Apple is planning to set up at least six large retail stores, in the range of 5,000 sq ft, in India this year. These large outlets, called Flagship Apple Premium Resellers (FAPR), will be launched three each in Delhi, NCR and Mumbai.
The large retail stores will be about three times larger than Apple's current average size of 1,500 sq ft in which it presently operates. The iPhone maker will open franchisee-operated FAPR outlets in the top Indian cities.
A top executive of a prominent mall said, "They are looking to open one store each in Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida in the NCR this year and three in Mumbai. Apple is not hung up on the 5,000 sq ft size and has indicated the company will make do with even 3,000 sq ft if it gets good locations in prominent malls with high footfalls."
Initially, Apple will introduce one large outlet each in Delhi and Mumbai for gauging the response to the experiment before adding more stores
