Apple's new Boston store in the Back Bay hits first snag

World reknown architect Frank Gehry designed the renovation of what is now the Virgin Megastore in Boston at the corner of Massachusetts Ave and Newbury St.



Unfortunately I can't find a full picture of the store to illustrate my post better, but it is an early Gehry design and very sedate. The building is fairly plain, a tall box with some awning like things popping out at the bottom and top. It is a very prominent retail space in Boston and is at the edge of the Back Bay.

The interesting thing about the building is that it has a large corner at the top taken out and what appears to be a plain shelf like area which is big enough to fit a car. If you weren't thinking about it you wouldn't even notice it.

The design originally called for a large tea bag to be put there, a symbol of the Boston Tea Party. A little amusing but nothing too outrageous considering the simplicity of the building. Well, the Back Bay Architectural Commission shot down the plan and the tea bag was never installed. So to this day the shelf sits empty.

Cut to today and Apple is planning to put a new store in Boston on Boylston St, at the edge of the Back Bay. I assume this will be a big prominent store and up to Apple's usual standards. The Boston Globe reports on Apple's progress so far.

Apple's proposal to raze site worries Back Bay panel

Copy Cop is a low budget copy shop and they typically occupy pretty dreadful looking retail spaces. The Fidelity office is low key and fits in architecturally, they are also a powerhouse company in Boston so pushing things through was probably a little easier.

Well, I wish Apple luck in their endeavour to put a store in the historic Back Bay area. They probably won't be able to have Gehry work on the job, he just got done giving the Back Bay a big middle finger across the river.

MIT's Stata Center