There is a retail space in Coconut Grove Florida (3000 Grand Ave), which has sat empty for 3 years now. It has something like 18-20k square feet of retail space in it, adjacent to a parking lot, accessible to street and garage parking, and frequented by tons of pedestrian tourists. I think it would make the perfect location for an Apple Store.
An Apple Store would bring a ton of new traffic to Coconut Grove. It would be a destination, or an anchor so to speak in an otherwise flailing retail environment. Apple would be able to do whatever they want with the space, no architectural boards would stand in their way like in Lincoln Road on South Beach. The closest existing Apple store is in Dadeland mall which is roughly 5.5 miles away.
The only reason I can see Apple not wanting to invest in this geographic area is if they already have plans to put a store in the new City Centre mall being developed in Brickell, which is aiming at high end luxury shoppers. However, that won’t be ready for 2 more years, this location is available now.
Now I obviously know this is fantasy, and even though I’d love to see it, I am not holding my breath. Coconut Grove as a neighborhood has been largely reluctant to embrace change and adapt in the face of its growing municipal competition. So if the landlords and the business owners don’t want to change to embrace 21st century tastes, what can I do? I guess all I can do is dream.
