or timing details, leaving company followers to speculate where Apple might locate 25 stores.

After opening its first-ever store in the U.S., Apple waited seven years before opening its first China store, in Beijing in August 2008. In fact, the Sanlitun location was the company’s second choice, after state-funded work to completely renovate Qianmen Street close to Tiananmen Square could not be completed in time.

Now, 18 months after the Sanlitun opening, the Qianmen Street location is still delayed for some reason, and apparently won’t’ open in the near future. Instead, Apple has confirmed that a store in Shanghai will open this summer, one of two stores that Johnson has confirmed will open in the city.

In this history of Apple international retail, China was not Apple’s first Asia priority. Ironically, that honor was given to Japan, when the Ginza (Tokyo) store opened in 2003, also the company’s first international store. Seven more Japan stores followed over the next three years. But then the lesson, and irony, became obvious—Japan was a very difficult market to crack for Apple.

Apple hasn’t opened a new store in Japan since June 2006 in Sapporo, leaving the conspicuous impression that the company isn’t afraid of pulling back in the face of slow-growth sales. Financial reports show that Japan is Apple’s smallest market, although it did show 32 percent revenue growth from fiscal 2008 to 2009. But the company says this growth was partially due to iPhone sales and the change in the value of the yen, not the conversion of loyal computer users from Japanese brands.

So instead of expanding in Japan, Apple focused its international efforts on the UK, opening 26 stores to date for a population of 61.4 million. Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Australia have followed, but still with no additional Japan stores, or a move to expand in China.

Where to Go?

Now, with a green light for expansion, the challenge for Apple is selecting which China cities in which to open, and how many to open in a certain region. The choice is dependent not only upon population, but also economic and cultural conditions.

China is a country of extremely large cities, and it continues to convert from an historically rural, agricultural country to one with dense urban areas populated with offices and factories. The largest cities are huge population centers, but also tend to be focal points for even large population regions. The countries 10 largest cities are in the eastern half of the country, and most are along the coast. Their populations range from 6.8 million to 17 million in these cities.

Economically, China is progressing through a dramatic change—the creation of a middle class with disposable income. While statistics about the country are notoriously difficult to obtain, it’s clear that coastal cities tend to be more prosperous, and that some of the wealthiest cities are not the largest, expanding the number of cities where Apple might locate.

Apple has been the beneficiary of the economic changes. Apple’s COO Tim Cook has noted that “greater China” revenues have tripled year-over-year, which he called “phenomenal,” and the reason the company is now focusing on the region.

Even so, the wealth of China’s middle class is less when compared to other Asian countries or western European. China’s personal income ranking is more in line with South America’s economy, raising the question of how many China shoppers will be able to afford Apple’s products.

Next, like all countries, China’s cities have their own culture—some are more traditional, some are more artistic, and some are more techno-savvy. Shanghai is considered to be among the latter category, while Beijing is considered to be among the first. Selecting a city for Apple stores will have to take culture into consideration.

Lastly, Apple’s real estate team will be challenged to find what it always seeks—the perfect location. The concept of shopping centers is fairly new to China, reducing the number of locations where Apple might quickly install retail stores. Where malls do exist, they are huge, sometimes up to six million square feet (Mall of America is 4.2 million s.f.).

With a lack of malls, Apple may focus its energy on street-level locations, which would increase construction time and cost. However, these locations could be the most valuable, since the storefronts and back-lit Apple logos would become instant beacons for Apple’s brand.

The Locations

China’s largest cities could easily support more than one Apple store. Cities like Beijing and Shanghai not only have the population to create revenue, but the huge geographic size of the cities means additional stores would shorten travel times for shoppers.

Hong Kong and the region area it provides many opportunities for stores, including Guangzhou, Dongguan, Shenzhen, and more than one store in Hong Kong itself.

The coastal cities of Tianjin, Xiamen and Dalian are population centers, but also centers of wealth.

Inland, the cities of Wuhan, Chongqing, Nanjing and Chendu would provide opportunities to access huge populations.

Spread out over these cities, 25 stores seems to be just a start. Beijing, Shanghai and the Hong Kong region alone could support 15 to 20 stores.

What will be the result of the expansion? Apple has never been interested in becoming larger just for the sake of size. Instead, they’re interested in feeding the existing interest and the shopping power of the growing middle class in China, those who are already aware of the brand and those who might convert. Eventually, trade with China will become an integral part of international companies, unrestricted by today’s tarrifs and regulations. At that point, Apple will be very well positioned to continue building new stores in China.

Read more:

Up-and-coming cities

Understaning China’s wealthy (pdf)

The map below shows China’s largest cities and those whose economy is increasing rapidly.

View China Apple Store Possibilities in a larger map

As the economy began to turn down in fall 2008, Apple’s executives made a strategic decision to dial down the number of store openings for the next year, betting the downturn would offer them significant savings from depressed lease rates. Turns out, they were right, said Apple COO Tim Cook during a session at this week’s Goldman Sachs annual Technology & Internet Conference in San Francisco. Cook said the company has now turned up the dial on store openings, opening about 50 stores this fiscal year, including Shanghai and London store opening this summer that he called “jaw dropping.” Cook fielded questions for 42 minutes, talking thoroughly and intelligently on topics covering financial, technical, marketing and corporate culture. Although his well-recognized, gravely voice rarely expresses enthusiasm, his words were all about success, modestly expressed. And as always, his answers offered as much insight into Apple as there exists.

Cook touched on the world of retail first by saying the iPad will launch first in Apple’s direct channels, including its retail stores, its on-line store, the education sales force, and other direct sales forces. The device will also be available in the indirect channels that have assisted sales, he said, including the Best Buy store-in-store locations. Lastly, the iPad will appear at international Premium Resellers, which Cook said offer “incredible Apple experiences.”

In summary, Cook said, the iPad will be sold at places with “really great assisted sale,” but over time distribution will expand. Where and how fast will availability expand? “We’ll see,” Cook said. But initially, the iPad will be sold “where we have sales people that can answer questions, and we feel good about the answers they’ll give.”

“Switching to something more mundane…” the questioner began, to which Cook semi-joked, “There’s nothing mundane about our stores.”

The questioner wondered if Apple would be ramping up the number of annual store openings. Cook first said that Sr. V-P Retail Ron Johnson had built a “world-class retail team, bar none.” In an obvious reference to Dell and Microsoft’s unsuccessful and tentative entries into retail stores respectively, Cook explained, “We went into retail not as a test, not as a pilot, but as a commitment to sell products directly to consumers, because many consumers wanted that. And at the same time, it was a commitment to a multi-channel approach, because we knew we would never have enough stores to cover the world.”

Cook then recalled that after the retail initiative began, the company set a range of from 25 to 50 new stores a year that, “we thought was a reasonable range, that we could execute extremely well, that we could continue to learn, and make sure those learnings went back into retail. And so we like that pace.”

Since 2001, the company has opened new stores both at the low and high end of that range, Cook said.
He then recalled 2008. “I don’t need to tell anybody in this audience—somewhere in 2008 the world started to fall apart. And it really fell apart maybe some in 2009. And we made a strategic call, that we thought by slowing down (the pace of store openings), that we would see many more opportunities.”

Cook said that the Apple team recognized one benefit the economic recession “would be that some top properties would come on the market with better economics.” Translation—as other retailers went broke, closed and vacated spaces, mall owners would welcome Apple with lower lease rates, longer terms and move-in incentives.

“And so we slowed it down,” Cook told the audience. “And guess what? Now, there’s a lot of great properties on the market. And so we see this…We want to take advantage of this, so we’ve turned the dial up, and now we’re going to be at the high end of that 25 to 50, and do about 50 (new store openings) this year.”

“We’ve always had the team to do 50 (openings),” Cook said. “This is not a…I’m not saying it’s easy to do. It’s not easy to do. It’s very hard to do. But we’re very confident with our team’s ability to do it. We didn’t lower the bar at all, you know. These stores are among the best we’ve every done. Matter of fact, there are probably several people here from New York, then you should go to the Upper West Side store. It will make your jaw drop, just looking at it from outside. It’s incredible. And next time you’re in Paris, make sure you go to the Louvre, because we’ve opened a store at the Louvre, and it’s another one that… it’s just amazing.”

“And there will be another store in China, in Shanghai in the summer that is mind-blowing, and another one in London that will also drop your jaw.”

Tim Cook: 50% of Mac buyers in the Apple stores are new to Mac. “So we’re going to continue to go after that, and we think there’s a lot of growth potential there.”

Providing some insight into Apple’s philosophy, Cook fielded a question about how the company keeps its success from sapping away its creative energy. He said the executive team spends “a lot of time” thinking and discussing how to retain the best talent in the world. “People are our most important asset by far,” he said, acknowledging that it’s a cliché to say that. “It’s people who deliver innovation, which is key to us.”

Cook said Apple is the most focused company he’s ever know of. “We say ‘No’ to good ideas every day. We say ‘No’ to great ideas, in order to keep the amount of things we focus on very small in number, so that we can put enormous energy behind the ones that we do chose, so that we can deliver the best products in the world.
Cook told the audience that every product that Apple makes could be put on the table where they were sitting, “and yet Apple’s revenue last year was over $40 billion.” The only other company that could say that would be an oil company, Cook said.

“And that’s not from just saying ‘Yes’ to the right products, which gets a lot of focus” Cook continued, “It’s saying ‘No’ to many products that are good ideas, but just not nearly as good as the other ones.

“I think this is so ingrained in our company,” Cook said, that Apple’s executives are never interested in making the company bigger. “That’s not what we’re about. Focus on people, and insuring that it’s a small list of things to work on, and putting all of our wood behind those things. That’s the magic behind us.”

Read a paraphrased transcript of Cook’s talk here.

If you’ve visited the IFO homepage in the last 24 hours, you’ve noticed the rather dramatic change in the appearance (RSS visitors, give it a look!). I had been using a very old Wordpress theme for the past three years, which was totally inflexible, was took “heavy” and required me to muck with the inner programming to tweak anything. This new Thesis theme is lighter, brighter and totally flexible. It’s very easy to set up, maintain and tweak…and I’ll be doing a lot of tweaking in the coming days. Hopefully for visitors it’s much easier on the eyes, the revised menu layout makes it easier to find valuable information, and you can now reply to specific comments, among other things. Feel free to send me feedback on things you like…or things you don’t. — Gary

A most incredible auction has appeared on eBay—a 250-pound, seven-foot tread, allegedly from the Fifth Avenue retail store spiral glass staircase, hauled away by the seller after it was broken by a falling object, and then removed for a replacement part. Photos of the German-made tread on eBay appear to show an authentic, tapered section: the size and shape are identical, the cross-section is appropriately laminated, the diamond grip pattern is identical, and the visible attachment hardware appears to be from TriPyramid Structures Inc. The starting bid is $700, with a “Buy It Now” price of $2,500. The seller says the accident occurred “over a year ago,” and that when new, the piece would cost “10k,” or $10,000. The person says the piece is very collectible, since only two other similar stair pieces exist ”outside of the retail stores’ circulation.” [After 24 hours and two bids, the item was de-listed by the seller with no explanation. On February 28th, former Fifth Avenue part-time employee Mark Burstiner went public with the auction aftermath, and then re-posted the glass for auction.]

An odd listing has popped up among Apple’s usually impeccable Web pages for the retail stores, promoting a store in San Jose (Calif.) called “Another Test Store.” Obviously it’s a placemarker of some type—or is it?

One day after Idaho’s first Apple store was revealed, Apple has tossed another retail dart at the Pacific northwest. It’s been confirmed that the company will open a store at the River Park Square shopping mall in downtown Spokane (Wash.). The city is just as underserved by Apple stores as Boise, which will also host a store later this year. The red-brick, three-level mall faces onto the Spokane River and, understandably, Riverfront Park. It’s also adjacent to the city’s convention center and arena, which draws visitors to a wide range of events. The store could open by the end of September.

More visitors, more revenue and more profit do not guarentee future success for Apple’s retail stores, which may be why the company is working hard to improve its retail sales operations, even now in trial at certain Canadian stores. Multiple sources are definite on the initiative, but haven’t provided details on how procedures, staffing or technical systems might change. The best clues come from four Apple corporate job listings that were posted in the last two weeks, focusing on the iPod touch point-of-sale (POS) system, possible introduction of mobile purchasing by customers, mobile marketing, and possibly the mobile Concierge sign-up app that has been rumored for the past six months. Apple’s job postings are notoriously vague, but the new listings provide enough detail to spark significant speculation.

First, two job listings focus on “mobile commerce,” which are part of the company’s “greater retail marketing team…to develop and implement successful marketing initiatives designed to build Apple’s brand awareness, grow market share, drive sales and build loyalty.” There are openings for both a Product Manager and Sr. Project Manager positions, both working on, “how Apple Retail will meet future market demands in the field of Mobile Commerce,” according to the listings.

The description suggests several scenarios for future store visitors: scanning product barcodes with their iPhone to read product descriptions and prices, or automatically checking in for a Concierge visit when you walk in the door. Visitors with iPhones might automatically wirelessly receive product information, or event and training schedule on their iPhone as they approach a store, or there might be other two-way communications with Apple via an iPhone app about products and store services. An iPhone might be used to sign-up for personal training sessions, or it might become a portal for a customer’s product registration and One to One membership information.

And, now that Apple’s store personnel are using an iPod touch for point-of-sale, there might even be some interaction between a visitor’s iPhone or touch and the staff’s touch, much like the Bump social networking app available for the iPhone.

“Become an integral member of the small, dedicated Apple Retail team as we enter the world of Mobile Commerce,” the listing for the Product Manager states. “Work closely with a cross-functional, worldwide organization to implement creative new retail strategies. If you are passionate about technology, customer-focused, and entrepreneurial, you can make an immediate impact.”

Among the job requirements for Product Manager is “4+ years” of software product management/marketing experience, “with proven track record of stellar product. Experience with entire product lifecycle (from concept through launch) required.”

The Sr. Program Manager position requires a minimum of eight years “mobile commerce marketing program management experience on client or agency side.”

The other two positions focus on the “Family Room,” which is the rear half of a typical store, where the Genius Bar appointments and training sessions take place. There are positions for a Family Room New Initiatives Manager, and a Project Manager: Family Room Retail Systems. The former position will focus more on procedures and policies, and the latter will focus on “global systems,” including technology.

The New Initiatives Manager will be the, “primary point of contact for development, testing, and implementation of new initiatives and programs in the Family Room,” the job listing states. The person must have, “demonstrated ability to think creatively/globally, turn information into effective strategies, and drive results,” along with other general requirements.

The Project Manager position, “is responsible for end-to-end delivery of Family Room global systems projects,” the job listing says. An ideal candidate would excel at, “coordinating cross-functional resources who work together effectively to deliver projects within specific timelines and that meet the business requirements and priorities.”

The minimum qualifications for the position include a “strong knowledge and proven work experience with Family Room operations and systems including web-based applications.” Perhaps most revealing, it also requires, “strong knowledge of Concierge system, including functionality and reporting,” possibly pointing to the rumored mobile Concierge sign-up system for customers.

Sources say that some Family Room changes have already occurred at some Canada stores, part of a two-month evaluation before anything is rolled out to the entire chain.

Besides the four listings, Apple just posted a new position for Multimedia Producer, who will create photo and video media for internal projects related to the retail stores. The job description says the candidate, “needs to have a strong ability for visual storytelling,” and must be ready, “to produce engaging projects (which) range from short movies in our studio to remote, multi-location shoots.”