Telstra Melbourne T-Life store opens tomorrow – with Telstra iPhone announcement?

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by Alex Zaharov-Reutt

Wednesday, 25 June 2008

Page 1 of 2 ! Telstra’s “Apple Store” clone, the “T[Life]” store, will open its second Australian store in Melbourne on June 26, with wide open spaces, technology on display for consumers to test and trial, a “classroom” area to teach consumers how to use technology Telstra sells and more. But the big question is: will Sol Trujillo also unveil that Telstra will also sell the iPhone in Australia? Related stories Western Australia: Double whammy decline in smoking cannabis No more sunny days for Australian tanning industry Long term evolution promising 100Mbps on 3G, but Dell records boom growth in Asia Pac and Japan Yahoo!'s Zimbra spiffs up iPhone support There can be no doubt that Apple’s retail stores are quite remarkable. They’re the exact opposite of the usual retail environment, with wide open spaces, plenty of non-pressuring sales staff to knowledgeable answer your questions, a ‘Genius Bar’ to help you with technical queries and organise repairs where necessary and a classroom area to teach you the ins and outs of Apple’s software and hardware. When Telstra opened its first T[Life] store in Sydney several months ago, in a location that just happens to be directly opposite the new Sydney Apple store, Telstra openly admitted to having been inspired by the Apple store concept, and thereby blatantly copied it as much as possible. The Melbourne version of the T[Life] store is set to be a much bigger version of the Sydney store, with the T[Life] website showing a countdown until the store officially opens, a photo slideshow of the insides of the store, the retail area and the classroom space and a webcam showing a live video stream of the store building, in a way that Apple never would until the store actually opened. Early tomorrow morning the store will open for a media pack that will come for the store’s official opening, and its set to also be host to a range of Telstra’s mobile phone partners, the store staff, and Telstra executives from different divisions, from consumer to business. Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo is also expected to be on hand for the store’s opening, as it will be Telstra’s flagship store in Melbourne, and is the latest blueprint for more T[Life] stores set to open across Australia in the future. That said, his attendance isn't guaranteed, and it's not essential for Trujillo to be there for the store opening to be successful. Big store openings and events often come with additional surprises, and the one big surprise the media is expecting to happen tomorrow is the announcement, by Sol Trujillo, that Telstra will sell the iPhone 3G from July 22, eleven days after Optus and Vodafone commence iPhone sales. Will it happen? Continued on page 2. << First page <   1 2 Next page > Last page - Post your comment >>

 

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