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Here’s October’s bonus article for paid subscribers. Your support makes Tabletops possible every week. Thank you.

If Apple Stores occupy one side of mall culture, the far opposite end is occupied by the urban exploration and dead mall scene. Apple Stores capture attention because of their energy, perpetual state of change, and fresh architecture. The inverse is true of forgotten retail: it’s the absence of people, change, and new ideas that fascinates. We are captivated by the extremes.

The distinctively western glorification of decline and decay rarely intersects with Apple culture because Apple does its homework before opening new stores and continuously checks the pulse of the markets it operates in. When old Apple Stores relocate, brands move fast to scoop up the space, and when Apple Stores in flailing malls close, low-rent tenants are typically willing to step in. But when nothing seems to work out, we end up with the curious case of Apple North Michigan Avenue.

Apple moved from 679 N. Michigan Avenue to its current home on the Chicago River on October 20, 2017. The store dropped “North” from its name (it’s cleaner) and never looked back. The Apple logo-shaped window above the old store entrance was patched in, and a small lighted logo facing E. Huron St. was similarly removed. Inside, the patented glass staircase was dismantled, and the floors, ceiling, Theater, and upper-level Briefing Room were eventually gutted. Left behind were only the overgrown green roof, skylight, and an empty graphic panel lightbox on the north side of the building.

Then the building… just sat. For years. Real estate listings proposed imaginative restaurant floor plans and conceptual renderings. “FLAGSHIP LOCATION CALL 312.656.7010” read a sign still posted on the covered windows when I visited downtown Chicago in December 2019. But aside from one call by a weed dispensary, property manager Water Tower Realty had little luck securing a new tenant.

In February 2020, Nike, which operates a store on the same block, borrowed the old Apple Store to create a pop-up studio for its Nike Playlist video series. The 3-day event was attended by over 2,500 children and included a 30-minute live show broadcast on YouTube. The empty entryway where Oprah and Bono once shared an iPod became a tiny court with basketball hoops and cheering fans.

When the pandemic hit, it devastated the shopping scene on North Michigan Avenue. Some retailers packed up and left, and others considered downsizing. Massive buildings like the old Apple Store became especially untenable investments for most brands.

The store was essentially abandoned again until October 2021, when The Magnificent Mile Association and artists Nick Cave and Bob Faust debuted “Rapt on The Mile,” a 3-story mural covering the exterior of the building. Coincidentally, it wasn’t Nick Cave’s first time creating work that involved an Apple Store. In 2019, he partnered with Apple to create environments for Today at Apple [AR]T Walks and “Amass,” an interactive AR experience available in every Apple Store.

It wasn't until March of this year that H&M was revealed to be the first permanent tenant of 679 N. Michigan Avenue since Apple’s departure. The lease is a downsize for H&M, but it’ll finally bring a bit of energy back to a corner that’s been awfully quiet since people started lining up for iPhones a few blocks south.

Construction began in summer, and by the time I returned to Chicago for this fall’s iPhone launch, the entire store facade was removed and workers were creating large window openings on the north side of the building. In classic Apple Store spelunking fashion, I peeked through the construction barriers to snap some progress photos, and found that even though the building was largely demolished, the essence of the store was still hanging on.

The skylight was intact, the glass staircase outline was still visible on the floor, and the general structure of the space remained the same. Remarkably, the south wall of the store facing Nike was still drywalled. I craned up my phone up for a closer look, and was shocked to see the unmistakable outlines of the graphic panel fixtures that once lined the upper level walls. Six years, a basketball court, and a total dismantling of the building still hadn’t managed to erase Apple.

Where one abandoned Apple Store ends, another begins. In May, T-Mobile closed its Signature Store at Union Square — the former home of Apple San Francisco. And then there’s Apple Uptown. But that is for another day…

If you’d like to suggest a topic for me to research for next month’s bonus article or have a story to share, send me an email. You can view this post and the entire Tabletops archive on the web at any time here.

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