Apple Making Retail Stores Bigger

Analyst Charlie Wolf with Needham & Company reveals in a note to investors that Apple had originally planned to have about 100 stores 6,000-square-feet large. As of Apple's fiscal 2011 10-K report, the company’s retail stores are slightly larger - around 8,400 square feet per store.

They’ve also got way more than a hundred stores now - 363 in total, with several new ones getting built each year.

The number of visitors has grown at a 15.3 percent annual rate. Apple's retail stores are "bulging at the seams," Wolf said, which calls for drastic measures.

In order to answer demand and maximize profits, the company has begun building larger stores, such as the one in New York’s iconic Grand Central station, on a 20,000-square foot space. Others are even bigger.

Apple has also begun moving some existing stores into larger venues. Examples include New York City's SoHo store, and the one located in Palo Alto, Calif. (Steve Jobs’ home town).