Update: For everybody asking for full-sized pics, you can grab 'em here, off my Flickr page.

I call it a temple because the architecture conveys a nearly religious aesthetic, a place to worship Apple, beyond any other Apple store you've ever been to. The top floor's a vast open space, enclosed by spartan stone walls which support a massive glass ceiling. The rows of tables in the main room feel like pews.

I can't tell you—and the pictures can't show you—how utterly open and expansive the room feels. Apple says it has more demo units than any other store in the world. To give you an idea of the space, the walls are 45 feet tall, and could fit 11 Apple 5th Avenue Cubes inside. It's the spareness that's breathtaking. It's cold. Not literally, but the stone walls, the glass, the sheer space rob it of any sense of warmth or feeling. The only sense of life in room is the products. It's a temple to them, really.

The beating heart, where things actually happen is tucked underground. The Genius Bar and personal training space is the biggest ever in an Apple store, able to handle up to 100 customers at once at 45 feet long. It's pretty much like any other Apple store down there, just bigger.

It's impressive. The store, at 67th and Broadway, opens Saturday. And they're giving away 2500 commemorative shirts if you're that kind of crazy.

Apple Store Upper West Side Opening on Saturday, November 14

NEW YORK-November 12, 2009-Apple® will open its newest retail store on New York's Upper West Side on Saturday, November 14 at 10:00 a.m. Set beneath a breathtaking all-glass arched roof, the street level of the Apple Store® Upper West Side offers more Macs, iPods and iPhones than any store in the world for an incredible hands-on experience. The lower level features the largest area ever created by Apple for personal training and technical support, including a 45-foot Genius Bar. Located on Broadway at 67th Street, the Apple Store Upper West Side is just minutes from Lincoln Center and Central Park.

"We opened our first store in Manhattan seven years ago, and the response has been incredible," said Ron Johnson, Apple's senior vice president of Retail. "We hope our new store on the Upper West Side will become as much a part of the community as our stores in SoHo, the Meatpacking District and on Fifth Avenue."

A highly trained team of more than 200 employees brings the unique Apple retail experience to the Upper West Side, offering the same legendary services that Apple stores provide around the world. At the Genius Bar, customers can get free advice and expert tech support from knowledgeable experts. Customers who buy a Mac® at the Apple Store Upper West Side can join the popular One to One program for personal set-up service and personal training for just $99. Visitors can also get free tips from Specialists who are on-hand to help shoppers find the perfect gift or choose the right Mac, iPod® or iPhone® for themselves.

In time for the holiday season, customers can now reserve their favorite Apple product online at www.apple.com/retail/reserve and pick it up at their local Apple store between December 15-24. Apple retail stores will also gift wrap any iPod or portable Mac for just $5.

The Apple Store Upper West Side is the fourth in Manhattan and Apple's 15th in the New York metro area, joining the hugely successful Apple Stores SoHo, West 14th Street and Fifth Avenue. Nearly 170 million people on four continents have visited Apple retail stores this year. Apple now operates 280 stores in ten countries including the US, UK, Italy, Australia, Canada, Japan, China, Switzerland, Germany and France.

The Apple Store Upper West Side is located at 1981 Broadway, on the corner of West 67th Street. The first 2,500 visitors to the store will receive a limited edition, commemorative t-shirt.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

This development could be problematic for people who are waiting to test out the device in person at their local Barnes & Noble. Word is that display units should start trickling in at the end of November, but it is unlikely that there will be any units to sell. So, you might have to get it sight unseen if you want to ensure delivery before the holidays (although our hands on was promising).

For those of you that got on the bandwagon early, not to worry. Your devices are still scheduled to ship on November 30th. [Brighthand]

In a strategy that seems needlessly drawn-out, BN is pushing the sales of Nook to be mostly online, and the stores that don't have the hardware in stock will instead order it for you online, to be shipped to your home. Each store will have one demo unit, but in many stores, you'll have to wait for online shipping after trying it out. Why they've chosen to go this route is a mystery to me—why would they want to add an extra step for consumers? We're not sure yet exactly which stores will be getting Nooks (or why—maybe a supply issue?); it's not a huge deal but it can't help the Nook's chances.

Update: Barnes and Noble responds:

While it's always difficult to predict demand on a new product, and early from response from consumers is strong, Barnes & Noble expects to have nook eBook readers in stock in the majority of its stores by the peak holiday season and plans to have nook devices in stock in all of its stores by early next year. If the product is out of stock or not available in a particular store, our booksellers can help facilitate an in-store order that will be shipped to the customer's home.

Guess we'll see what the rollout looks like when it actually happens.[Paid Content]

Palm Pre will be available nationwide on June 6 in Sprint stores, Best Buy, Radio Shack, select Wal-Mart stores and online at Sprint.com for $199.99 with a two-year service agreement and after a $100 mail-in rebate.

Here's what it says now:

Palm Pre will be available nationwide on June 6 in Sprint stores, Best Buy, Radio Shack, and select Wal-Mart stores** for $199.99 with a two-year service agreement and after a $100 mail-in rebate.

That's fine—Sprint's allowed to make whatever change and sell their phones wherever they want—but people who were planning on staying home and ordering online will be pretty surprised when they discover that they need to put some clothes on and run to Best Buy. [palmpre.org]

Yeah, this sounds exactly like what people need in their retail experience:

"At Sony Style Comcast Labs, trained staff show consumers how to unlock the full potential of their devices by demonstrating how Comcast's advanced delivery services integrate beautifully with Sony's hardware products and entertainment content." —Stan Glasgow, President and COO, Sony Electronics US

Anyone who is feeling masochistic tomorrow and wants to check this place out, please let us know how it is. It's located on the ground floor of the Comcast Center at 17th and JFK Boulevard.

Update: We have some pics from inside:

SONY ELECTRONICS AND COMCAST UNVEIL CO-BRANDED RETAIL STORE: SONY STYLE COMCAST LABS
Interactive Technology Lab will Debut a Live Demo of 100 Mbps

PHILADELPHIA – March 16, 2009 – Sony Electronics Inc., a world leader in consumer electronics and technology, and Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK), the nation's leading provider of entertainment, information and communications, are partnering to open a unique retail experience in the Comcast Center: Sony Style Comcast Labs. Sir Howard Stringer, chairman and CEO of Sony Corporation, and Brian L. Roberts, chairman and CEO of Comcast, conceived the idea as a destination where consumers could learn about emerging technologies and experience new digital devices.

The co-branded retail store and technology lab, which opens to the public tomorrow, will showcase the latest innovative products and services from both companies and preview future Comcast technology, products and services.

"This is another great example of innovation and consumer technology being showcased in Philadelphia by Comcast. Comcast has attracted great partners like Sony that continue to benefit our citizens with cool products," said Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter.

Of the many future technologies on display, the following will be unveiled to Philadelphia consumers for the first time:
1) The Future of High-Speed Internet: 100 Mbps surfing and downloading live.
2) The Future of Home Phone Service: the enhanced cordless telephone – forget smart phones, this one is a genius with email, IM, text and Yellow Pages.

"Consumer electronics are becoming increasingly advanced, and the strategy behind the Sony Style stores has always been to create a comfortable environment where consumers interact with and educate themselves about the latest technology," said Stan Glasgow, president and COO of Sony Electronics in the U.S. "At Sony Style Comcast Labs, trained staff show consumers how to unlock the full potential of their devices by demonstrating how Comcast's advanced delivery services integrate beautifully with Sony's hardware products and entertainment content."

"Innovation has been the cornerstone of all that we do at Comcast and this new interactive space is the perfect showcase for our current and future technology," said Tony Werner, Comcast's chief technology officer. "We're thrilled to have this unique space anchor our corporate headquarters as a clear demonstration of innovation. It's also a terrific, hands-on way for consumers to experience how all our products work together."

Sony Style Comcast Labs feature the best of Sony's electronics and the most innovative service offerings from Comcast. Sony Electronics offerings include BRAVIAÒ high definition LCD televisions, VAIO® PCs, a (alpha) DSLR and Cyber-shotÒ digital cameras, HandycamÒ camcorders, PSPÒ and PlayStationÒ 3 game consoles and emerging technologies like OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) TVs. Comcast will showcase all of its products and services from voice to video and Internet and demonstrate how they each work together seamlessly for the consumer.

Shoppers will have opportunities to make informed purchase decisions about what best fits their needs via personalized service and product demonstrations from in-store Sony Electronics and Comcast representatives.

The Sony Style Comcast Labs is located the heart of The Market at the base of the Comcast Center in Philadelphia at 17th and JFK Boulevard.

Sean tells us that the store was empty down to 3 carts, which meant Circuit City did the only thing they could: They sold their fixtures.

Those yellow price tags you see in the image below are how much the shelves went for, which is what the BB people were there to buy. Everything was somewhere between $75 and $250, in case you were wondering.

Goodbye Circuit City. You were a store we went to before.

All of Giz's Circuit City coverage - Thanks Sean!

Porter's first job is to figure out where the stores will be and when they'll launch. In the past, Microsoft has fiddled with concept stores around its campus. Either way, Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet is right that it'll be great to have a store to demo Microsoft tech and Windows laptops side by side, since so many chains are dropping away. If they're smart, they'll do some variation of the Genius Bar, too. [Microsoft via All About Microsoft]

One, it reminds me a lot of the actual Microsoft retail store that used to be in the Sony Metreon in SF. It was weird, because it was in a Sony building, but awesome, because it had tons of Microsoft stuff—much like this retail experience center. I don't remember actually buying anything, but it was the Microsoft equivalent of being in an Apple store. It's hard to describe, but is definitely something every tech person should experience once.

Two, it looks like Best Buy if Best Buy carried only Microsoft products. The actual store is inaccessible to the public, but you can get a virtual tour over here. [iStartedSomethign]

The first Wal-Mart, called Wal-Mart Discount City, opened in Rogers, Arkansas, in July 2, 1962. Five years later, the company already had 24 stores in Arkansas alone. By May 1971, Wal-Mart had already propagated to five states. From there, the growth was just explosive, eating the country from its heart. In 1975 they took Texas, upping the number of stors to 125.

A decade later in 1987, boom, 1,198 stores were spewing out everything from clothes to electronics to movies to music to toys all through the US. Soon, the epidemic ran into the rest of the world and in 2005, they already had 3,800 stores in the US and 2,800 all across the world, with 1.6 million employees and mainframe systems as big as the Death Star, permanently cross-tabulating and linking providers, stores, and customers' data to optimize their sales and distribution flows.

But that was all well known. Seeing it animated, however, is a completely different story. Where's Dustin Hoffman and Rene Russo when you need them (specially Rene). Check out the zoomable interactive version here. [Flowingdata and Wikipedia via Dark Roasted Blend]

[Circuit City via Consumerist, Image via qnr]

Basically, underperforming stores in certain regions are going to get shut down. This doesn't mean we are going out of business. Personally, I think that some stores can support themselves while others can't.

I know my store has a daily budget of about $38,000. We usually hit our budget and always make our goals, but some of the other stores in the region can't do that. There are still profitable stores even with the economy being crap. But then, the West Coast stores account for about 30% of the company's total revenue.

One of the store directors—obviously not from the Midwest—is quoted as saying that "we should have done this 10 years ago". The source points out that Circuit City is trying to refocus on the customer: "They are really stressing to us that we must have better customer service than before because they want us to win back our customers".

Update 1: David Cimino categorically denies that Sony truck turned around from a delivery to Circuit City distribution.

Update 2: Another Circuit City employee and Gizmodo reader jumps in about this:

I work at CC and we had a store meeting today in which we were explicitly told 155 stores were closing and a liquidity firm is going to take them over. Employees will be allowed to stay through that process if they wish. What the internal forum posting was saying was that the post about the truck of Sony products turning around or whatever was false, it has nothing to do with the store closings, which is definitely true. I have no idea if the Sony thing is true or not.

How big of an impact did it have? Well, it is hard to tell. Obviously, there were a lot of factors that contributed to Circuit City's current situation—but cutting all of those jobs certainly seems like a dumbass move in hindsight. In order to save itself from total destruction, Circuit City is currently planning to eliminate 150 stores and initiate a second round of massive employee cuts. My suggestion: learn from your mistakes and re-invigorate your sales force with "well paid" workers. It's only common sense. [Career Diva]

So, while they're actively shopping for buyers of the beleaguered company since the Blockbuster deal fell through, you can probably expect more of its new Best Buy-like "The City" stores. I still trip balls every time I see the one smack next to Best Buy in midtown Manhattan. It's gotta be the most painful block in the city.

That said, the customer service in most Circuit City stores does seem to outpace Best Buy's in crappiness, which is largely because they don't pay starting employees as much as they used to, a few employees have told me. I still go there occasionally because they undercut Best Buy's prices with some frequency, but sometimes I wonder if I wouldn't mind paying a buck or two more for slightly less aggravation, at least until the cheapskate kicks in. [WSJ, Image via qnr]