Mini-store currently just 450 square feet

Apple is working on replacing its current Santa Rosa Plaza outlet in California, sources claim. The shop is one of the smallest in Apple's chain -- measuring only 450 square feet -- and in fact one of just two remaining mini-stores of a group of six that launched in 2004. Apple quickly abandoned the mini-store concept, opting for increasingly larger spaces.

Construction on the replacement store is expected to start sometime next year, and give Apple over 3,000 square feet. It will reportedly take over a combination of Plaza spaces emptied out by Lane Bryant and Ann Taylor Loft earlier in 2011. The size increase is said to be linked to a growing number of service and training customers, rather than pure shopping traffic. The present store is so densely packed at times that training and Genius Bar sessions are often held outside in the Plaza's hallways.

by MacNN Staff