You could substitute "carefully designed" for "calculated", which has a negative cast not justified by the WSJ's story. Details about Apple's retail culture include:

* The stores were consciously designed to be uncluttered and less threatening than big-box electronic stores, and benefit from fewer locations and a focus on a single brand.

* The retail operation is run by seasoned retail veterans, not CS majors.

* Growth in Apple's retail locations is strong and beats the general trend of decline in retail in general.

* It's hard to get a job in Apple retail, at least compared to other retail jobs.

* It doesn't pay much better than typical retail jobs.

* Retail is not a good career path into Apple corporate.

* You can't write online about Apple and expect to keep a job at an Apple store.

* Apple retail employees don't get sales commission and are trained not to sell, although you can get reassigned if you upsell fewer AppleCare plans than Apple expects of its retail team.

* If you've found Apple employees to be unthreatening, helpful, laid back, and easygoing, that's because Apple trained its team to do that.

* Don't be repeatedly late or you'll get fired.

I was in the Apple store in Covent Garden recently, I knew what I wanted and had phoned in advance to check they had it, so I was just there to pick it up. As a former consultant, I am trained in exactly these sorts of techniques, and can easily spot them, and Apple's training is too good. I don't know how it is to regular people, but the Apple employees I spoke to were downright creepy. Whatever the actual-human equivalent of the "uncanny valley" is. I'll stick to the online store I think and just deal with the hassle of having to be in when I'm expecting a courier.

Not selling can have a negative impression on the customer, though. I have noticed that they don't sell hard; I interpreted it as hubris. That my sale is unimportant to them because of how crowded the place always is. It's one thing to play it cool but you also shouldn't seem disinterested or make the customer feel unimportant.

link to WSJ article sited http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405270230456310457636...

Having worked at Best Buy during college and for a few years after, this is what Best Buy has been trying to do for a while now.

They try to encourage solving problems, and building rapport instead of selling. However, the problem with Best Buy is follow through.

This kind of training comes down from corporate, but the district managers are allowed to run their districts like their own little fiefdom. Since most of the district managers (and store managers) got to where they are b/c they are great salesmen, they push the salesman attitude onto everyone else.

Based on the article, Apple seems pretty effective with this--I'm curious if non-Apple salespeople would be more effective if they followed these principles, or if it only works for Apple.

This article is a lot shorter than I expected, but it does teach something critical: if someone (especially an Apple employee) uses the phrase "as it turns out", be ready for bad news!

One can only hope that JCP will gain a lot of this customer-oriented focus when Ron Johnson is firmly in place.

> using natural materials like wood, glass, stone and stainless steel.

Boggle. Nature so advanced it includes glass and steel. They grow in trees, I suppose.

What shops don't do this?

It's a shame they don't pour more time into making employees happy by giving them better benefits and wages.