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Touching the back wall of the Apple store

(blog.lauramichet.com)
252 points nivethan | 10 comments | 27 Jun 25 02:45 UTC | HN request time: 0.954s | source | bottom
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larusso ◴[30 Jun 25 04:33 UTC] No.44419410[source]▶
I still run the theory that Apple has actors on staff to just “be cool at the Apple Store”. I once went into the local store during daytime in summer (my lunch break) to pick up an order. There was a very attractive young woman dancing next to the headphones seemingly testing out a pair of AirPod Max. And the rest of the store was also filled with strangely attractive persons. I wasn’t able to verify my theory because I have a work life and don’t happen to walk by an Apple Store during working hours. But in my mind I believe it would totally be Apple if they hire extra cool folk to make the store feel more hip and not empty.
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DecentShoes ◴[30 Jun 25 05:00 UTC] No.44419581[source]▶
They definitely do this in bars. I've had friends that got recruited thru modelling agencies. It's not a huge stretch to think of them doing it in other types of retail too.
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1. astrange ◴[30 Jun 25 05:11 UTC] No.44419640[source]▶
What bars have that kind of margins? I know most restaurants don't.
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2. mattl ◴[30 Jun 25 05:15 UTC] No.44419661[source]▶
Most likely hired by a liquor brand similar to shot girls/guys.
3. whstl ◴[30 Jun 25 06:40 UTC] No.44420179[source]▶
The ones selling a lifestyle and 30 euro* drinks to people competing to get in.

(I have no idea how much a drink costs in the US so I’m using my local prices and currency for overpriced drinks)

4. muzani ◴[30 Jun 25 06:46 UTC] No.44420211[source]▶
Bars usually have a whole funnel around getting more women in. Whether it's free drinks, quiz nights hosted by cute girls, the bouncer thing where they filter out some people.

We once had a guest lecturer who broke down the ROI of making the ladies bathrooms beautiful (but not the men's). Presumably it leads to more alcohol consumption, which is where the margins are. I think restaurants in the UK make almost no money on the food itself.

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5. DecentShoes ◴[30 Jun 25 09:00 UTC] No.44421027[source]▶
I met a girl I knew while she was doing one of those jobs and it was a very boring, normal, local kind of pub. I guess the goal is to increase profits so it's seen as marketing/an investment.
6. lupire ◴[30 Jun 25 10:47 UTC] No.44421654[source]▶
Women's bathroom is a social space. Men's bathroom is a social space only for sex, which most venues don't want.
7. AnthonyMouse ◴[30 Jun 25 10:58 UTC] No.44421744[source]▶
If doing the thing is profitable it can cause net margins to go up.
8. petesergeant ◴[30 Jun 25 12:27 UTC] No.44422421[source]▶
I used to run a small club promotion gig in London with some friends.

Clubs would give us £10 per girl we brought in, but much more importantly (to us) give us a table bang in the VIP section and a few free bottles. We would aim to bring 10-20 girls with us.

The girls would go and mingle with other tables in the VIP area who were often men who'd paid through the nose for a VIP table (£1,000 a bottle for alcohol that generally cost less than £50 wholesale, and this was in the early 2000s), because generally they knew they were rich guys and they had free alcohol on their tables.

At several set points, the club would send our table bottles of alcohol with fireworks and make a big deal out of it, and all the girls would migrate back to our table for the drinks and high-fives, which would encourage the men with the actual money to then order their own bottles in the hope of luring the girls back.

The girls were (frequently American) university students who got a free night out hosted by people they trusted, in a venue with bouncers they came to know well, we got the immense social proof of being the people at the center of the VIP section surrounded by girls which helped our own love lives no end, the club spent a few hundred bucks on us but filled their VIP area with pretty girls, and finally the bankers who'd paid a huge amount for their VIP table got pretty young American university students to talk to.

I'm sure this is still a popular model, and we were very far from the only people doing it.

9. throwaway173738 ◴[30 Jun 25 16:44 UTC] No.44425316[source]▶
This is true of restaurants everywhere. The reason they always ask you what you want to drink and if you want dessert is because those things have margins that can turn their night from red to black as a business. The food in most places is a draw so you’ll drink and then buy cake.
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10. muzani ◴[01 Jul 25 06:13 UTC] No.44431096{3}[source]▶
Not the case in Muslim countries and I guess developing countries, lol. Developing countries have very low labor costs.

In some places, the drink is the loss leader. A group of people head out to a place and pay the minimum - a $0.50 cup of tea. One of them will buy a basket of snacks for the group. Someone in that group might order the food. A plate of noodles or naan is nearly free in terms of ingredient costs.

Sometimes it's the atmosphere. I'm not sure if other countries have this, but there might be a major game on TV - football, wrestling, etc. Not everyone can afford to watch it at home, so everyone goes to a cheap restaurant. Sometimes the people who do have it at home just go to hear the cheers.