‘Meet Me At Apple:’ The Tech Giant’s Quest To be the New Town Square

Apple has its critics, sure. But you can’t deny the tech giant’s marketing and design skills, not to mention the quality of its products (but maybe not the price). The company’s latest move (literally) is to open a new flagship store inside the Carnegie Library in Washington, D.C. The big difference between this and any other Apple store opening is that it’s happening on city-owned property and not in a mall somewhere.

Curbed has the in-depth story that asks the question: can Apple stores be public spaces? This won’t be just any Apple store. The Carnegie Library location will feature free concerts, art exhibitions, workshops and coding classes.

“It’s very much about the event experience they’re creating as opposed to just having open spaces,” Apple’s new landlord told Curbed. “When Apple put forth this concept of a community space, a community forum and event space, that was appealing to us.”

Apple’s in-house leader of this company shift told CBS This Morning last year, “I’ll know we’ve done a really, really great job if the next generation, if Gen Z says, ‘Meet me at Apple.’”

Read the Curbed store for more on this next phase of Apple, and tell us what you think of a private company taking over what was a traditionally very public space.