Last week, I was able to take a little trip to the newest Apple Store in Omaha, Nebraska. Mind you, this was not new as in that this was the first Apple Store in Omaha. Instead, it was merely a new design and in a new location in Omaha and in the same area as before.
Last summer, I actually did come across the construction of this new Apple Store. I asked one of the employees at the store at the time and all they said was that they “could not confirm or deny that it is going to be our new location.” I had heard some rumors at the time that Apple was working on putting a new and redesigned Apple Store in that area.
As for the review of this store, I like that it is so big and spacious. The old location always felt so cramped with people that you were always bumping into one another. If you were looking at products, you always got dirty looks from customers asking you to move and “don’t just stand there.”
Now the store has so much space that I can actually have both of my arms out and not hit or touch anyone. It’s a great and freeing feeling.
Where the store falls down is the lack of inventory. I have never had this issue with other Apple Stores in the past, but this one definitely has some problems.
The first issue that I had was that I was looking at this OtterBox Symmetry case for my iPhone 8 Plus. I have the Symmetry case on my iPhone right now, but these ones had a black trim on them that looked really cool and would match my RED iPhone 8 Plus perfectly. To my surprise, the store did not have them in stock.
Another item that I was looking for was this Electric Blue Apple Watch watchband and once again, the store did not have that one in stock either despite the fact that they still had it on display in their Apple Watch display. Worst of all, the band cost $150! Granted, this is why you go to Amazon and other stores to get great third-party bands that don’t cost as much.
Still, I was disappointed that this Apple Store did not have any of the products I was looking at buying and I eventually ended up leaving the store and also leaving it empty-handed.
Lastly, for my disappointments, I did speak to one clerk in the store and he had a thick Indian accent and I could not understand him because of that thick accent. It was really irritating because even though I know that Apple is very big when it comes to diversity, it still irritates me that they would hire someone who does not speak English very well. It’s the top language in America, therefore it needs to be one of the top priorities for the hiring process for that store.
Where the store does succeed is that they do have a lot of core products on display, one of which being the new iMac Pro that came out in December 2017. Additionally, they also have the 2013 Mac Pro, Mac Mini, and newer MacBook Pros in stock, as well. They also had some of the new LG monitors there that are now there after Apple discontinued the Thunderbolt Display this year.
The monitor in the back of the store for the whole Today at Apple classes is also nice and huge for that store. I saw people there who were working on their drawing, specifically a little girl who asked a lot of questions and was very enthusiastic about the subject matter. It definitely inspires the young children there.
Overall, I’m giving this Apple Store 3/4 stars. It’s the best and is certainly not perfect, but at the end of the day, it can get better and has the potential to do so. If you are in the Omaha area, I would recommend making a stop there just to check it out, especially since it is part of the newly designed Apple Stores.
Rating: 3/4 stars