Those first two stores welcomed 7,700 visitors in their first two days of operation and sold $600,000 worth of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) products during those two days. Even then, the fanaticism of Apple fans was evident, as several hundred people camped out hours before the opening to be the first inside. After a decade of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stores, the company had grown its retail footprint to 323 locations in 11 countries, which had welcomed a total of 1 billion visitors through their doors since the first store opened. By then, Apple Stores had become by far the most efficient retail locations in the world in sales per square foot of space, trouncing second-place contender Tiffany & Co. (NYSE:TIF) by roughly 2-to-1. Tiffany & Co. (NYSE:TIF)’s $3,000 in sales per square foot was once the gold standard, but Apple earned just over $6,000 per square foot in every store for 2012.
The first General of the automakers
Buick was incorporated on May 19, 1903. When General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) was founded five years later, Buick became its first nameplate — General Motors was, in fact, originally created as a holding company for Buick. By this point, founder David Buick had been pushed out of the company, and its new owner installed William C. Durant to manage the growing automaker. Under Durant’s leadership, Buick and General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) grew to become America’s largest automaker in the days before Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) pioneered the assembly line. This success enabled a GM to go on a buying spree, and before long the company amassed several familiar nameplates: Oldsmobile and Cadillac were added by 1909, and Durant’s ouster and later return during the 1910s brought Chevrolet into the mix as well.
However, General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) began falling behind Ford following the development of the assembly line. Ford’s commitment to one low-cost model, churned out by the millions, outpaced GM’s complex (but forward-thinking) strategy of developing different brands and models to appeal to different segments of the population. By 1923, GM had built a million Chevys, but a year later Ford built its 10 millionth Model T. Even though GM trailed Ford for years, it became the first automaker ever added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) in 1915 (and began its tenure as the longest-serving component automaker when re-added in 1925) thanks to Durant’s embrace of the public markets, in stark contrast to Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F)’s reluctance — the Model T maker didn’t go public until 1956.
Through it all, Buick was on the forefront of automotive design — a 1904 model is still considered optimally engineered a century later, and Buick also produced closed-body cars before Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) and would advance engine technology throughout the ’20s and ’30s — but its near-luxury marquee (second only to Cadillac in prestige) kept it from ever becoming a true mass-market brand. A century after Buick’s incorporation, Chevrolet remains by far the leading GM nameplate, with about 10 times as many vehicle sales as Buick in any given month.
The article Of Apple Stores and Automakers originally appeared on Fool.com is written by Alex Planes.
Fool contributor Alex Planes holds no financial position in any company mentioned here. Add him on Google+ or follow him on Twitter, @TMFBiggles, for more insight into markets, history, and technology.The Motley Fool recommends Apple, Ford, and General Motors and owns shares of Apple and Ford.
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