Report: Apple Stores outsell national average by 17 times

161606updated 02:20 am EDT, Thu April 19, 2012 Apple leads all US retail chains per square foot

Marketing and technology analysis firm Asymco has extrapolated from retail data from US chains to reveal that Apple isn't just the top seller per square foot among US retailers, it outsells the average brick-and-mortar outlet 17 times over. The sales-per-square-foot annual measurement, long the leading metric of retail profitability, shows Apple with an average of $5,626 in sales per square foot, compared to an average of $330 for US mall stores.Even taking the median average of the top 20 best retailers in the US shows Apple to be in a league of its own. While the top 20 retailers more than double the mall and roughly double the average for speciality apparel retailers, their median average of $787 per square foot is still one-seventh the average of Apple stores.

Moreover, the data used by Asymco analyst Horace Dediu shows that Apple's performance was nearly double of its nearest retail competitor, jewelry dealer Tiffany & Co. Among non-Apple retailers, jewellers tend to achieve the highest sales per square foot due to the average cost of their product. The raw data came from surveys done by RetailSails, which studied 160 top American retail chains.

Apple not only leads all other US retailers in sales, but also in growth. The company gained 70.5 percent in sales across the 327 stores Apple had open when the study was done last summer (it now has 365, with more opening later this year). Canadian fitness-wear chain Lululemon Athletica, the second-place finisher, managed about 45 percent in growth.

Most of the top 20 retailers consist of specialty apparel, warehouse retailers and jewelry firms, with only GameStop and Best Buy being considered technology or electronics retailers in the top 20. Best Buy actually achieved negative growth, shrinking 0.6 percent.

Apple is the only retailer of the top 20 to also have affiliate and "store within a store" sales, which may help explain the staggering level of sales and growth. The company has recently agreed to more SWAS concept showcases in Walmart stores, Target stores and even the famous Harrods of London department store.

Former retail VP Ron Johnson, who is now CEO of JC Penney's, is bringing the SWAS concept he pioneered to the retail chain -- which may selling Apple products.

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