Big Interview / London
Core strength
The world’s biggest brand believes bricks-and-mortar retail is the future – and, used well, can fix our isolation. We sit down with the executive who’s creating new ‘town squares’ where we can all come together and, of course, buy something along the way.
Angela Ahrendts strides down the broad stone staircase inside Apple’s newly redesigned store on London’s Regent Street. A ripple of recognition spreads out over the room and across the faces of the staff members milling among the 10m-tall Ficus Ali trees that cover the shop floor with a green canopy. In no time Ahrendts is at the centre of a tight scrum, as the London store staff approach her, beaming, to say hello, give her a hug and thank her for everything she has done.
Ahrendts is Apple’s senior vice president of retail and thus oversees more…
