NEW DELHI: When it’s about the opening of Apple’s first retail store in the country, everything has to be perfect. Even if perfection means moving trees. Every fine detail counts, including whether the trees in front of the store are green enough or not.
After all, several high-profile guests are expected to attend the opening ceremony on Tuesday in Mumbai’s commercial hub Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC). While giving the finishing touches to the preparations for the opening ceremony, officials were seen asking the facility management personnel to replace the small trees near the store with bigger ones.
“They were unhappy with the height of the trees and wanted bigger and greener trees in front of this store,” said people who were trying to fit the tree into the whole created by removing a smaller tree that was planted earlier.
An apple official even asked to rotate the tree, being lifted with a crane so that the greener side with more leaves can face the retail store which is currently covered with colourful designs. The opening comes at a time when the California-based firm looks to grow its market share in India, which is the second-largest smartphone market in the world. As per CyberMedia Research (CMR), Apple has a 4 % market share in the Indian smartphone market.
The world’s most valuable firm has placed its bet on India in manufacturing devices as its looks to shift its production away from China as relations between the US and China have soured over several issues. Apple assembled over USD 7 billion iPhones in India last fiscal year. The three-storied retail store is located at the posh Reliance Jio World Drive mall in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC).